Artist’s love of dragons turnes into passion for art

Artist Julia Grey’s drawing passion began in the year of 2010, when the movie “How To Train Your Dragon” came out. The now junior was in second grade at the time and after she saw the movie, she never saw art in the same way. She became obsessed with mastering the art of drawing a dragon. After she realized she loved drawing, she soon looked to master drawing other things and has continued for almost nine years now. Grey now enjoys drawing her close friends in a cartoony/realistic style. 

When did you first start drawing? “It was about second grade. I saw “How to Train Your Dragon,” and it about changed my life. I started by drawing dragons, and I just wanted to master the art of dragon drawing. It changed my life, so it stemmed from drawing dragons and mastering that to drawing other things.”

How would you describe your drawing style? “I think it’s like cartoony, but it’s also realism. I started very cartoony, like outlining everything. I even drew a lot of anime eyes at first. I think I stemmed from that and developed my own style from kind of cartoony, but I try my best to make it real looking.” 

What are your favorite things to draw? “I love drawing portraits of my friends mostly. If I hangout with somebody a lot and really enjoy their presence, I’ll draw them. It’s curious. I ended drawing a lot of pictures of my boyfriend and my best friend. “

How has your drawing style/things you draw changed as you aged? “Oh, it used to be kind of cringy and scribly. I didn’t clean up my art at all. It looked very, very kid-like. It looked like I had drawn it in kindergarten or something, but I think it has improved a lot as far as cleaning up goes and as far as the whole process is going, and I put more time and care into it.”

What is your inspiration for your drawings? “Mostly the people I care about, my friends. “

What is your biggest accomplishment regarding your artwork? “I’ve gotten several ribbons and awards in county fairs, so Cattle Congress I turned in a lot of art for that. I’ve also got quite a few blue ribbons from the Grundy County Fair. “

Do you want to pursue a career in art? “My mom is encouraging me to. She thinks I’m really good at character design. That’s something I’m really passionate about. My dad says I could do it as a hobby, but it doesn’t really make money.”  

What do you try to express with your drawing? “That I care about people and like to draw them a lot.”