Best of Brooklyn: Artist Honors Orlando

A Bedford-Stuyvesant artist is taking New York's gay pride celebration weekend even farther. Russell Boyle is drawing portraits of each of the 49 Orlando massacre victims and sending them to the grieving

News 12 Staff

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Jun 26, 2016, 3:59 AM

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Updated 3,182 days ago

A Bedford-Stuyvesant artist is taking New York's gay pride celebration weekend even farther.

Russell Boyle is drawing portraits of each of the 49 Orlando massacre victims and sending them to the grieving families in honor of their fallen loved ones.

Boyle researched each victim to find the best photo. Although he is not a professional artist, he says perfection wasn't the point of his work.

"I'm not a perfect artist, but I feel like the likeness and the soul is what matters most, honoring them in the best way that I can," he says.

Only nine portraits have been completed so far, but family members of the victims have already reached out to Boyle to express their appreciation for his work.

Boyle says he hopes to have prints made up for all of the families and to raise money for LGBTQ organizations.