Billy Ludwig’s digital work is what catapulted him into the limelight. In the early 2000s, knowing his next step as an artist was to get into graphic design, he began his journey teaching himself Photoshop. Although a painfully frustrating endeavor, he adapted to it quickly and these days is considered a master of the program with his seamless photo manipulation.
Considered his first actual piece of art created using Photoshop was “Jasper”; a portrait of his first black-eyed phantom which would later bloom into the creepy ongoing series we now know as Vaudeville Phantoms. In some respects, this series would be an element for the equation that would inspire Billy’s SWvsWWII series. Mixing Star Wars with WWII would be ingredients to the cocktail of success for Billy Ludwig not only online, but throughout the comic con circuit. Later giving birth to Galactic Samurai which intertwines the Samurai of ancient Japan with Star Wars. From that series, “Seppuku”, an image featuring a Samurai Stormtrooper committing ritualistic suicide, has been one of the best-selling prints and t-shirts of both series.
Although, SWvsWWII has a strong lead, all 3 series have a solid following as well as his independent science fiction and horror themed images such as “NYC ‘53 Invasion” which caught the eyes of the set directors at ABC Studios and was later used on the hit show Criminal Minds.