[3] Growing up in a bakery, where his mother worked as a baker, Knight's pastel palette was influenced by his experiences tinting icing used for baked goods.
Knight mixed his color palette by using the technique bakers use to make cake icings - by starting off with a white base and later adding the tint.
[2][3] Knight received his degree in 2003, majoring in Painting and Drawing from the Ontario College of Art and Design (AOCAD), with a minor in Curating and Criticism.
[2] Drawn to the ghostly look of French 17th century portraiture(Baroque) because of the 'heavy white powder make-up that was in vogue at the time', Knight cited the pastels used in the work of Joseph Ducreux and Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun as an influence.
[2] The majority of Knight's characters are based on real people, mostly his close friends and family, but sometimes collaged images culled from mass media, self-portraits, and his imagination.
"[1] Knight attributed his love of giving a "cheesy subversive title" to his paintings to growing up gay in "unromantic, small farming towns in rural Canada".
[1] The original floral print, commissioned by Rodolfo Gucci to Vittorio Accornero in 1966, was applied on a silk scarf as a gift to Princess Grace of Monaco on her trip to the brand's store in Via Monte Napoleone with her husband Prince Rainier.
Knight picked botanicals that either blossomed at night, dawn or dusk but also chose plants that have strong roots for adaptability, persistence and resistance in harsh environments.
[10][11][16] Giannini played the song Blue Neck Rivierathe from the Montreal band No Joy album, one of the thank-you gifts Knight gave her, for one of her runway shows.
[16][17] Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour was photographed wearing Knight's floral motif on a dress from the Gucci Cruise 2015 collection.
[23] In 2020 Knight's 2014 painting Wicked Shade was published as the German cover of Danish author Jonas Eika's novel Nach der Sonne (Efter Solen) which was awarded the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2019.