My exploration into pencil art began in 2016, as I experimented with how to manage symptoms of OCD, impulsive thoughts and ADHD. All of which were worsened by my work environment, adult intensive care, where I continue to work fulltime as a Respiratory Therapist and ECMO specialist. I often describe my pathway into art as “my brain always thought I could draw but my hands disagreed.” So, I decided I would change that. I began with simple cartoon-like images, moved to online tutorials, then direct (non-human) photo references of “human like” characters from games and movies. Slowly increasing the difficulty, learning new textures and eventually leaning away from “human like” to actual photo realism. My current path is photo realistic detail on imagined designs, photo realism without the photo. This has been particularly challenging as I cannot draw strictly from imagination. This new realm of artistic creation requires me to first imagine the piece, understand the key components and make a digital “reference.” I do this by merging multiple reference photos, taking aspects of each and working digitally to recreate my original concept as close as possible. In itself, these digital reference photos are difficult to create, sometimes taking weeks of adjustments before I’m ready to bring it to paper. The finished work is never quite the same as the digital concept, my own emotions and those to which I want the subject to portray, play a huge role in my work. Launching a website and selling art was never part of my plan. I just liked art and continued pushing the limits of what I could execute. I’m excited to see how far I can push this craft, making creative pieces is so much more rewarding than recreating photos I found online. I’m humbled by the support and positive feedback through social media. If you decide to display any of my work in your home or business, I’d love to hear about it! Thank you for visiting my website and taking a minute to get to know me.

-Brad Roland, October, 2026