A friend of mine died this summer. About a month ago, actually. He was struck by a vehicle at highway speed while he was crossing on his bike; he died in the hospital that night. He was only 18, and one of the best and brightest kids you could ever wish to meet. I'd known Kenneth and his family for almost as long as we've lived in Rochester, almost 15 years now. His death came as a suprise to all of us, and he was greatly mourned and will be even more greatly missed. I stopped commissions and mural work to finish this portrait for his family, mostly because it helped me to process his passing, and to feel like somehow I contributed to the healing process. Everything is getting back to normal now, but for a couple weeks it seemed like life stopped to mourn Kenneth's passing.

Kenneth was a huge LOTR and Star Wars fan. He was an avid DnD player, gamer, and cosplayer since middle school. He made his own chain maile by the traditional technique with real steal rings. I put him in Aragorn's armor because he had been working on reproducing that costume since the movie's release and took every slight excuse to wear it. To school, to movies, to parties. This is how he would have wanted to be remembered.

As usual, please don't reproduce this image--the original belongs exclusively to the family, and I don't want them to see it show up somewhere randomly online. I wanted to upload it here to share it with you folks, because it was a very emotional event for me this summer, and I think this is the best portrait work I've ever done as a result.