Drew Tucker

USA

As an artist I like to tell stories.

I am a visual communicator, an illustrator, a painter, storyteller, and teacher, but I always have been and always will be first and foremost an artist. I am driven to create through paint, pencil, woodworking, sewing, photography, or any material or means within my reach. It is the essence of who I am.

In my work I place a high emphasis on the importance of understanding the visual language to best communicate and guide the viewer as well as the mastering of fundamental skills and craftsmanship. I find that by having this mastery, I am able to push myself into many different directions in terms of exploring techniques in my work both expected and unexpected. This may mean incorporating both traditional as well as modern digital and experimental approaches into a finished piece, but I always try to explore with the aim of responding to the voice and demands of a project. In fact, a primary element of my teaching style is to help students incorporate the expression of their own unique style with solutions that have impact.

I am not always interested in presenting the viewer with a complete image. I want to leave some of the details vague to allow the audience to think and connect. I want people to finish the story that has started. My work lays the foundation for the personal experience. My goal is to create something that makes the viewer engage, imagine, and feel.

I have been extremely fortunate to have had some success making and sharing art on a daily basis. I have enjoyed commercial success as a freelance illustrator working with companies both in the local and international level for more than 20 years. I am often recognized for my work with the collectable card game Magic: The Gathering published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and for my reputation for using a non-traditional approach in the illustrations that I contributed to it.