When my friend Jerry Biederman asked me to create a portrait of Michael Jackson so fans from all over the world will have a place to unite and share in Michael's legacy, I didn't fully understand the impact my portrait could have.

I have been a fan of Michael's for a long time. I was one of those kids who tried to copy his dance moves and I loved his music. Looking back, though, I didn't realize the tremendous positive influence he was having around the world. After all, to me, he was just an amazing entertainer.

My drawings are created using only dots, a technique called pointillism. Millions of hand-drawn dots come together on my canvas to form an image. Two years ago, I created the idea to associate each dot in my drawings with a real person. People from all over the world have been joining my projects and each of them have been getting dots in their name added to the portraits.

Within hours of Michael’s passing, Jerry asked me to create a tribute portrait where every dot in the drawing represents a Michael Jackson fan. I loved the idea. But because it will take millions of dots to complete the portrait, I challenged Jerry to get the first 250,000 fans to demonstrate their support as a sign that the rest will follow. I wanted to do this tribute only if the fans wanted me to. Jerry set up a website where fans can vote for the portrait. What started as a challenge to Jerry, ended up as a life-changing and eye-opening experience for me.

In the first four days, many thousands of fans voted YES for the portrait. Many thousands more have been demonstrating their enthusiasm and support every day since then in increasing numbers. What really touches me is not just the number of fans, but where they are coming from. People voted from more than 80 countries with additional countries being added to the list daily.

No matter what conflict or hardships are going on in a country, people are taking the time to sit down at their computer to show their support and be counted for this tribute. This experience has made me realize that Michael really was changing the world. People loved him, in every part of this planet. He wasn’t just “the greatest entertainer.” He was someone who successfully used his gifts and his talents to bring people together.

Over the last few days, Michael's fans have been working hard to spread the word about my portrait. I have seen messages in more than 10 languages. In a short time, we will have enough fans coming together to begin the portrait.

I want everyone to know that I fully understand the meaning and magnitude of this project. Behind every single dot I place on the canvas, there is a fan who loved Michael and is mourning his death. It is very fitting that the portrait of Michael will be created by dots representing his FANS. Michael loved and respected his fans as much as his fans love and respect him. I am honored to be the person who is helping bring his fans together again, but I am just the instrument. I only add dots when people join the project, so it is really the fans who are creating the portrait by coming forward. It was because all of you came together that Michael was able to be who he was, and it is because all of you are coming together now that Michael's image will be created.

I see this portrait as being a tribute to Michael's fans and not just Michael himself. I believe a man of peace and love would not have wanted people to celebrate him, but for all of us to celebrate each other. It is what Michael was working for his entire life; people forgetting their differences and coming together. He was bringing all of us together all those years, and now we all have a chance to come together for him. We may speak different languages and we may not agree on everything, but I consider every dot in Michael Jackson's image to be a member of the same family. We all know there is at least one thing we agree on, and that is a wonderful start for making the world a better place.

David Ilan