"Watch Him as He Goes" (Taylor Hawkins / Foo Fighters)

I wish I had gotten around to painting Taylor earlier, prior to his untimely passing. Being a huge fan of him as a musician, but more importantly as a person and as an ambassador to music, I struggle with how long to wait after a tragedy to pay tribute. After the two huge memorial concerts in his honor, I knew I couldn’t wait any longer - it was time. I went back and forth on what vibe I wanted, but ultimately decided on an upbeat celebration of his life. I can’t think of anyone in the industry who loved music more than Taylor, and he made such a significant contribution to it. He had a childlike enthusiasm whenever he talked about live shows or some of his favorite influences growing up. 

My first concept had him playing the drums as one might expect, but when I ran across some references showing him adoring the crowd as they adored him right back, I knew this was the most fitting tribute to Taylor. This concept also allowed me to portray him in his killer Van Halen tights as a nod to the love for his musical influences and peers

About Stickman

Trevor "Stickman" Stickel specializes in musically based portraits that capture legendary moments, powerful ideas and raw emotion. His work is described as gritty-yet-fresh, complex-yet-simple. Graduating from a Jekyll and Hyde influence early in his career in which he divided his time between family portraits and design work on helmets and Harleys - Trevor had the epiphany to combine both styles while reading "According to the Rolling Stones". Two weeks later he finished his first canvas portrait of Mick Jagger that would thrust him into a different realm of the art world an aptly titled it "Please allow me to introduce myself."

The Mission

The idea or "mission" behind my artwork was to create an artistic tribute to something (music) and to the people (musicians) that have had a tremendous impact on me and basically shaped my world. Historically these tributes have been limited to photos/posters that have adorned the bedroom walls of teenagers and dorm rooms throughout adolescence. I wanted to create a style of art that brings these iconic figures back into our life, and do so in manner that we as adults can display proudly in our homes. When planning a piece I often imagine how the finished piece would look in a contemporary living room, dining room, lounge, etc.

The Concept

In order to achieve the mission stated above as well as explore my creative and artistic side, the idea of amalgamating different artistic disciplines on the same canvas was born. The concept is to take my portrait realism and juxtapose it with a background that expresses my feeling and emotions of the subject I'm painting. This method also allows me to explore other disciplines of art - many of my backgrounds will include Abstract, Expressionism, Impressionism, Realism, Pop Art, Street Art, Surrealism and quite often a combination of these. This is where I get to enjoy the artistic side of these pieces as well as paying additional homage to some of my favorite visual artists. My work is a true collaboration of music and art where I take a very influential subject matter and combine it with inspiration from artists such as Warhol, Bansky, Basquiat and Pollock to name just a few.