Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
2024
30 × 40 in.
Acrylic on Canvas
Based on an original illustration by Warren Lotas
Mile High Afterlife is my painted version of a Warren Lotas illustration that I loved enough that I wanted to recreate it on a much larger scale. I did not design the original imagery. I took his drawing and translated it into a 30 × 40 acrylic painting by hand.
The piece combines Denver basketball with the dark skeletal style that immediately drew me to the original. A dead looking basketball player dribbles across the canvas in a Denver jersey while a mountain lion charges beside him. Behind them are the mountains with DENVER stretched across the top.
I made this because I genuinely loved the artwork and wanted to see what it would look like as a huge painting. There is something different about taking an image you admire and physically recreating it yourself. You start noticing every line, shape, shadow, and little decision that you probably would have looked past otherwise.
And then I had another idea.
I decided I was going to take this giant thing to a Denver Nuggets game and try to get the players to sign it.
That did not go according to plan.
Apparently showing up to a basketball game carrying a 30 × 40 inch painting creates some logistical problems. I could not get it into the game, so my dream of covering it in signatures ended before I even made it inside.
Looking back, I actually love that story because it makes the painting feel even more like me. I saw something I loved, decided I needed to paint a gigantic version of it, and then somehow convinced myself I could casually walk into an NBA game carrying it.
I couldn't.
But I still got a pretty awesome painting out of it.
2024
30 × 40 in.
Acrylic on Canvas
Based on an original illustration by Warren Lotas
Mile High Afterlife is my painted version of a Warren Lotas illustration that I loved enough that I wanted to recreate it on a much larger scale. I did not design the original imagery. I took his drawing and translated it into a 30 × 40 acrylic painting by hand.
The piece combines Denver basketball with the dark skeletal style that immediately drew me to the original. A dead looking basketball player dribbles across the canvas in a Denver jersey while a mountain lion charges beside him. Behind them are the mountains with DENVER stretched across the top.
I made this because I genuinely loved the artwork and wanted to see what it would look like as a huge painting. There is something different about taking an image you admire and physically recreating it yourself. You start noticing every line, shape, shadow, and little decision that you probably would have looked past otherwise.
And then I had another idea.
I decided I was going to take this giant thing to a Denver Nuggets game and try to get the players to sign it.
That did not go according to plan.
Apparently showing up to a basketball game carrying a 30 × 40 inch painting creates some logistical problems. I could not get it into the game, so my dream of covering it in signatures ended before I even made it inside.
Looking back, I actually love that story because it makes the painting feel even more like me. I saw something I loved, decided I needed to paint a gigantic version of it, and then somehow convinced myself I could casually walk into an NBA game carrying it.
I couldn't.
But I still got a pretty awesome painting out of it.