Beginnings as an Illustrator

           

         Hills’ art career began in 2001 as a freelance illustrator for prominent magazines such as Slam and XXL. Hill balanced his freelance magazine jobs while also working at Fashion Institute of Technology part time. Realizing that he could make a living off of his art, Hill decided to pursue art as a professional career. Soon after making this decision, Hill landed a commission at Coca Cola.

Coca Cola and the Development of a New Style

          As Hill continued to refine his process of prints and fine line drawings, Coca Cola was looking to commission a series of prints in the wake of 9/11. Hearing about Hills’ work through XXL, Coca Cola tasked him with creating two projects. The first would be of the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square. Hill was asked to recreate the billboard and its surroundings with a theme of unity and patriotism. He was also asked to create a collection of 100 original screen prints, intended for the top executives at Coca Cola. These prints would also have a patriotic theme, Hill choosing a Coca Cola bottle superimposed with the American flag in the background. During this period Hill began to turn his focus to color and printing, moving away from fine line drawings. He began to dive deeper into his relationship with color, experimenting with placement and color theory. Through this, Hill started to merge images with these colorful works, often using house paint or other less traditional materials.