Devin Cecil-Wishing, Sunflower Study

Devin Cecil-Wishing (b. 1981) grew up in San Francisco, where he started drawing seriously around the age of 13 after developing an interest in underground comics.  After graduating from San Francisco’s School of the Arts High School he attended the California College of the Arts where he graduated in 2005, with High Honors, from the Illustration department.  Following his time in college he studied traditional oil painting at the Atelier School of Classical Realism in Oakland, CA.  During this time he traveled to Amsterdam where he fell in love with the works of Rembrandt and other 17th century Dutch painters.  Around this same time he began working as an instructor, teaching traditional drawing to low-income high school students in an after school program.  There he discovered a true love for teaching as well and quickly began to teach at several Bay Area schools.  Still wanting to push his own skills further, he moved to New York in 2009 to study full time at the Grand Central Atelier.  Towards the end of his time as a student, he was invited to begin teaching at the Grand Central Atelier as well.

His work has been featured in many publications including American Artist Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Epoch Times, and Fine Art Connoisseur. He has exhibited his work in galleries and museums across the country and has received numerous awards including the Art Renewal Center’s annual scholarship competition, and first place in the “Alfred Ross Prize for Excellence in Cast Drawing”.  His work has also been awarded in the Art Renewal Center’s Annual Salon. In addition to painting, he also teaches workshops around the globe at various locations including, Vienna, South Africa, San Francisco, Seattle, Duluth and New York. He currently lives and paints in New York City where he also teaches both privately and at the Grand Central Atelier.