I talked to Evan Williams at the Columbus Arts Festival 2023.

Tell me about your art journey.

This is what I do for a living. It was my side hustle up until about 3 months ago. It was a side hustle for about 4 years beforehand. My medium is digital. Everything is hand drawn or hand painted. I use a program on the iPad called sketchbook; then, I put it in photoshop. I created my own brushes that make it look like oil or acrylic that is hand painted.

Do you have formal training?

I went to CCAD (Columbus College of Art and Design), graduated and got into the daily hustle. I stepped away from art for a long time.

Is there anything that I didn’t ask you that you think I should have asked you? If so, go ahead and answer that question.

What is my inspiration?

My inspiration for my pieces is giving flowers to people who have helped to create the sound tracks to our lives. Whether you are in the kitchen or when you were a child and your mom was cleaning the house listening to Marvin Gaye, when you look at the picture, I want you to trigger that memory. My art is a caricature; but, it is a caricature in a portrait. I want people to see people the way I see them. I don’t ever want it to be insulting. Last weekend, Mia, Juvenile, John Legend and everyone at the 614 concert signed the art for me and they loved them.

Sidebar: Now it makes sense that he was one of the few artists playing music.

Is that why you play music?

It is two parts. I have musicians so I want you to hear the music of the people behind the art and I want to create a vibe. I want the experience to be complete visually and audibly.