On Painting Billie

I don’t always choose who I paint — sometimes, the energy arrives first.

This oil portrait of Billie Eilish began with her gaze. Cool. Direct. Almost uncomfortably present. The reference came from a Los Angeles Magazine editorial, but what drew me in wasn’t the styling — it was the tension beneath the surface. Billie has a way of being both here and somewhere else entirely, and that paradox lives in her eyes.

I painted her with dark, near-black hair against icy blue eyes, using my signature oil process — expressive strokes, earthy undertones, nothing too polished. Around the portrait, I added a hand-painted green outline. Not to frame her, but to hold her. There’s a difference.

Hit Me Hard and Soft

The portrait carries the weight of stillness — not silence, but presence.
It sits beside her latest album release, Hit Me Hard and Soft, and specifically the track Skinny, which speaks with such honesty about the body, public perception, and the loneliness of being seen but not understood. That song hums beneath the brushwork. It’s part of the painting, even if you can’t hear it.

This piece isn’t just about likeness. It’s about what it feels like to be watched — and to watch back.

I didn’t paint Billie to explain her. I painted her to honor the space she takes up — quietly, powerfully, and fully her own.