Sylvester Stallone says he's ready to start painting again
Sylvester Stallone is ready to get back to one of his favorite creative passions: painting.
Stallone shared a series of images on Instagram Saturday, March 25, posting several photos of artwork that he has painted over the years. In the caption, he opened up about the future of his creative endeavors outside of film.
“About time to start painting again… what is wonderful about painting it’s similar to writing a short screenplay, but instead of words, you use strokes and colors to tell your story,” he wrote as the caption.
In addition to his work as an actor and filmmaker, the 76-year-old has been a devoted painter for over half of his life.
In August 2021, the actor shared several photographs on Instagram of a painting he said he had done fifty years prior, titled “Study of Edgar Allan Poe.”
Stallone, who took on his first TV role in "Tulsa King" in 2022, often documents his work on his Instagram account. He even shared several of his pieces on a secondary account dedicated solely to his artwork, which hasn’t been updated since January 2021.
Over the years, the “Rocky” actor’s artwork has been on display at festivals and museums, showcasing his artistic prowess outside of film.
In February 2022, several of Stallone’s paintings were on display at an art festival in West Palm Beach, Florida. He shared a video on Instagram proudly showing off his various works of art as he walked through the gallery. At the end of the video, Stallone flipped the camera on himself, adding, “I’m really happy about all of this and welcome to my world.”
In December 2021, Stallone also had several of his pieces on display at the Osthaus Museum in Hagen, Germany. His artwork was part of an exhibition called “Sylvester Stallone: The Magic of Being,” which was a large retrospective of his paintings from the late 1960s to today, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“You know, maybe I should have been a painter,” Stallone said at the opening. “It sure would have meant a lot less stress.”
Stallone got into painting at an early age and was inspired by artists including Jackson Pollack and Willem de Kooning. However, when the actor’s artwork didn’t sell, he pivoted his career path and began writing and acting instead.
During an October 2013 interview with CBC News, when he debuted a retrospective of his art at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, Stallone described himself as a “much better painter than an actor.”
“It’s much more personal and I’m allowed to just do what I want to do,” he added. “Quite often in acting you have to play a certain part, you cannot speak as much as you want to speak.”
Though he hasn't shared new artwork recently, he did tap into his creativity in October 2022 when he carved pumpkins with Arnold Schwarzenegger and showed off their handiwork on Instagram afterward.
"That’s what real ACTION guys do with their free time!" he joked in the caption.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
