The lights of the stadium are flashing, the music is pumping through your body, and fireworks are exploding all around you. You’re at the concert of your life, surrounded by thousands of people, all of them lost like you in the universe of music. Well, almost all of them.
If you look a little closer, you will see a man in the crowd with his head buried in a sketchbook and some watercolors in his hand. His name is Chris Lloyd. Over the past few years, he has attended performances by some of the biggest artists on the planet: Kylie Minogue, Jessie J, Beyoncé, Sam Smith. What is his passion? Creating hyper-detailed and fun drawings within a time limit: the duration of the concert.
“It can be very stressful if I’m asked to show the result to the artists at the end of the show,” Lloyd says over a coffee by London Bridge. He says that, unlike many artists, he thrives on such tight deadlines. “But it’s hard when I’m drawing, say, the Jonas Brothers and a minute before the end of the show I’m called to show the result to these stars backstage,” he says.
Lloyd, a thin, bright-blue-eyed, shaved-headed man, talks at a hundred miles an hour, about the speed at which he creates his drawings. His works are colorful caricatures that perfectly encapsulate the spectacle he witnesses. To create them, he must contend with blaring live music, ever-changing sets, costume changes and flashing lights, as well as his own attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: “I was diagnosed with it yesterday,” he says, but, he adds, “when I draw, I tune out everything else. Although sometimes I think I would love to go to the concert again and just watch the show.”
Most of the time he doesn’t even get a seat and has to draw standing up, with drinks flying in the air or people dancing on both sides. He never redoes a drawing: it’s all part of the experience. Among his best professional moments he places having portrayed Coldplay this year at Glastonbury (who shared Lloyd’s artwork on their Instagram to their 27 million followers) already Cyndi Lauper, whom she met in her dressing room.
He notes that although concerts are now captured thousands of times via smartphone, his drawings capture a magic that a digital photo cannot. “Anyone can do them with an iPhone,” he says. “But drawing a concert makes me notice details that others miss.” Lloyd grew up in Kent and has no art training. He moved to London after studying languages and worked as a producer for the BBC Radio 1 before challenging himself to make a drawing every day. His career as an artist took off in October 2022, when he drew British singer Sam Smith and posted it on his Instagram accountSmith himself saw it and shared it with his millions of followers, who were fascinated.
From then on, Lloyd focused on live music, one of his passions. Thanks to his clever use of social media, stars began to notice him. Artists he idolized were suddenly calling him with commissions. “It’s funny, because I should be the one calling them to tell them I love their work,” he jokes.
Rapper Drake DM’d her after she drew him and then reposted the drawing on social media. “Becky Hill saw my drawings and DM’d me,” Lloyd says, eyes wide. “She invited me and a friend to come to Ibiza for a couple days so I could draw her residency.”
Last year, he quit his job in radio to devote himself to art. With the cost of concerts skyrocketing and productions becoming bigger, more expensive and more technologically advanced, people are eager to buy souvenirs of these once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Lloyd’s most popular drawing? Taylor Swift, of course. He has sold more than 100 sketches at £45 each. “The way people get excited about the experience they have at a concert is incredible.” His private commissions are priced from £150. “I don’t want to exclude anyone with price, but I have to value my art,” he says.
His business has evolved. It’s not just concerts anymore. Last year, the fashion label Valentino invited him to Paris to sketch their haute couture show on the fly. They gave him just 20 minutes to sketch the shape, colour and glamour of the outfits that evolved on the catwalk. “Afterwards, the actress Florence Pugh came up to me and asked what I was doing,” he says. “When she saw my drawings, she went crazy. She introduced me to the boss of Valentino, who took one look at them and burst into tears. It was the best experience of my life.”
Given that the last few years have been a whirlwind, is there anyone left on his bucket list? “Bon Iver,” he replies. “I’m a folk guy.” Then there’s the big one: Adele. “She’s got it all, but I don’t think I’ll ever get a drawing of one of her concerts,” says Lloyd, winking.
He has big ambitions: “I want to be like the illustrator Quentin Blake of today,” he says. For now, he is content to ride the wave of success. “I have no idea where this will take me,” he muses. “But I hope it is in the best possible way,” he concludes.
