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Simone Biles, Eminem and Sabrina Carpenter Inspire Rudy Willingham’s Latest Art Projects
Seattle-based artist collaborates with his fam
Using cutouts, M&Ms and lots of espressos, artist Rudy Willingham celebrates Simone Biles, Eminem and Sabrina Carpenter in fun and unexpected ways on his TikTok and Instagram accounts.
These projects satisfy his own creative urges. But Willingham, repped by Giant Artists, also works for clients such as Aston Martin and HBO’s House of the Dragon, which ranks as his favorite show. (Muse covered the whimsical stop-motion ads Willingham made for Whole Foods in 2022.)
His wife and father-in-law work with the Seattle-based artist in a garage that has been converted into an art studio. “They help with a lot of the printing, cutting, supplies, studio set-up, etc. It’s a true family business,” Willingham says.
“We’re in the process of rebranding to Rudy Willingham Studios as opposed to [me] just being known as an artist/creator,” he reports. “Social media is a huge part of what we do, but we can also create larger TV campaigns, billboards, art installations, copywriting, etc. We can act as a small ad agency when needed.”
Here, Willingham talks about his celebrity-inspired artistic endeavors in more detail:
I know you have to be a fan of Simone Biles because you have celebrated her in two new projects. Why is she such an inspiration to you?
What she does in the air doesn’t even seem real. It looks CGI. I’m in awe of her physical ability. I’m also inspired by her comeback story. Everyone deals with struggles, and being able to fight through that and excel takes a lot of courage. It’s what sports are all about. I can’t believe she took two years off and comes back even better. Who does that? I love witnessing greatness, and she is definitely the G.O.A.T.
Are you sporty at all?
I’m a huge sports fan and played a ton of sports growing up. I’m retired now—pretty sure I’d tear my ACL playing any sort of pickup game at this point. Also, can’t risk injuring my thumb. How would I hold my cutouts?
I have watched your Simon Biles paper cutouts piece a million times. Can you take me through the process of making it?
It’s quite laborious, but we have a pretty efficient system. First, we export 100 images from her routine. Then we turn the background white and make her leotard transparent in Photoshop. Then we print and cut each frame with a Cricut machine.
We shot all the cutouts in front of red, white or blue backgrounds to give them that patriotic feel. After shooting, it’s just a matter of editing in Lightroom and then lining up each card in Premiere.
How long did it take to complete that piece?
About two weeks start to finish.
You also recently created an image of Eminem out of 7,000 M&Ms. Was that more or less the amount of M&Ms you initially thought it would take?
We knew it would take around 7,000, but it took so much longer than we initially anticipated.
The main problem was that we had to super glue the back of each one , which was a nightmare. When we’re experimenting with new styles, it’s always difficult to estimate how long a project will take. I was really happy with how it turned out, though. And now we can take what we learned and apply it to new projects moving forward.
What are the challenges of working with milk chocolate covered in a sugar shell?
They were surprisingly durable! I was initially worried they’d melt with the glue, but they held up really well.
I’ve been listening to Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” nonstop. So I was delighted to see you made Sabrina Carpenter stop-motion art out of 200 espressos. How did you create the designs, and how many espresso machines did you have going? I can’t even wrap my head around how much work went into this piece.
I was excited when that song blew up because we’d done a bunch of latte animations, so we had the process down and now had the perfect subject for it.
All it takes is one machine, lots of coffee and a ton of patience.
Do you know if Simone, Eminen or Sabrina have seen any of this amazing art?
I know Simone and Sabrina have seen it, which is so cool. I don’t see Eminem as a big social media guy. So, he probably has not.
I find everything you do so clever and joyful. Why do you make art?
For exactly that reason—to make people happy. I have an insatiable urge to make stuff. It’s almost like breathing. I just have to do it. I’m sure most artists can relate.
Are you self-taught, or did you study how to make art?
I have no formal training other than working at ad agencies for 10 years. [Including stints at WongDoody and DNASeattle]. I started in new business, then moved on to strategy, digital, and then, finally, copywriting. I think this breadth of career experience has really helped me in what I’m doing now because as a small business owner you have to wear a lot of hats.
How would you describe what you do as an artist?
I always have trouble doing that. I guess you could put my art into two buckets. Number one: stop-motion using practical materials—paper, snow, lattes., basically anything but CGI. And number two: street art/collage art—transforming everyday objects into something new.
I have a lot of different techniques, but the one thing I want to be consistent is that it’s handmade, organic and fun.
Do you work whenever inspiration strikes, or do you have set hours—like maybe you are a morning person, or an evening person?
I’m definitely a night owl, although I have two young kids, so I’ve had to begrudgingly become a morning person. We’re working pretty much around the clock because you have to constantly pump out work to succeed on social. It’s a grind, but it doesn’t really feel like work.
Do you have any dream clients? Here is your chance to put that out into the world.
Would love to do some work for the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics in L.A. I’m also interested in getting into music videos, TV show intros and more broadcast spots.
One of the best things about our business is that we’re very nimble and can work on big and small projects depending on what the brand needs. Clients don’t have to hire an entire film crew to get something done, which makes turnaround much faster and hassle-free.
Do you listen to music while you work?
I listen a lot to KEXP 90.3, an incredible radio station in Seattle.
I also make music myself. Search Rudy Willingham on Spotify. I started my social accounts as a way to promote my music, but then the art took off so I’ve been focusing on that. I’m hoping to get back into the music game soon, though.
Any upcoming projects you would like to tease?
For so long, I’ve wanted to launch an Etsy store and start releasing music again. Hopefully, by answering this question it will manifest into reality.
