Today we’d like to introduce you to Yoni.
Hi Yoni, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started taking drawing and painting seriously when I was 20, after burning out on theater thanks to a teacher who drained the fun from it. I had always loved drawing as a kid (comic books about my friends and I as ancient Greek superheros fighting against people we met in real life who annoyed us; hobos with magic powers, etc) and around my early 20s, my crush was dating an artist, so some innate competition was at work before I even realized it. I changed majors and signed up for five or six art studio classes a semester—painting until sunrise and sleeping only a few hours before class the next day. I barely made friends because I was so locked in. I asked my professors to tear my work apart because I felt they were walking on eggshells with student critiques. Today half my clothes have paint on them which I guess is a good sign!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
For a string of years during and after college I took on a host of ill-paying freelance illustration opportunities. I was often hired not for my style but just for the fact that I could draw. After each job ended, I would swear not to do another, but then of course when a request came, the pocket change sounded too good.
I tried my hand at stop motion animation, I built my own characters, sets and props, wrote a script and filmed a teaser trailer with the help of a few friends back in 2019. Editing that resulted in a burnout but led to landing a prop fabrication job at a major toy company’s animation department. While I felt a degree of prestige when I started to work there, there was no work-life balance working from 8am until 7pm five days a week. I noticed a significant pattern of gray hairs appear on my head in that period. When that chapter ended, I dared to turn my 1-car garage into a studio. I set my own hours, worked at my own rhythm, and somehow convinced my gray hairs to retreat. What I didn’t expect was for the studio to draw people in like a magnet—almost like it decided to become its own gallery, giving me the freedom to share and sell my work.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Give me a pen and I’ll draw you birds making love. Give me a brush and I’ll paint you a disjointed city you’ll wish you could call home. My garage is open – I look forward to painting you and your dog.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
My wife complains that I look at dogs like the way men look at women.
Pricing:
- Individual portrait drawing, framed (person or pet) – $150
- Paintings – pricing available upon request
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.yonikeynan.com
- Instagram: @yoni_keynan
Image Credits
Tony Zamarripa
Mya Featherston
