Why So Serious?

10 years ago, at the ripe age of 20, I learned about love and loss. I know how dramatic that sounds, but if you understood my obsession with Heath Ledger, his work, and The Dark Knight trilogy, it wouldn’t sound dramatic at all. I will never forget being in History of American Illustration and yelling out in the middle of class that Heath Ledger was dead which then started a frenzy of checking phones and phone calls. I called my mom, on the verge of hysterics. She understood. She always understood my passions and my love, when I didn’t fully understand it. Anyone that saw me or knew me could attest to my love and sadness. That year, I saw The Dark Knight A LOT. I threw a Dark Knight gallery show at the U245 gallery on my college’s campus where I proudly came dressed as the joker. His loss lit a fire in me. His death inspired me to capture him as much as possible. I created one of my beginning pieces in Illustrator 10 years ago (click here). I remember being so proud of that piece. Today, I am so thrilled to revisit both Heath Ledger and Illustrator and really do both justice. I’ve watched these movies so many times that I can run circles around anyone that wants to quote them. His costume is something that feels so familiar to me because of how long I’ve spent looking at it. I finished this last night at 4 am and while I know I say ‘this is the best piece ever’, this time I can say I have never been more proud of a piece. Maybe it’s because it feels so personal to me or because of the significance of it, but on the 10th anniversary of Heath Ledger’s passing, I wanted to make something incredible. I did two versions of this piece and while I wish he hadn’t passed, I’m grateful for the work he left behind that continues to inspire me to this day. RIP Heath Ledger and thank you. Click to enlarge to check these pieces out. 

Always.

OKAY. I have officially created the greatest piece I've ever made. I know I say that a lot, but with the amount of time that I spent working on this portrait in Illustrator, I swear it's true. Harry Potter is obviously the greatest ever. At work, we've been alternating between the first three movies for weeks. It doesn't get old and it's still one of the best series created. I did a Snape 8 years ago in Photoshop as a cut out and looking at the two next to each other, I'm blown away by how far I've come. (Check the old one out by clicking HERE!) I love that as artists, we are always improving. The more we do/make, the better we become. It's great to see yourself progress and evolve over the years and that no matter how much time goes by, you can still surprise yourself. So, after WEEKS, I proudly present  Severus Snape, head of Slytherin house, and the best Harry Potter character. He has MANY layers because he is a very layered individual and I put all of my passion into this. I could honestly talk about him all day, but click to enlarge to check out the details and to see the underlying work involved. I wish my dad was here because this would really blow Charles away. He'd say "WOW" and tell me it was "Unbelievable" about 30 times, but while I am lacking in the dad department and missing his support, I have a lot of really amazing people that support me and I am beyond words grateful for that. Thank you for believing in me after all this time.

Moonage Daydream.

Two days ago, I set out to complete a portrait of David Bowie for the anniversary of his death. I'm happy to say I finished it at 1:30 am! I put everything I had in to this. I wanted to make it bright and colorful because Bowie is one of the brightest in space. He's the stardust and his music keeps him alive even though he's gone. He will always be a pioneer, an inspiration, and an artist in the truest sense of the word. Today, we remember the icon we lost 2 years ago. I hope I did him justice. The most special thanks to Matt Benyo for helping me fine tune this piece including the ideas to keep it primary and to give it the white frame. Click to enlarge!