If life imitates art, then one Bronx artist is showing that money is no more than just a piece of paper.

Brandon Quintero has been drawing since he was a boy. As he decided to pursue art professionally, he says he relied on one principle to guide him: "Money isn't everything."

It's a subject that is universal yet personal -- the ways in which one spends money are a reflection of values.

"Something so heavy that we put so much attention on," Quintero says.

Bills, mostly $100 notes, are behind Quintero's latest illustration series. After folding up the bills into paper planes, he sketches them with stunning precision.

"I wanted to like bring it back to childhood," he says.

Quintero has been working on his paper plane series for a while now, but what his work represents is particularly symbolic on Thanksgiving, as a black cloud of consumption looms in the form of Black Friday.

"It kind of takes away from Thanksgiving," Quintero says. "That idea of being grateful and wanting to consume...that's a battle that's in me."

It serves as a reminder that money can come and go. At its core, it's just paper, after all.