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.