Artist GoH: Maria J. William

 

 

 

WillyCon XI   Artist GoH Maria J. William

Visit Maria's Website

Besides creating excellent Sci-Fi/Fantasy art, Maria stays busy as a mother in her New York home. We asked her several years ago to send art to WillyCon, and we were the first convention she ever sent her art to!   She was invited to be our Artist GoH once before, but it was about the same time her first child was born and it didn't work out. Now she is at a point in her life where it is possible, and we are glad to have her!   Maria came to the U.S. from Lviv, a city located in western Ukraine. Although she has never received any official art training, she produces excellent art and she alwasy sells well at the WillyCon Art Show - she has developed several dedicated fans in the area.

Maria has taken a number of life drawing classes, but she says she remains for the most part a self-taught artist. She draws inspiration from many things - Asian cultures, mythology, anime, fantasy art, Art Nouveau, Pre-Raphaelites. Her art was predominantly fantasy in the beginning, but over the years she found herself drifting away from traditional fantasy subjects such as fairies and dragons, and towards things that are more borderline. After trying her hand at many different styles and subjects, from still lives to landscapes to stylized illustration, she learned that creating portraits is what she enjoys most. Nothing is more compelling or intriguing to her than a human face. Every expression tells a story; every fleeting look is a wealth of memory and emotion. But she is also an experimentation junkie and would be bored with just one style and just one medium. She often mixes styles, sometimes combining realistic figures with crisp outlines or stylized backgrounds. She uses a wide variety of traditional mediums in her work, such as graphite, oils, gouache, watercolors, inks, and colored pencils. Having finally tried her hand at digital art, she is now happy to have this marvelous tool at her disposal, even though 90% of her work is still traditional.

 

"Winters Edge " © Maria J. William