I'm just curious what everyone listens to while they are drawing.

I have a drawing playlist on my ipod. It starts off with a few of my favorites from Dave Matthews. There are songs ranging from Leigh Jones( love her!!!) Enya, Norah Jones( no relation to the first Jones), Colbie Calliat, Sarah McLachlan, Etta James, and Marvin Gaye.

Oh and Bitter sweet symphony form "The Verve"... one of my favorites. There are a few others mixed in there but these are some of my favorites.

And then.. sometimes I like to listen to nothing.

How about you guys?

Oh I love Enya!

For me it depends on what kind of mood I'm in. Sometimes I'll listen to pop music; Rihanna and Pink are some of my favourites here. Sometimes I'll listen to some softer music such as Enya or Dido. Other times I'll listen to some of my favourite arias from the opera. At times, I find music distracting and I don't listen to anything at all.

I love the times when nobody is in the house (which doesn't happen often btw) and I'll pop the CD in the player and blast the music and paint. I find it so liberating.

Silence. Complete silence works for me.

Monika ... how funny.. I too listen to Enya and Dido, White Flag is my favorite....I love Celtic... also Josh Grobin..and on my Country side .. Johnny Cash. I have to have music playing !!! My Art League Family sometimes yells at me so I bring my ear phones on those days..

i can't draw in silence.. when i draw i listen all kind of music, but mostly pop, rock and rap

Isn't it funny how some people like to work in silence and others the total opposite? For me it's not really the mood that I am in, it's the mood that I have to be in.

I did a little self experiment just for fun to see if any certain type of music effected what I was drawing. When I had on loud, fast music I found that my hand was heavy and my lines were dark and very straight. I also found that if it was silent my mind just wandered all over and I had a hard time getting started.

I never would have thought that silence would be a distraction.

I'm a silence person too. I don't even listen to the radio in the car. I don't own an ipod or even a cell phone. Maybe it's an introvert/extravert thing. A true introvert finds more creative energy in relative silence, while an extravert feeds on music and external influences.

full of a focus with Yann Tiersen

I'm a silence person too, especially when drawing. If I'm painting, I can listen to some music, which usually is classical. I seem to be able to concentrate more on detail when its quiet.

I'm in the second camp...gotta have some kind of music. Back in high school art class the teacher would put on some music and I find it still helps me. But I gotta have some classic rock...or Irma Thomas and some Blues artists...something fun but not outright dancey works for me.

when I paint, draw, then "switch" from me - no matter what kind of music or noise around me are

.. it can happen to me three times my wife has to respond before I react, the same just reading a good book

my wife always says "He is once again in his own world"

I'll either have Kerrang or Rdaio 4 on the radio if nothing on my computer interests me.
If I'm listening to stuff off my computer it's usually Mudvayne, Fear Factory, Distrubed etc but sometimes I'll listen to The Ataris or just stick on my library in shuffle.

When I draw, I can listen to everything. But mostly rock, bard, or just guitar

I listen to the radio, when I am drawing or painting. I seem to need some king of background mental stimulus. I can at times mentally shut off and become unaware of even that. But then I can also listen to the music playing in my head. And it is mostly music of all kinds-except country.
C.E.D

Either silence or something ambient like Boards of Canada. I get too distracted by music especially if there's lyrics or it's energetic.

Pink Floyd albums. I mean seriously, I can't think of another artist or band that could be better for getting inspiration and motivation from.

I listen to Celtic music. Especially if it's instrumental or in the celtic language. But I can also listen to Pink Floyd or Yes, or some nice soft Jazz, or some John Tavener, or Adiamus. Sometimes though, I find I am getting more into the music than I am into the drawing/painting, then I have to switch it off.

I listen to nothing at all while I draw ...it makes me go too fast or careless because my drawings are always rushed when music is playing ...I love music when i am cleaning lol

Interesting... I'm gonna have to experiment with this. Personally I have always drawn/painted in silence. At times in the evening I'll take my drawing board into the living room while the family watches TV, but tend to tune it out. On my last piece I remember my daughter listening to some relatively fast beat, pop music and all of the sudden I started working faster and more naturally.... almost like a flow/instinctual. It struck me as strange at the time. Reading Kim's above comment I do wonder if I would have gotten careless had I continued with music, or if it would be more "in tune". Now I'll have to find out lol.

I work best in silence becouse I'm distracted too easily.
Whenn I'm buzzy in the bronze foundry the radio is tuned on loud all day. Thats warning me out.
Musik for me is for during houskeeping. Depending on my mood I spasialy love to listen to Yanny, Pink Floyd, Allan Parsons Project, North Sea Gas, Makem and Clancy and Panflute.

I listen to music either without lyrics, or lyrics that can get lost in the music. when i draw i feel like my thinking goes from left brain to right brain. Left brain is very symbol and and logic based and right brain is very relationship and concept based. so i feel like if i'm listening to words the flow to right brain is hindered.

Classical is great for my serious drawings. Escala if I'm sketching. And other random songs i feel work for me.

When I attempt to draw usually I listen to my MP3 player which contains many artists. I've never really confined myself to one music genre. I suppose it really depends on what kind of mood I'm in to what I listen to at that time. I can't work with anything when there's silence, I have to have at least some type of noise around me.

I listen to whatever is around me whether it's a T.V or birds outside, the noises contribute to my drawing ideas.

usually I listen for music like celine dion songs or emotional songs or just I listen for aprogram on the TV
I just drawing in silence when I want to have concentration specialy to draw presice details

All depends on my materials really, if I am working with metal it tends to be heavier like my material. Clay can be Grateful Dead, Govt Mule, Cake etc etc. Drawing and painting usually takes the form of sketching out designs for other mediums and I do that without much distraction. Sometimes a little Al Green while doing graphic design and such.
And once in a great while Wagner but I tend to get caught up in that and not get much accomplished

I usually choose music based on what I draw. When I was drawing this one I was listening to Ahab's albums The Call Of The Wretched Sea and The Divinity of the Oceans. If I listen to the music that complements the current drawing theme I can get into the "zone" easily.

I usually listen to classic rock, because of all the many different emotions that are in that genre. I sometimes choose a song, and then draw a picture based off of that particular song while listening to it.

I usually listen to classic rock, because of all the many different emotions that are in that genre. I sometimes choose a song, and then draw a picture based off of that particular song while listening to it.

If I'm looking for inspiration I enjoy listening to Hotel California, when drawing however I dont acctually listen to anything

I just downloaded 4 Christmas DVDs by Mannheim Steamroller.

Depends on the drawing, different music to match the mood of what I want to draw.
If it is a dramatic battle scene, I tend to list to artists like disturbed or breaking Benjamin, but usually I listen to my own compositions for inspirational music, which spans all genres.

I usually listen to sports talk radio. For some strange reason this works best for me. I can't seem to find the necessary calmness to draw if I listen to music or nothing at all.

Music is a folded thing for me when I make my pictures. If I'll try to add a sentence or how I feel is songs with words very fitting. Themes for the image works by listening to music. In other words, i listen on everything when i draw.

Right now I am listening to kdb from California on the Internet. I also listen to other stations although everything is on the Internet from here.

It depends on the mood I am in and if I am drawing or throwing. If I am throwing it varies, sometimes the Grateful Dead, some times Classic or live Hendrix. Or Cake, or any number of other artists. Pretty much it is wholly governed by the mood I am in

I'm also listening music while i draw.
Usualy RockFM - classic rock radio , online.

Well For me, nice easy listening music, such as soft Jazz or Classical helps me focus on my Drawings, but if it is to loud it distracts me. When I draw while listening to music I generally have it playing very softly. Pink Floyd just sends me to another realm (some Floyd fans would call it the Floydian Slip, lol) so it is very difficult to draw and listen to that Awsome Music. Enya, Clannad, Medwyn Goodall, and a few other new age artists are my Favorite though, either while drawing or just to relax.

I love pink ...alot of her music has some meaning to it .. of course she seems mad most of the time lol but I do enjoy her songs ..pink floyd is also a great way to relax while drawing .

Music......love it!! I listen to just about anything....I have over 4800 songs on my comp, from about 66 different genres......so no matter what mood I am in, I got it covered....lol. But usually when I draw, I'll put on my 80's Heavy Metal A to Z playlist. It has groups like AC DC, Bon Jovi, Ratt, Poison, Ozzy, Motley Crue.....but I do love all kinds of music. Usually the more unusual it is, the more I like it.....

Lately I've been listening a lot to psybient (psychedelic ambient/chillout trance). Great music for creative work.

i'm stuck in the oldies

When i draw i listen to all different types of musical and most of the time just silence.
It doesnt really matter to me! I just love to draw!

i love to listen to anathema when i start 2 draw ...i takes me far away
... strange feeling

I'm listen classical music, specially Haydn; and I love arabic music... Are the same musics that I listen when I study too.

Anything that's positive for one and some classical and rock nothing hard or heavy metal nooo! that will only disrupt my thinking and create crap as I draw.

I can go either way... I draw in silence... or I listen to music. It all depends what mood I'm in.
But when I do listen to music, here are some songs:

Enya... is terrific.
Jukebox- by Bent Fabric
Almost any song by Bethany Dillon
Chris Tomlin
Girl Put Your Records On - by Corrinne Bailey Rae
Roller-blades - by Eliza Doolittle
Some Green-Day
Simple Plan
King of Anything - Sara B.
Heaven - by Salvador
Newsboys
Everyday People - by Sly and the Family Stone
And I LOVE CLASSICAL MUSIC.

i listen to music but i rarely acknowledge it...its just so that i dont hear whats going on around me. i have my playlist on my ipod, mostly rap and rock, all gospel

I generally listen to music that suits the artwork I am creating at the time and when I work in realism pencil drawings I listen to completely different music than I do when I am working in my abstract expressionist style (which tends to be more active, upbeat and energetic to suit the mood.)

It is usually music without words or words sung in another language (other than english.) This is because music with lyrics tend to keep me thinking in the logical area of the brain whereas music alone often helps me to very quickly transend into other worldly places and into the creative relaxing state of the intuitive mind.
I particularly like latin music, african tribal, australian aboriginal tribal music. I also like solo piano, saxaphone or lounge music and I find that by placing headphones on I can really transport myself. It blocks out all the little interruptions from others in the household like doors slamming or someone talking to someone else., the phone ringing, dogs barking outside or the occasional cars that might pass etc. It also sends a powerful message to others in the home not to interrupt me; that I am concentrating on my art at the time Lol! Music is so important to me when I am creating art, thanks for sharing in this thread everyone!

I like to listen to jazz, preferably without lyrics. I find that it has a great beat without being too distracting. I do listen to rock and pop sometimes, though jazz is preferred. I can draw without music, as long as the TV isn't on; otherwise I can't focus!

exactly that ! I listen to everything, from hard core, to jazz, reggae, drum&bass, but... I actually don`t hear a thing