Seeing as I've had an empty gallery for the last 8 years, I figured it was time to properly introduce myself and hopefully become more active on the site ^^

My name is Nick, and I'm a programmer currently living in Johannesburg, South Africa. Art has always been a secondary hobby that I've had an on-off relationship with for years, but I've decided to finally make a real go of it as I'd like to eventually work in the game industry (a life-long dream that's fortunately become a viable career option due to the expansion of the industry). I've been drawing in some capacity for as long as I can remember, but I hit a creative wall a few years back when I found myself severely restricted by my level of skill - bad advice led me to the impression that art was a God-given talent and I grew frustrated with my inability to illustrate my ideas effectively, so I gave up on it for a while.

The desire to improve never abated though, and after reading Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards and Figure Drawing for All It's Worth by Andrew Loomis I realized that art was just a creative application of technical ability that anyone is capable of learning provided they're taught well and give it the time it needs. Since then, I've gone back to basics to establish solid foundations and I feel that I'm at a stage where I can start sharing my art without feeling embarrassed about it - though I do have a long way to go, so hopefully I'll get a lot of constructive feedback and make some new friends as I try to improve