For The New York Times Magazine‘s annual “The Lives They Lived,” Professor Danny Ferrell was commissioned to paint a portrait of Pittsburgh-born rapper, singer, and producer Mac Miller, who passed away in September.
Professor Ferrell writes of his portrait, “There’s this blasé attitude that rappers can have, but he just seemed to be focused on the music, as opposed to the pageantry of celebrity life. I wanted to capture that humanness, that raw quality, and do something celebratory, not particularly sad. Weirdly, last night, he came to me in a dream and gave me a hug. It was a nice validation.”