Imagine if
your inspiration wasn't someones' success, but their lack of.
Twenty-six year old Toronto resident Andrew Wilson explained to me
just that when we met at a Tim Hortons on the corner of College and
Spadina. His father would always doodle the same thing, Batman. As a
kid, Andrew would see this same drawing over and over again. The
thing he remembers about it though is how much it sucked. But still,
four year old Andrew would repeat this drawing occasionally, to the
point were he felt it may be time to try his own works. Although his
dad is more “left-brained” as a financial adviser, he was the
inspiration for his son Andrew to start drawing. Now, Andrew is all
art.
I first
heard about him a few months ago. My friend Jonathan (a big fan of
street art and anything of similar style) told me to look up a
certain artist on Instagram. Well, I didn't have Instagram. Luckily
for me, there was a Facebook group with all the same material. The
work was amazing, the style unique, and the fan base numbering 2541.
This was back before interviews were a staple of my life, regardless,
I wanted to get a hold of him. $140.00 later 'Wilson' from Facebooks'
Wilson Art was working on my Christmas gift to myself, a blast
from the past, a Pokemon-themed commission painting. Every now and
then, it's nice to have something from the past reappear into your
life, and my past was filled with Pokemon. Surprisingly, this was a
big part of 'Wilson's' as well. We started talking about my
commission and several others he had done, and soon we were on a
first name basis, my friend Jonathan pretty jealously left behind. In
the interview we had February 17th, 2013, I learned that
Wilson Art was only one of his
current ventures- our first in person meeting being at Golden Iron
Tattoo in Toronto where he works, one of our first conversations
being his planned tour with the band he's in, The Afterimage. As I
said, Andrew is all art. What does art mean to him? Art is simply a
form of expression that can't be categorized, there's no base to it,
it all depends on the individual.
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Pokemon Painting
Painted by Andrew Wilson
After his father, some other artists started to lend inspiration to
Andrew. When I took the time to look at artists such as Jeff Soto and
Travis Lampe all I could see were aspects of Andrew's own work,
little bits from each artist forming works of his own that thousands
now love. Later on, I asked him when he even thought to form
the Facebook group "Wilson Art", and start working on commissioned illustrations and
paintings, he then told me that commissioned works were never even his plan. All he wanted was
a venue where he could be able to show his art to a few people who he felt would be
interested, maybe a hundred or so,but his group blew up from there.
About a year ago he started making some prints when people were
interested, sold a few works at the concerts he played at, and now he
gets a commission request pretty much every single day. Be it by word
of mouth or his Instagram page helping out, the fan base has reached
levels Andrew had never imagined.
When asked what his fans meant to him, all he could give were
positive answers such as “love them, they're awesome, I really love
my fans'” Not only does he enjoy them for the praise though, that's
not why he posts his work. They allow him to have an honest avenue to
have his work judged and commented on, and always open to advice. As
well, he even feels the group can help him to pay them (his fans) back with a little advice
of his own to them. As a budding artist, and even now, Andrew loves the
moments when those he follows show progress shots or how-to-videos of
their work. This helps him learn, to grow, and to enhance his skill.
Therefore, he makes sure to show his steps to artists following him
since he understands how beneficial it can be- with plans to even soon release a time lapse video of a painting he's done.
Andrew Wilson's Portraits of 2013!
(My favourite is top row, fifth over- Clint Eastwood!)
Doing this can lead to some poor circumstances for artists though,
as Andrew realized just recently. One of his fans sent him a message
on Facebook, asking if he had noticed a random page on tumblr showing
his work, claiming credit for it. He hadn't. While looking through the
website he noticed more of his friends work as well. His fans came to
the rescue. Upon posting and explaining the situation on his own
Facebook page, hundreds of his fans went to work and told her what
she was doing was wrong, with a few harsher words probably thrown in.
After only a short while, the page was down. Be it her removing it,
or tumblr, he doesn't know. What makes Andrew smile is that he didn't
do a thing, it was all people he didn't know being there for him
when he needed it. Social media pulling through.
Social media is what made Andrew known. A place for him to exhibit
his work has led to fans in numbers he never expected. Fans that can
give him the advice he needs, and praise he deserves. Fans who can
help him when he needs it, and fans who he can help if they're
looking for it. At only twenty-six years old, he knows that he's still young
but getting on in years. With no idea as to where Wilson Art, Golden
Iron Tattoo or The Afterimage are headed, his life could go
anywhere. His hopes lie in a combination in all three.
Regardless,
art is both behind and ahead of him. Originating with him practicing
and using examples, he says that's what all bidding artists should
do. Practice, and watch the steps of those you find successful, and
you will succeed.
Be it Jeff Soto or Travis Lampe. Be it Andrew Wilson and Wilson
Art, or be it your fathers “shitty Batman”. Give yourself
time and don't stop when it's hard. That's what Andrew has done, and
this is where he is now.
Pencil Crayon sketch by Andrew Wilson
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