Many artists will not admit that their artistry stemmed from years of research; Waleed Khan, Div. 664, is one artist who takes pride in his artistic beginnings. His art, he said, came naturally to him, but with a little added push.

“I was 14 when I bought sketchbooks and a nice pencil set, and I didn’t even know how to use the pencils yet,” Khan said.  “I began to do research and then became serious about it.”

With help from outside sources, such as various YouTube channels, Khan began to pave his own way through his unique drawings. He has been trying to pursue a line between realistic, and not-so- realistic.

“I’ve been drawing ever since I was a little kid,” Khan said. “A couple of years ago, I started taking it more seriously, and I started working with graphite. I decided to try my hand on faces, and realistic drawings. I built this by seeing Youtubers and trying to mimic their technique. That’s really how I teach myself. Then, I went on to charcoal and pastel. Now I just experiment with a lot of mediums.”

Although Khan experiments with a variety of mediums, and is proud to be a young, aspiring artist, he said he always comes back to tradition. By attempting to keep art traditions alive in an ever-changing world, he shows off his unique style.

“My art is very classically influenced,” Khan said. “I really like traditional art, like Greek art, and the anatomy structure drawings. I’ve been used to doing ideal people, but now I am doing less ideal people and less ideal body portions.”

Surprisingly, Khan’s true influence does not stem back to his childhood drawings. It started right here at Lane, when he was inspired to create art that was greater than he had ever imagined.

“I am mostly self-taught and like to learn my own way, kind of like a hand-on approach,” Khan said. “I definitely have been influenced by the teachers I’ve had here at Lane. Mr. Ceh introduced me to oil paint which has been a huge influence, because now I do really love oil paint, and it’s another classic medium that I’ve added to my portfolio.”

Along with teachers from Lane, Khan’s art has also been influenced by a variety of famous artists. And these artists have not only inspired him to use oil paint, but explore the genre of anatomical art.

“I really like creating a dramatic effect,” Khan said. “A goal of mine is to create really scenic, and dramatic scenes with raw lighting. Caravaggio was a huge influence with that, and Michelangelo has always fascinated me with his anatomical capabilities. With Leonardo and Michelangelo, I’ve learned about the human anatomy and how to use it to become more realistic. Just the old-fashioned nature of it is what really appeals to me.”

With this old-fashioned mindset, Khan said that the “artist world” may not be so open to his art. Due to this, he said he would never go into a career in painting.

“The artistic world as it is now is photos, not portraits,” Khan said. “I don’t want to say art is dying out, because that’s how every child starts. They start with the crayon and the paper and for me, it’s just always been such a pure form of making art that it’s like a tradition that I’ve always held on to. I definitely think that it’s not a huge option, as far as careers go, but it’s definitely something good to have under your belt. As a young artist, art is something that is going to stick around forever.”

Furthermore, Khan said he does not see himself studying art in the future. He also has a long list of interests, and art may not even fit into it.

“I am interested in a lot of things,” Khan said. “I am interested in history and maybe writing a horror story one day. I am interested in acting and film editing. Having to commit to one thing is a bit too early. I just want to be able to commit to a field that I can practice.”

Khan’s artwork continues to speak for itself, and Khan said that he will continue to make his art as diverse and ever-growing as possible.

“My art is very much what I see on the surface,” Khan said. “I’ve wanted to go into more story-based art, but a lot of my art is what I can see from my eyes. That’s the most honest way I can describe it. It’s just realism. Draw what you see, not what you think.”

Anum Shafqat