Artist Rendering of First Marijuana Sale Goes Viral

The eyes of the world news were focused on Colorado the other day as the first fully state-legal marijuana sales to adults in the U.S.A. for almost 80 years began. The first official sale had already been arranged, to the delight of reporters, photographers, and especially Sean Azzariti.

Mr. Azzariti is a U.S. Army war veteran who has been suffering from PTSD since his service in Iraq, but PTSD is not a “covered condition” under Colorado’s medical marijuana laws. So although Colorado’s new laws are mostly seen as allowing sales of “recreational marijuana”, they’ve also allowed people like Sean Azzariti to get relief. And the instantly iconic photo of the moment of his purchase is destined, per lunartree, to enter the history books for all time:

Who can blame him for beaming in happiness as he finally got legal access to the cannabis medicine he needs? Not Jenny Stout, a Utah-based graphic artist who was so taken with the situation that she drew the scene in her own style — with a bit of artistic license and a nod towards Internet memes — and it deservedly hit the front page of reddit, making a viral and iconic splash of its own:

Jenny describes herself as an illustrator, animator, video game and equine artist. Here’s what she told me about how this all came about:

I went to /r/trees because I was excited to see their thoughts on the milestone in Colorado and the first thing I saw was Sean’s face! Oh my gosh, it was immediate; it completely summed up all those different emotions leading up to this moment. I felt so connected to that facial expression, I couldn’t not draw him at that point…I’m very much into interpreting emotion visually. I saw it clearly in my mind. I’ve never put something down on “paper” so quick!

Jenny Stout works in a wide range of styles and media, and she’s available to do custom work for you too. If you want to learn “how Jenny does it”, you can look at this animated GIF version of her sketch, or watch this more in-depth video she made:

* video updated January 5th, 2pm PST