All About Stenciling

I want to know if its illegal to create an artistic image of a celebrity (stencil, drawing, painting etc) and sell it for a profit. Do you need to get permission?? I know that photographers take pictures of celebrities and sell them at a high price to magazines. I just wanted to know if it is the same/different for art. Thanks!

I don't think it is illegal. I think most public figures are open game.

Its defenately not illegal as a matter of fact that is the way that I do my portrait work. I have sold quite a few of my celebrity portraits to people. I sell mine as commissoned art not as a business

If you are copying a published work (photo, painting etc.) then there are copyright issues. If you are using published photos as a reference for a work of art in a different media then you have the right to sell that work without permission from the subject. Where the biggest issue comes from is if you are doing something to the image that defames the person. Fake nudes or porn for instance. Then the celeb in question will most likely get pretty hot about it. If you are just doing portraits or using their image for a work of art, there isn't any difference between them and a model you would use who isn't publicly known.