The first pieces from his Friends & Heroes collection, released in July 2022, sold out in hours and there was so much interest in Johnny’s art debut that interest from collectors around the world crashed our website!

“I didn’t believe it, it didn’t make sense to me,” said Johnny about his triumph in a video interview with Castle Fine Art which you can see further down this page. “I’m obviously really touched that people wanted to look a little further outside of my day job as it were, investigating some of the imagery that interests me.

“I was very touched by that, especially as when you’re trying to give a personal touch to something, sparkles that you saw in their eyes, very simple little things. Hopefully it bought those friends and heroes of mine out in a way that I see them and the same with the second volume of Friends & Heroes”.

The iconic figures in this new collection are actors Heath Ledger and River Phoenix, musician Bob Marley and writer Hunter S Thompson, all of whom were either friends of Johnny, or an inspiration to him, thus adding a real emotional weight to the pieces. Working from photographic references, each image was stripped back to a simpler and iconic portrayal of the subject, which Johnny then developed and energised with his characteristic freehand flourishes.