Viral Charlie Kirk portrait earns praise, death threats for faith-driven artist

A Mississippi artist with a million-strong following recently went viral for his portrait of Charlie Kirk, which was prominently displayed during Kirk’s massive memorial event watched by millions.

Samuel Ingram, known on social media as Sam Ryan, drew a picture of Kirk with his hands clasped in front of his face. The portrait of Ryan, the artist behind Sam Ryan Studios, evokes prayer or reflection.

Kirk’s expression in the painting is serious and thoughtful; Ryan, on the other hand, incorporated distinctive reds, blacks, whites and blues that evoke patriotic themes.

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

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At the time, Ryan’s painting of President Donald Trump after the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt was going viral. The Turning Point USA founder contacted Trump immediately after seeing his painting and expressed interest in purchasing a print.

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

Immediately after Kirk was killed at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, Ryan felt compelled to pay tribute to him.

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“I wanted to do him a service,” he said. “The best way I could do was memorialize it for everyone to see and add to its legacy, especially with Dan Fleuette’s reference photo of Charlie praying.”

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

Mississippi artist Sam Ryan went viral after painting a portrait of Charlie Kirk based on a photograph capturing the Turning Point USA founder in a moment of prayerful thought. (@sam_ryan_studio via Instagram; inspired by a photo by Dan Fleuette)

Ryan said he painted the portrait in 12 hours overnight. After a sleepless night, he shared this with the world at 8 a.m. on September 11th.

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

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

More than a month after Kirk’s death, Ryan said he still receives death threats on Instagram.

Sam Ryan said his tribute to Charlie Kirk was created overnight and shared the morning after Kirk’s death to honor the conservative icon’s legacy. (@sam_ryan_studio via Instagram; inspired by a photo by Dan Fleuette)

“All because I painted someone I have a personal connection with,” Ryan said. “Even though I’m a conservative, this wasn’t actually a political statement.”

“It was more of a personal feeling for his family and something that God gave me the ability to do, to paint and do portraits in the style that I do that somehow stands out.”

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But luckily, the support outweighed the hate, and Ryan’s work attracted the attention of over a million like-minded conservatives and Christians.

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

Artist Sam Ryan said he lost more than 100,000 followers on social media after sharing a portrait of Charlie Kirk. (@sam_ryan_studio via Instagram; inspired by a photo by Dan Fleuette)

Ryan also traveled all the way from Mississippi to Arizona to attend Kirk’s memorial service on September 21. He described the experience as both bitter and sweet; A turning point in his career, but an experience that took place under tragic circumstances.

According to Ryan, Kirk’s death evokes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ; to him, it is a reflection of how those who tell the truth often face persecution.

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“A lot of times people don’t want to hear the truth, they want to be comforted,” he said. “I think he shook up a lot of the demons that were hiding in the world, and that’s why they brought him out.”

“God, it only took twelve [disciples] He had over twelve people to spread the message – and Charlie to spread the news. When you get all these eyes on you, there are a lot of crazy people in the audience who hate you for spreading the message of the gospels.”

“Anything that makes people feel something inspires me and I hope it spreads good and prevents bad in the world.”

The faith-based painter said he hopes those who don’t follow him can see that Kirk “is human and he doesn’t deserve this.”

“Because to me and to my knowledge, he’s never said anything hateful, racist, like you’ve been watching all these clips,” he said. “He never said anything that was completely wrong.”

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“I’d like to tell them he’s human too,” Ryan added. “And I have a heart; that’s something a lot of people don’t have. They can’t overcome their emotions because of political views.”

The painting will be hung at Turning Point USA headquarters, Ryan said. Due to the intense interest in the painting, a small print signed by him will be offered for sale between 17-19 October. samryanstudio.com.

A portrait of Charlie Kirk by Sam Ryan was displayed at a widely watched tribute to the life and faith of the founder of Turning Point USA. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images; inspired by a photo by Dan Fleuette)

“About 20,000 people [are] “So far we’re on the waiting list and we’ll have a limited number of limited edition prints,” he said. “So it’ll be on a first-come, first-served basis.”

Ultimately guided by faith, Ryan hopes his work will lead others to faith and kindness.

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“Anything that makes people feel something inspires me, and I hope to spread the good and prevent the bad in the world,” he said.