Meet Spiros Felonis, a 23-year-old artist known for creating vivid, photorealistic celebrity portraits with colored pencils. Currently, Spirois is living in Athens, Greece, where he finds his most significant influences are his artist friends and his love for art and fashion. One of his favorite events to draw inspiration from is celebrities featured during red carpet events. Spiros describes his style of artwork as mainly focusing on portraits, saying, "I think I have my own unique style of drawing a face. I do it exactly as it is in the picture." You can find Spiros' Instagram at spirosdrawing.

Growing up in a small town outside of Athens, Greece, Spiros found there were not a lot of activities and started drawing. He quickly found that it was a safe space that allowed him to express his creativity. Spiros decided he wanted to be an artist when he was 13. He recalls the fun his mom and sisters would have where they'd all draw household objects and rate each other's drawings, with the biggest score winning the game. One of the most challenging things about Spiros' artistic journey was the lack of opportunities, which is why he decided to move to Athens, where he felt there were more creative resources.

Spiros' favorite part of creating his portrait is the eyes. He loves starting with this feature because it's the part he spends the most time on and puts the most detail in. To achieve his stunning drawings, he has a few favorite Arteza products, one of them being the Professional Colored Pencils. Using these colored pencils has allowed Spiros to grow artistically because of his consistent practice and relentless drive to keep working until he is the best he can be. Additionally, Spiros explains his favorite paper to create on is Artezas Mixed Media Pads because it is the easiest to use with colored pencils, especially when it comes to blending.

Most of the time, when Spiros is sketching and drawing, he listens to some form of media, whether it be music, Netflix, Youtube, or even podcasts. His love for celebrities and art not only drives Spiros to create his artwork, but pushes him toward pursuing bigger dreams. Living in New York and having a job related to art and celebrities is his goal, remarking that he is open to many possibilities, "designing merchandise for their tour for example, or designing their website, and album cover, why not?"

As for words of advice, Spirios recalls a simple mindset that elevated his artwork, "one thing I do today that I wish I did years ago is give myself more time to spend time on drawing." Spiros remembers he often felt the demands to promptly complete his work: "I have to finish it tonight, and I can't do it tomorrow." He learned that by providing himself more time and space to draw, the final products come out even better and more detailed. Sprios' dedication to details and time truly shows in the incredibly lifelike portraits he creates!

Spiros cares deeply about artistic freedom and individuality. Spiros remarked that his words of affirmation are, "To be safe. I think it is really important nowadays to have hope and just express yourself as it is, and don't hold back." Spiros also values his artwork's human aspect: "Besides an artist, I'm a person, I do everything a normal person does, just living life." Spiros' inspiring and grounded outlook to live your life fearlessly is as remarkable as his artwork. We hope this artist profile has fueled your creativity. Encourage your artistry by securing Spiros' limited edition Arteza colored pencil bundles!