15 Celebrities Who Are Secretly Amazing Artists

You can’t be everything if you’re a celebrity – or so they say. How on earth could you possibly be a singer and an actress? If you’re a great athlete, you’ll never make a great actor. If you’re a beautiful model, singing is never something you’ll be able to do. It’s said time and time again, but it appears that this whole thing about not being able to be multi-talented is a bit off. There are many celebrities that are good at what they did first and good at what they do now. Read on to find out which celebrities are good at their craft, and are secretly awesome artists.

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Pierce Brosnan

Who knew that James Bond himself was an artist? He’s not one who likes to talk about it often, but it turns out that everyone’s favorite action star is no slouch in the painting department. In fact, he’s actually fairly skilled when it comes to creating art.  Formally trained, he managed to teach himself the art of drawing and painting and make it into a very lovely hobby before choosing to study illustration in college. He began painting to take himself out of stressful situations, like his first wife’s battle with cancer, when he felt helpless and lost during the battle.

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Sly Stallone

He’s been credited as saying that the more sad and depressed a person is, the better their art work is. It might be true, but who saw this tough guy as an artist? He’s never had any formal training, but his paintings are good enough to have sold more than $40,000 worth of work when he made his artistic debut in Miami’s Art Basel back in 2009. He was able to produce enough work to make the trip to the show worth his while, and even Steve Wynn of Wynn hotels purchased some of his art work to take home with him.

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George W. Bush

When he left the White House, the former President of the United States of America decided to spend more time at home. He has a ranch in Texas, so he did what most farmers do. He called an artist from Georgia and asked her to come help him learn how to pain portraits – of dogs. And so the former president has been hanging out at home enjoying time with his family and his pictures of dogs. He’s quite proud of his work, making it public not too long ago. We have to say he’s not a bad doggie artist.

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Rosie O’Donnell

After the devastating events of 9/11 took place, Rosie O’Donnell needed to escape from reality. So she did this by becoming an artist. She’s never been trained or taken any classes. She’s simply talented of her own accord. Since becoming an artist more than a decade ago, she’s made it her mission to use her work for the good. She auctions her work online to raise money for one of her favorite medical charities, which is a seriously awesome thing for her to do. We’re guessing the sense of relief painting provides her is worth it.

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Robbie Williams

He’s a British artist who loves to paint. He even announced not too long ago that he plans on looking for an exhibition to display his art work. He is really a talented painter, and it’s something that he regularly discusses as an interest. His love of art is something that he turns to as a way of unwinding and relaxing. He paints as often as possible, sometimes admitting to becoming a bit of a recluse shut away in the midst of his art work. His work is actually talented, and he is aware of that fact.

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Dennis Hopper

Before he was an actor, he was attending art school. Over the years since becoming an actor, he made it clear that he’s a talented actor and artist. He’s an avid drawer, painter and photographer, and he’s used many of his skills while in Hollywood. He’s yet another celebrity that admits to turning to art when life is a bit overwhelming. It’s helped, I suppose, considering his rather long and successful career in Hollywood. His art has been on display numerous times, used in many movies and it’s been shown all over the world. Kudos to him for being one of the most multitalented people in the business. He will be missed.

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Michael Jackson

Before his untimely death, Jackson loved to draw. He would often draw photos of Charlie Chapman, someone Jackson considered very spiritual and healing. He would show his art to his close friends and family, but it hasn’t been since his death that his friends and family made the decision to show his art work in museums and other galleries. He was a very talented illustrator, often rending lovely photos of Chapman that appear to be professionally made, despite his lack of formal training.

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James Franco

He’s been around Hollywood for some time now, and it’s always a surprise when people learn he was actually an artist long before he was an actor. In fact, the handsome actor admits that he’s always been a painter. He’s been doing it since he was in school, admitting that art was his outlet. Instead of turning to drugs or alcohol when he needed to release, he would pick up his paintbrush and paint something he enjoyed. He’s even had shows as the MoMA and several other museums over the years.

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Jane Seymour

Like most of the world’s greatest artists, and those who aren’t great at all, Jane Seymour began painting thanks to a rough patch in her life. She was going through some very personal issues in her life when she decided to paint a portrait. She’d never had any formal artistic training and has never had any since. However, her landscapes and flowers are lovely. Her natural talent shines through and she credits her work as her way of coping when life is tough. She also reveres it as a wonderful hobby and tries to paint as often as possible.

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Eve Plumb

It’s not easy growing up as the middle sister. The Brady Bunch actress decided that when she was done playing middle sister, Jan Brady, she was going to take creative control over her own life. And so she did. She began painting still life scenes and doing a wonderful job at it. She says it gives her creative control, something it’s so difficult to find in Hollywood. While she never comes out and says it helps her through the difficult times, she did say she loves to paint and draw when she’s not working – which is usually a difficult time for most people.

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Tony Bennett

Here’s where it gets impressive. Tony Bennett does not like to use his stage name on his paintings, so most people are unfamiliar with the fact that he’s an exceptionally talented artist. He’s so talented, in fact, that some of his work hangs on some of the most famous walls in the world. We’d mention he has art hanging at the Smithsonian, but we think people might be more excited about the fact that some of his art work is on display at Oprah’s house. He’s also been the official artist at the Kentucky Derby and his work is featured in numerous museums.

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Prince Charles

When his holiday schedule allows for time, Prince Charles enjoys dabbling in the world of watercolor. He enjoys the escape from his Princely duties and refers to it as a fine hobby. He’s been known to paint anything from scenery to locations to abstract art, and he finds sincere enjoyment in his pastime. He talks often about wanting to spend more time perfecting his craft, but not being able to thanks to the royal duties on his very busy plate. It’s kind of interesting to see someone with so much dignity and grace take to the canvas and enjoy something so simple.

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Paul McCartney

He’s definitely an artist. Not only is he one of the wildly successful members of one of the most famous bands of all time, the former Beatle is also a pretty talented artist in other means of the word. He learned to paint thanks to a very famous abstract artist in the 1980s and 90s. Though he kept his work very private for a long time, he eventually took the chance and showed off some of his skills in an art show in 1999. Critics were actually impressed at his immense talent, calling him an artist of all types.

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 Lucy Liu

There is a serious theme going on here. Apparently, celebrities who are going through difficult times in their life want to learn to paint. It’s a therapeutic experience that’s much better than some of the alternatives people choose to turn to when they’re unhappy. She wasn’t formally trained when she began to take up art, but she did enroll herself in art school for two years from 2004 to 2006 to perfect her abilities. She’s created more than 72 pieces of art that she chose to show off in an art show, much to the surprise and happiness of art critics.

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Billy Dee Williams

How’s this for irony? The talented actor was an artist struggling to survive before he was a famous actor. In fact, he was in a prestigious art school in New York City and only took acting gigs to help him pay for his tuition so he could continue his schooling. And most celebrities work at restaurants or other flops for money to help them pay their rent while they pursue acting…guess things worked out differently for this very talented artist. Williams’ work is some of the best celebrity work around, which is due to his intense and professional training.

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