MILWAUKEE — With each stroke of his brush, Milwaukee artist Justin Heard recreates moments in time on his canvas. His attention to details helps him see what many of us may not notice.
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"I really like to look at people, and I look at the way the light bounces off of their face, and I see the colors that you might not think are there, but there's greens and blues and different colors in our face that you might not normally notice," Heard said.
This self-taught artist has not gone unnoticed. A recent commissioned piece of Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and family went viral.
"Blew up overnight. I posted it on TikTok, and then it blew up, and then I posted it on Instagram," Heard said.
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The painting even got the attention of the Milwaukee Bucks with a shoutout on Instagram.
"I'm a big Bucks fan, so I felt like it was a dream come true," Heard said.
Justin started drawing at age 15. At 16, he held his first art exhibit.
"My mother gave me the idea. When she told me I needed to start painting to build my portfolio, she was like, we could do a gallery for your 16th birthday where people could come and see the work that you've been doing," Heard said. "So, we set up a little area in my garage. We put white tarps all around, and a lot of my family and my friends came to see."
That same year, one of his pieces was on display at the Milwaukee Art Museum in a youth art show.
At home, Justin's artwork decorates his living room walls. His mother beams with pride.
"I just encourage him and motivate him to stay grounded in who he is," said Latoya Heard, Justin's mom. "I've always told him, don't follow other people whatever decisions you make, make them because that's what you want to do. And so, with his art and with his clothing, he is true to his message. He is true to who he is."
When Justin is not painting, you can find him at his sewing machine, creating clothing as another form of artistic expression.
Whether painting upon canvas or stitching dreams in fabric, Justin sees his art not merely as a gift received, but as one meant to be shared.
"It's the biggest gift I feel like for other people to enjoy it and for me to make a living off of it in the future. Yeah, to honor, appreciate all the supporters," Heard said.
In the fall, Justin is headed to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, but Milwaukee will always be in his heart and mind.
"Want to bring it back to the community and just improve the community overall. I want to learn a variety of different mediums so that, depending on what idea I have at the moment, I can express it in a way that I feel represents the best," Heard said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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