Art Competition Archive

Kid Tribal!

My name is Shane Balawi, I am from Papua New Guinea and I have always wanted to be awesome at drawing. Been a doodler when I was young, but I was never really good at it. Back then the schools never given much thought to art classes. I caught a break, when I bought and read a biography called Norman Rockwell Illustrator. With it as my inspiration my doodles turned to sketches. After high school, I managed to get my hands on a laptop, and thanks to YouTube my sketches took on greater forms. But I need more than quick videos of people who know how to draw; I needed a teacher to show me the ways and means to draw.

Tattoo turned into Fine Arts

I am a 30 years old tattoo artist from Finland, who always had interest in fine arts, but no financial means to pay a proper art academy, so everything I do, I learnt myself by attempts, trials and mistakes, figuring out how it’s done, or at least my understanding of how it should be. I remember as a kid I would always get fascinated by art books, painters and illustrator, old masters such as Alma Tadema, William Adolphe Bouguereau or John William Waterhouse especially, wondering if one day I could ever get to be as good as one of them.

From Stiff to Expertly Expressive!

I am inspired by the universal values that all humans share, such as feelings, music, art and ideas. While man creates borders and limitations, it is so easy for an artist to dissolve them with just a few strokes on a medium of some kind. This excites me, and while I want to produce art that invokes such interest, I also realize that I would like to sharpen my skills and add the expertise that takes the ordinary work and makes it great.

Art is the love of my life and influences all that I do. It is a rare moment when I am not thinking of something art-related. While circumstances required that I work in a left-brained world, any time outside that work is spent absorbed in learning all that I can so I may paint, draw, and sculpt better. This is where The Drawing Academy can help me transition from stiff to a fluid, confident and expert artist who knows exactly how to create the effects I desire.