"When I was in sixth grade, I entered a drawing of a horse into an art contest. But this wasn’t just any horse drawing. It was the first time I had sat down and spent an enormous amount of time and effort on a singe piece of artwork.

The entire piece was created with one pencil. It was an intricate piece with layered shading and immaculate detail. I remember having taken a single day on drawing every piece of hair one by one. By the time I was finished, the pencil was down to the eraser. When I was finished, I made a frame for it out of a piece of pine in my parent’s basement. I used a wood router to give the frame a double ogee edge, sanded it down by hand, and stained it with a white shop cloth. It was finally complete.

Days later, the winners were revealed. First place was a coloring of the batman symbol. I don’t remember second place. I received third place. I was so happy, but when I walked up to look at my horse with the little green ribbon, there was a note attached. The note said, 'We only want original artwork, not tracings.'

I’m pretty sure that the style, structure, and color way of all of my artwork going forward, was created that day."

“Go Outside And Play.” - KURZ