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Description
Stephen Hillenburg 1961- 2018

I've never done a tribute picture before, even though I've always wanted to. But due to the recent tragic event we've had this week, I figured now would be a perfect time to do it.

Whether you are a fan of SpongeBob or not, you cannot deny that this show has become a huge part of animation and even a part of culture. I still fondly remember seeing promo's for this show back in the Spring of 1999 and being taken aback at how weird and different it seemed at the time. I, like millions of other kids and adults, grew to love this show. Fast forward to today its become one of most iconic shows off all time.

So naturally, I was shocked to read an article finding out that Hillenburg, the creator of the show, passed away this past Monday.

Originally I was going to have Hillenburg in caricature form drawing out a picture of SpongeBob, but I thought it would take some insportation from Normal Rockwell's Triple Self Portrait.
I figured it would be more interesting to where he's not facing us.

You see Hillenburg was really a guy more famous behind the scenes. Most of people know his name and what he created, but if you happened to walk down the street and see him, most probably wouldn't recognize him right away ( at least not without a quick google search).

It's actually interesting when you think about it, to not have an insane celebrity status, but still have significant impact on a lot of people. That's pretty amazing.

I wanted the overall picture to reflect parts of Hillenberg's life; the sea animals on his shirt and sketches to represent his background in marine biology, his history Nickelodeon with the Splat logo and the figurine of Rocko. His original working title for the concept of SpongeBob: Intertidal Zone.

And course his lifelong passion of drawing and creating new cartoons, ones that we would come love for years to come.

This was done using a combination of pen, watercolor pencils, and regular pencils, something I normally don't do. I still need to work with my watercolors more.
Minor edits made with DeviantArt muro

Description
Stephen Hillenburg 1961- 2018

I've never done a tribute picture before, even though I've always wanted to. But due to the recent tragic event we've had this week, I figured now would be a perfect time to do it.

Whether you are a fan of SpongeBob or not, you cannot deny that this show has become a huge part of animation and even a part of culture. I still fondly remember seeing promo's for this show back in the Spring of 1999 and being taken aback at how weird and different it seemed at the time. I, like millions of other kids and adults, grew to love this show. Fast forward to today its become one of most iconic shows off all time.

So naturally, I was shocked to read an article finding out that Hillenburg, the creator of the show, passed away this past Monday.

Originally I was going to have Hillenburg in caricature form drawing out a picture of SpongeBob, but I thought it would take some insportation from Normal Rockwell's Triple Self Portrait.
I figured it would be more interesting to where he's not facing us.

You see Hillenburg was really a guy more famous behind the scenes. Most of people know his name and what he created, but if you happened to walk down the street and see him, most probably wouldn't recognize him right away ( at least not without a quick google search).

It's actually interesting when you think about it, to not have an insane celebrity status, but still have significant impact on a lot of people. That's pretty amazing.

I wanted the overall picture to reflect parts of Hillenberg's life; the sea animals on his shirt and sketches to represent his background in marine biology, his history Nickelodeon with the Splat logo and the figurine of Rocko. His original working title for the concept of SpongeBob: Intertidal Zone.

And course his lifelong passion of drawing and creating new cartoons, ones that we would come love for years to come.

This was done using a combination of pen, watercolor pencils, and regular pencils, something I normally don't do. I still need to work with my watercolors more.
Minor edits made with DeviantArt muro