What Makes Trevor Henderson's Work So Captivating?
By Elisabeth Wong
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Trevor Henderson is a freelance honor illustrator and he has completely turned the game for digital artists and creators onto it’s head. I’ll tell you why he did so and how he did it.
It is one simple thing. Planning. On top of his amazing talent he had perfect planning for his creations and knew how to market them.
From what I’ve seen of other artists and how I have interpreted their posting schedules, many times they are random and there is rarely a connection between all the pieces. They may have series that focus on a couple characters and connect them that way, but an entire universe is not something artists usually create from what I have seen.
All of his characters seemed planned, and whether he has thought about this months in advance or that he is so good at bending the stories to overlap is something we might never get to know the true answer to. But to see how his being’s connect or the stories behind them is nothing short of entertaining. Nothing seems random. Everything seems planned and thought through. I never get the feeling that he randomly threw ideas against the wall to see what sticks. Everything seems planned and thought out, and as someone who likes to analyze art and stories, I find more enjoyment in his simple yet complex art and stories rather than others that simply draw a person and give them a bio. For me, I like the mystery.
This also leads to the big thing that drive Henderson’s art to a new level and why he has gained such a cult following.
He constantly keeps his fans guessing and allows them to be apart of the story. His captions don’t give all the answers the audience wants from blunt statements like “Long Horse sighting,” to his latest which is “witness to the crash,” the audience is constantly wonder what these beings are, why they are there, and what did they do to cause the event to occur.
Henderson has invited his audience to explore the beings with him and that is how he has gained his following. He encourages people to make theories, draw fanart, and videos about his creations. Unlike some artist he does not shoot down these fan interpretations or works, but rather he seems to enjoy them from what I have seen. He could easily have threatened lawsuits like artist and writers have done in the past but he doesn’t. There are dozens of fanart pieces, theory videos, and even short films all over the internet that continue to theorize and spread Henderson’s work. Siren Head is one example of that.
Siren Head blew up over Tik Tok with “Siren Head sighting” videos and rather than striking these people for copyright Henderson let them be and that brought more attention to his work.
Henderson not only is a creative genius with his work but also someone who clearly has thought threw the organic growth path and marketing strategy of his works. I’m excited to see what he does in the future and I would be lying if I said I didn’t want a horror TV series or film about his works.