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Everyone's sharing this great David Bowie gif - here's the story behind it

The gif is the work of artist Helen Green.

David Bowie PA Archive / Press Association Images PA Archive / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

THE WORLD IS mourning the legendary musician David Bowie, who passed away yesterday after an 18-month battle with cancer.

Fans have been sharing this hypnotic gif of the changing faces of Bowie as a tribute to the artist:

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The gif is the work of illustrator Helen Green, created a year ago to mark the musician’s 68th birthday. It quickly went viral, resulting in Green being contacted by Bowie’s people.

In a post on Bowie’s official Facebook page, Green said she makes a piece every year on his birthday, as a “little token of appreciation for someone that has inspired me so much”.

Helen Green Art - Timeline Photos | Facebook Facebook / Helen Green Art Facebook / Helen Green Art / Helen Green Art

Each pencil drawing was coloured digitally and animated in Photoshop, and [it] took around 35 hours in total. For many of the drawings, I used a reference from a different year, but facing the correct way. For example, the reference for Ashes to Ashes Bowie was his 1976 mugshot, and a sideways facing Heroes Bowie for the drawing of David Jones.

“It was quite a triumph to see all 29 drawings in motion for the first time,” she said.

Sky Arts commissioned an extended version of the gif to advertise their David Bowie Weekend in November of last year:

Sky Arts / YouTube

You can order Green’s Bowie gif as prints here.
Written by Valerie Loftus and first published on DailyEdge.ie

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More: David Bowie has died, aged 69>

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