Dedication to the degree
“At university you get to take all kinds of weird classes, it’s not just that you’re in a straight-up drawing class,” he said.
In the art studio, he tried new and innovative techniques, branching out from his skills as a realism painter. He remembers one assignment, where he presented his ideas to his professor, confident in how comfortable he was with his proposed project.
“I thought ‘Perfect, I know exactly what to do,’ and then the professor said ‘Yes, but you’re already good at that. Do something else,’” Williams recalls. “I realized I had to start from scratch, find a different idea.”
He ultimately ended up creating a series of self-portraits, drawing with his left hand and practicing experimental techniques, like not looking at the paper while he drew – a step away from his traditional realistic work that ultimately ended up sparking an interest in new styles, something he hopes to explore even more in his future projects.
“You really realize how much you’re capable of doing,” Williams said.
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It wasn’t always easy to finish the degree – Williams struggled with losing multiple family members after he returned to school – but he kept motivated, and said it felt especially empowering to finish his courses after overcoming multiple challenges.
“It can be hard to keep grades and appearances up when hard things happen in your life, but you still push through, because you’re determined,” Williams said. “I just knew I wanted to push. I wanted to finish.”