A viral photo of Charlie Kirk is garnering praise and death threats for the faith-driven artist

A Mississippi artist with 1 million followers recently went viral for his photo Charlie Kirk — a piece that was prominently displayed during Kirk’s massive memorial service watched by millions.

Samuel Ingram, known on social media as Sam Ryan, drew a picture of Kirk with his hands pressed together in front of his face. The artist behind Sam Ryan Studios, Ryan’s image suggests prayer or meditation.

Kirk’s expression in the painting is serious and contemplative, and Ryan has incorporated prominent red, black, white and blue colors, evoking patriotic themes.

Speaking to Fox News Digital on Sunday — two days before Kirk’s 32nd birthday — Ryan said he personally spoke with Kirk last year.

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At that time, Ryan’s painting of the president Donald Trump After the attempt on his life on July 13, 2024 became widely known. The founder of Turning Point USA contacted him shortly after seeing the Trump painting and expressed interest in purchasing a print.

“The DM said to me, ‘I love it, man. I need to get this for the studio. When are you going to print it?'” Ryan recalls. “And that was the last thing I heard from him.”

Following Kirk’s assassination on September 10 Utah Valley University, Ryan felt compelled to memorialize him.

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“I wanted to do him a favor,” he said. “The best way I can do that is to commemorate him for everyone to see and add to his legacy, especially with the reference photo I used from Dan Flewitt of Charlie praying.”

“I felt like this was the perfect reference for him.”

Ryan said he painted the picture in 12 hours overnight. He shared it with the world at 8 a.m. on September 11 after a sleepless night.

“It was a way for me to show my respect for him and his family, and to show it for him,” Ryan said.

A customer orders a Starbucks drink for Charlie Kirk and finds a disturbing hate message

The honor was not without reaction. The artist said he lost 44,000 followers on Instagram, and collectively, more than 100,000 social media users unfollowed him across all his platforms, including Facebook and TikTok.

Ryan said that even more than a month after Kirk’s death, he is still receiving death threats on Instagram.

“All for the sake of painting someone I had a personal connection with,” Ryan said. “It wasn’t really a political statement, even though I’m conservative.”

“It was about personal feelings for his family and something God gave me the ability to do – to paint and paint portraits in the style that I do that somehow attracts attention.”

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But fortunately, support outweighed the hate, and Ryan’s work attracted more than a million conservatives and like-minded Christians.

“I’ve gained over a million followers across all my platforms…I think a few hundred thousand per platform,” he said.

Ryan also traveled all the way from Mississippi to Arizona to attend Kirk’s memorial service on September 21. He described the experience as bittersweet — a milestone in his career, but one under tragic circumstances.

For Ryan, Kirk’s death evokes the memory of Christ’s crucifixion Jesus Christ – He said it is a reflection of how those who speak the truth are often persecuted.

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“A lot of times, people don’t want to hear the truth, they want to feel comfortable,” he said. “I think he shocked a lot of demons hiding in the world over there, and they took him out because of that.”

“Jesus, it only took twelve (disciples) to spread the message — and Charlie had more than a dozen people to spread the word. When you have all those eyes on you, there’s going to be a lot of crazy people in the audience who hate you for spreading the message of the Gospels.”

“Anything that makes people feel something is what inspires me, and I hope to spread goodness in the world and prevent evil.”

the Driven by faith The painter said he hoped those who unfollowed him could see that Kirk was “human, and he didn’t deserve this.”

“Because, from what I know, he never said anything hateful or racist, like you were watching all these clips,” he said. “He never said anything completely wrong.”

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“I would just tell them he was a human being too,” Ryan added. “And I have a heart, which is something a lot of people don’t have. They can’t get over their feelings about the political aspects.”

The plaque will be put up at Turning Point USA’s headquarters, Ryan said. Due to the great interest in the painting, he will be selling a small print signed by him personally from October 17-19. samryanstudio.com.

“There are about 20,000 people on the waiting list so far, and we will have a limited number of limited edition prints,” he said. “So it will be on a first-come, first-served basis.”

Ultimately, guided by faith, Ryan hopes his work will transform others toward faith and goodness.

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“Anything that makes people feel something is what inspires me, and I hope to spread goodness in the world and prevent evil,” he said.