30. Bill Murray.

I started with a young Bill Murray and I'm ending with Bill Murray now. It has been one hell of a run doing 30 days of portraits. More to come, but I'm going to be posting some pieces I've done in between all of these portraits before I start my next themed set. Thanks for following along if you did. Mom, hope you enjoyed seeing them all everyday. Plenty more to come, though!

28. Johnny Depp.

Here's a little Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. I think he's a cool pirate and I've always wanted to go on a high seas adventure. I used black gouache and white gel pen to do this and I am really happy with how it turned out. There's a lot of detail and texture in this.

27. Lucille Ball.

Everyone loves Lucy. There's no way you can't. She's just awesome and always has been. I feel like this looks like if I painted a version of Lucille Ball based off of a Barbie doll they made of her, but I'm fine with it. This one took me so long to do, but now I understand how to do it and I am all about it.

26. Tim Curry.

Tim Curry has a lot of incredibly transformative roles, but my first encounter with the magic of Tim Curry was either The Worst Witch or Rocky Horror Picture Show; both thanks to my mom. I remember growing up listening to the soundtrack of Rocky Horror and finding transvestites to be just fine at a young age. So, I had to pay homage with a fabulous Frank-N-Furter and a shout out to my mom for introducing me to cool things at a young age. It just gave me a bigger appreciation and understanding for things as I got older. I knew I was ahead of the curve knowing about these things and liking them before most other people I knew.

25. Winona Ryder.

Not just any Winona Ryder; Veronica Sawyer from Heathers. I'm a Winona Ryder fan. I love her in Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Mr. Deeds, Stranger Things, and more that I can't think of, but I really love her in Heathers. Her fashion is great and she's a breath of fresh air compared to those friggin Heathers! So, this is Winona Ryder, and I love it.

24. Rob Zombie.

Rob Zombie likes all things scary, spooky, and Halloween related and I'm down with that. I had the privilege of seeing Rob Zombie perform live this year when Matt and I drove across the country and he is one hell of a performer! I listen to his music a lot while I'm working.

23. Cher.

Cher is fantastic. Talk about someone constantly changing through the decades. I remember watching the movie, Mermaids, a lot when I was little. I remember my mom listening to If I Could Turn Back Time. There's a great Cher quote that my friend, Mickey, showed me today and it says: "Mother told me a couple of years ago, 'Sweetheart, settle down and marry a rich man.' I said, 'Mom, I am a rich man." Matt did the honor of making her hair embossed with galaxy glitter and it's perfect.

22. Heath Ledger.

January 22nd marks 11 years since Heath Ledger died. I will never forget that day. I was sitting in my History of American Illustration class and man, I literally stopped the entire class to tell everyone; cut the teacher right off. 11 years later, I'm still feeling the impact of his loss. I had a hard time doing this and it shows, but I decided to do him as Patrick in 10 Things I Hate About You. RIP Heath.

20. Forrest Gump.

I WAS RUNNINGGGG! That's all I hear when I look at this painting. Forrest Gump is a fantastic movie. I spent a lot of time watching it. It has a lot of solid quotes in it and it makes you cry. I wanted to represent the movie with the rugged Forrest Gump that finds himself across America after deciding to run and not really stopping. Run Forrest, Run.

19. Cyndi Lauper.

One of the most bold and colorful famous people I can think of is Cyndi Lauper. She's always marched to the beat of her own drum and has proven to be an inspiration to many. I love that she's not afraid to take chances. I had the chance to see her from the 3rd row in Chicago as she played her album, She's So Unusual, straight through. That was a few years back, but she was impressive as ever.

18. Dr. Azumi Fujita.

And now, for something completely different. I got a new set of paints that I finally tried out on this painting of Dr. Azumi Fujita from the TV show, Maniac. I had a lot of fun with it. The colors are so vibrant. This looks nothing like anything I've done, but that's not a bad thing.

17. Elvis Presley.

I can't even imagine my youth without the musical stylings of Elvis Aaron Presley. My mom was, and is, A HUGE fan; so much so, she almost named my brother Elvis, but instead went with Chandler (it was before Friends). So, this one goes out to my mom. She ain't nothing, but a hound dog.

16. Pee-wee Herman.

I KNOW YOU ARE, BUT WHAT AM I? Pee-wee Herman is a legend. All I ever wanted (and still do) was his bike from Pee-wee's Big Adventure. One day... I mean, I did get the bike tattooed on my forearm. That's the next best thing. I love Pee-wee. He's my favorite. That's my bike, Francis.

15. Buffy Summers.

I always liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie), but never gave much thought to the show. That all changed when I met Matt Benyo. He was an avid fan and bought the entire box set of the series and over the course of our first year of knowing each other, he made me watch it with him. It was a solid show. You really connect with the Scooby Gang and grow with them over the course of the seven seasons. I also wanted to do Sarah Michelle Gellar because she is really difficult to draw/paint. I think I did okay.

14. Gene Wilder.

Gene Wilder was one of those actors that captured you with each of the roles he was in. His blue eyes and genuine smile put you at ease, but his humor was what kept you around. From Willy Wonka to Blazing Saddles to Dr. Frankenstein, Wilder was one of the greats. We lost him, like many others from this Honorable Mentions series, way too soon. So, I had to do Gene.

13. Freddie Mercury.

When it comes to fantastic, you can't NOT think of Freddie Mercury and Queen. I wanted to make this as bright and colorful as I could because he was a flamboyant and wonderful soul who was never afraid of color. Here's to Freddie Mercury because cause I'm having a good time, having a good time!

12. Keanu Reeves.

Keanu Reeves stars in one of the best movies, John Wick. If you've never seen John Wick, I suggest remedying that quite soon. There are two movies out so far and more the come. It's a thrill ride and one of the best revenge movies on the planet. I was always kind of whatever about Keanu Reeves, but this movie made me a huge fan. He's great. It's great. This is him from that movie.

11. Colin Firth.

I'm a big Colin Firth fan. I think he is quite distinguished and always a gentleman. I recently saw the new Mary Poppins and he plays a villain. That was hard to stomach. This is from the movie Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle where Colin Firth plays an agent named Harry Hart. He's the best.

10. Ziggy Stardust.

Three years ago today, David Bowie left us, but he left behind a legacy. David Bowie has inspired, and continues to inspire, each of us to be as weird and wonderful as we can be; to carve out our own identity in a world that is trying so hard to suffocate us. Through his art, music, and image, he showed everyone that it was okay to be whatever you wanted to be. I did the portrait of Bowie with his eyes open (which you can find on my Etsy), but today, I wanted to do him with his eyes closed in the most vibrant and colorful way I could. I challenged myself not to use black. I love the way it turned out. It's my favorite portrait yet. RIP David Bowie. You will always be missed.

9. Prince.

Matt Benyo challenged me to make one of my portraits monochromatically and suggested using just purple to make Prince. Challenge accepted and defeated. I feel like I killed this one. Matt did some embossing to the background using GOLD. Raspberry Beret is still one of my all time favorite jams.

8. Jareth the Goblin King.

Today is David Bowie's birthday and to celebrate, I chose him in one of my favorite roles: Jareth the Goblin King from Labyrinth. Mom, you don't remind me of David Bowie in this movie. I wanted to give him some extra sparkle and shine so I used glitter paint and a glitter gel pen on his black coat and white collar. The overall look I was going for with this was a silkscreen. It's an experiment.

7. Nicolas Cage.

"I am not a demon. I am a lizard, a shark, a heat-seeking panther. I want to be Bob Denver on acid playing the accordion." What a big weirdo. There is no one in this world like Nicolas Cage and I am okay with that. Do I think he's a vampire? Of course I do, but that doesn't change my opinion of him. He's the best.

6. Brendan Fraser.

I have a deep rooted love for The Mummy (both the movie and the ride at Universal Studios). Don't ask me why, but I'm assuming my other deep rooted love for Egypt might be a major reason. In 6th grade, I wrote a song about the Egyptians that I went to the school board and sang in front of a ton of people. That was surreal. It was to the tune of "Oh My Darling Clementine" and I was a true all star. I digress, Brendan Fraser is one of the main characters/actors in the movie and while I think he's kind of a goober, he's an important piece of The Mummy puzzle.

5. St. Vincent.

Mom, I know you don't know who this is, but she's a musician and Matt really likes her so I painted this for him. Her name is Annie Clark, but her stage name is St. Vincent. She's got some good music. Matt and I went to see her twice last year; once in Detroit (the first night of the tour) and a little later in Cincinnati (from the 3rd row). I had a lot of fun with this; especially that shirt. It reminds me of a comic book. I was calling this a "bubble gum pop portrait" and Matt kept asking me what that meant. I still don't know, but it sounds right.

4. Danny Zuko.

I would say Grease is one of my favorite musical movies. I grew up watching it A LOT and I think it had a pretty huge impact on me in terms of why I love the 50's. I had the idea to make his eyes match the background because he has such striking blue eyes and I think it turned out spot on.