HBO's "Game of Thrones" is known for the surprising deaths of some of its most major characters. Some deaths are pretty gruesome, while others can be quite beautiful.
That's why HBO collaborated with the digital marketing agency 360i and artist Robert Ball to put together the "Beautiful Death" series, which chronicles the show's major deaths by turning them into works of art.
We spoke with Ball and asked him about the series and how he puts it together.
WARNING: "GAME OF THRONES" SPOILERS AHEAD.
For his first piece, Ball took blood and turned it into a map of Westeros. "I decided early on that there should be more to them than straight illustration," Ball told us. According to him, doing this gave it "more intrigue and depth."
The depth and intrigue of the series has helped it stand out. For example, turning the beheading of season one's protagonist, Ned Stark, into birds flying into the heavens created a beautiful image out of one of the most unexpected deaths on the show.
Ball says the images only take a couple of days to put together. The image for season three's bloody and shocking Red Wedding didn't take that long to create.
One of Ball's favorite pieces was of Arya's first kill in season two. "I wanted to show that the little girl that was Arya is no more," He said. "To me it's direct, simple and powerful - the most emotional of the pieces."
According to Ball, all of the work is digital. However, some do contain hand drawn elements. This is how Ball responded to King Joffrey's poisoning in season four.
When the fourth season came around, Ball didn't have any idea of the upcoming deaths so he created images as they occurred like the trial by combat piece below. "I was responding to each episode 'live' and worked on each piece week by week. It made season four even more exciting to watch!"
Ball says not knowing shocking events like Tyrion murdering his father Tywin in the season four finale have been enjoyable. "It made season four even more exciting to watch," he said.
To check out the entire "Beautiful Death" series, head over to HBO's website for the project.
And to check out more of Robert Ball's work, head over to his website.