Clifford Land paints “realistically by mastering light and shadow. His work coined as hyper-realism, his work often entails a softer, much more complex focus of his subject depicted in his painting, no matter how small or billboard size. These paintings are meticulously detailed to create the illusion of a reality not seen in the original photo source or subject.”   Land became a journeyman pictorial artist, which gave him contracted billboard work for over a dozen years, dangling from buildings like Spider-Man to beautify exteriors with a more commercial appeal. He also developed other skill-sets – like “faux finishing” used to remodel a casino or master copying works irreparably damaged. Various jobs had him serving as an art director for a printing plant or fulfilling the needs of an advertising agency that handled all the Chevy dealerships in the Houston metro area, which proved to be draining for him.   Admission into Atlanta’s Piedmont Art Festival had Land bring a realism touch to “suburban poverty,” which caught the interest of New York artist Mark Kostabi who subcontracted him with various New York City billboards.  The move meant meeting contemporaries like Ron English and Gerhard Richter. He created a 100 × 200 foot display on Brooklyn’s Bruckner Highway featuring large cartoon heads and a large “Michael Jordan” type basketball figure in which extended approximately 120’ tall that would eventually become landmarks.  Perhaps the most recognizable work – the infamous DKNY mural on Houston Street remained visible for 17 years and received global attention.  Land was originally chosen to paint the Soho wall mural ad by Transportation Display Inc.