In an ongoing project, artist Joe Simpson (no, not that Joe Simpson) creates beautifully detailed, near-photorealistic portraits of his favorite musicians. He meets with the musicians, takes their photographs, and then works from the photos to create these amazing oil paintings. At present he has completed about 14 paintings — he aims to create around 30 before the project goes up as a solo exhibition later this year. Click through to see our favorite pieces so far, and for more of Simpson’s beautiful musician portraits and to see a few of his other projects, check out his website.
Sam Beam of Iron & Wine
Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend
Matt Berninger of The National
Jack Steadman of Bombay Bicycle Club
Fyfe Dangerfield of Guillemots
Mark Ronson
[via Pitchfork]