Irish musician Bono isn’t just a rock god, he’s also a deft hand with pencil and paintbrush. The U2 frontman was asked to illustrate the June cover of Atlantic featuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, highlighting an article about whether “the future of the democratic world will be determined by the ability of the Ukrainian military to break a stalemate with Russia.” But it wasn’t all easy for the singer, revealed The Washington Post. Bono went back and forth with art director Oliver Munday over 15 to 20 different iterations of the image, which started out as a simple line drawing of Zelensky. Bono also pointed out where his arty side comes from, saying, “I learned to draw and paint on photographs from my dad, who put color on my mom’s black-and-white Polaroids.” Bono added that he has “drawn and painted on Atlantic front cover. … disfigured is another word for it, but it’s with great affection. I’m a fan of their long-running journalism.
