DrawingAcademy

Story and artwork from Charles Gilliam

My name is Charles Gilliam, but everyone calls me “Chuck.” I grew up in the Air Force. We averaged moving every 26 months. While that might sound rough I loved it. New people, new places, new things to see and experience. It was a great life, for me. And through it all, art held a special place for me. My Mom and Dad supported my art endeavors, providing me with the materials I needed to create images of the places we went and the people we saw.

Story and artwork from Jason O’ Donnell

Hi, my name is Jason. I am a self-taught artist based in Cork, Ireland.

Artwork from Sikhulile Nyathi

I am a passionate Afrocentric budding artist, who has been fascinated with wildlife in Africa

Story and artwork from Alexander Zyuzin

Hi, my name is Alexander.

As probably most of the participants in the competition, I have been drawing since childhood. My parents wanted me to become an engineer and under their influence I got an education in IT and worked for a long time as a software engener and systems analyst, but all my life I tried to draw. Unfortunately until recently I did not have the opportunity to devote enough time to drawing. About a year ago, I decided to take up drawing seriously and paint every day. Of course, there were breaks from time to time, but on the whole I coped with it and I started to get work that I was happy with.

Story and artwork from Tony Vivirito

I’m a southerner and like most of them I spend a lot of time out doors. I have been fishing and hunting all of my life both for the excitement but as I look deeper for the beauty of them and their environment.

Drawing and painting has been a passion in my life from childhood as I loved coloring books.

Artwork from David Holmes

I’m a Virginia resident artist. And I would love to be better at drawing by the platforms you offer.

Story and artwork from Ariel Schneier

Hi, my name is Ariel Schneier. I grew up in a small town surrounded nature and with a strong connection to all kinds of art. I was always looking at the world around me and thinking and training to transfer it to a 2 dimension surface.
Art has been part of my life since I can remember my self ,from a very young age I had a strong passion for drawing, and I drew almost every day; however, only when I was 25 years old I started painting with oil colors. It happened when I started to learn in the J.s.s (Israel Hershberg). After 2 years of studying there I had a strong feeling that I need to walk away from painting and drawing and do other things.

Story and artwork from Melissa Sink

I am an artist that dabbles in many mediums including in tattoo art (licensed in the state I live). Art is a constant in my life and I am always wanting not only brush up on what I have learned previously, but also look for new ways to bring my work to the more realistic side instead of illustrative. I am currently trying to get my art to the level of being able to do color portraiture and just find my own style within tattooing. I have just recently picked up oil painting as a way to build my knowledge and transfer what I learn there to my tattooing.