Drew, The Three Stooges, 1993

Original illustration done for a Franklin Mint collectible plate, based on the Three Stooges short "I'll Never Heil Again" from 1941.
I found Drew Struzan's website in 1998-99 and drooled over the original art he had for sale. The prices seemed outlandish for a college student, so the idea of owning a finished original illustration by him didn't go much beyond idle daydreaming. However, this image is one of the ones that stuck in my mind from all those years ago... and by the incredible generosity of a dear friend, I received it as a stunning and totally unexpected birthday present. I am one happy, lucky guy.
The illustration is done in Struzan's trademark technique of pencil underdrawing overlaid by airbrushed acrylics and colored pencils.
Struzan doesn't accept the label "photorealism" – but what else would you call it when he's even managed to draw/paint the objects closest to the viewer blur "out of focus"... Incredible.