We were lucky to catch up with Andrew Chavers recently and have shared our conversation below.

Andrew, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I wanted to become professional artist when I sold my first piece. Even though, I’ve always had a desire and passion for my craft, However, I finally realized I can make income from my talent I then said to myself, let’s make this a business. I also have a family therefore, I knew the extra income would come in handy,

Andrew, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a self taught artist from Stamford, Connecticut. I started my art journey as a youth. When I was around 6 years old, I recall drawing my favorite cartoon charters while watching the television shows. The drawing then became my favorite hobby and then it also became a coping mechanism. I was also raised in a single parent household and experienced teasing in school. I would escape a lot of trauma by just doing art as kid into adolescence. My influence as a youth was an artist name Bob Ross. He would paint beautiful outdoor landscapes which influenced me start painting landscapes. Then eventually I would enjoy making caricatures and creating my own comics as a way of self expression. The comics I use to draw was inspired by Stan Lee (creator of Marvel). As a teen, I then became interested in sports and put my love for art to the side.. Fast forward to college, I then began to experience lots of pressure from adulthood and didn’t do well as I thought… I attended Morgan State but I knew deep down it wasn’t for me. I came home and worked job for job however, still couldn’t find my what I wanted to do with myself. I that’s when I picked up the pencils, brushes, and the canvas again. As a sports fanatic of the New York Giants I began to paint my favorite players and then collect them for myself and my room. One of my pieces then became noticed by former Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. He pulled me aside and said he wanted the piece I painted. That’s was really a major reason beside the love for art I got started my art career. I gradually the started drawing things in pop culture. It then started to become on noticed on social media. My job at the time was a para educator working in the public schools. A teacher by Ms. Young said to me you should draw on these books (which was a dictionary) . That was my aha moment. I then began to think of certain words in the book and when a thought of character came to mind that represented the topic came up, I would draw them near the word. I then started to highlight the word by the drawing to give the audience the representation.. I loved the subject of Social Studies therefore, I then started using geography maps and drawing on them. I would then think of state and then a cultural figure of the state. If I had a map of Chicago, I would then draw Michael Jordan on it. My art really then became on notice because of the unique style. Then commission became apart of the art. People would then start to pay me for custom piece which then gave me a idea to create my brand “Art of a Giant”. Public figures such as Meek Mill, Shannon Sharpe, and David Tyree started to notice lots of my work. That’s why till this day I’m extremely proud of myself to turn my adversity into a successful buisness.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

This thing called “life” threw me lots of curves and I can always say, I never stayed down and always continued to fight for my dreams. I battled through depression for a while and my talent brought me through a lot of tough times. Art is expression therefore, it became a coping mechanism along with a buisness .Also, with the help of my family and friends (especially my wife Christina) they are my support systems as well.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I’m very inspired by music therefore, my goal is to have my art on an album cover of major musical artist album cover. Just for the world to see my unique style would be a major accomplishment. Also, my goal is to inspire the youth who has a passion for art to be inspired by my gift. I was just recently hired as an Art teacher so the mission is currently in process.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Art_of_a_giant
• Facebook: Art of a Giant
• Other: For inquires and commission piece I could be reached at [email protected]

Image Credits

All images are mine.