What is art? For Josh Connell, creator of photorealistic drawings in graphite and charcoal, it is all about connection. In his bio he says: “When the right viewer finds the right piece, there is connection. And perhaps connection is art in its purest form.”
“Growing up I was always the kid in the class who was good at drawing. Then high school came and that was a tricky time in my life when I got a little bit lost. The only class I cared about was art, and the rest of the time I wasn’t really doing what I was supposed to be doing.” That period produced the earliest piece on Connell’s social media feed: a self portrait he drew at age 16. The early talent is plainly evident in that piece, but afterward, Connell says he “lost track” and withdrew from drawing for over 10 years.
Connell still recalls the wonder he felt when he eventually reconnected with drawing through the art of Doug Comeau at his Timberwolf Gallery, then located in Trenton. “I’d never seen photorealistic pencil drawings before. And I was like: wow, look at that! I didn’t realize that you could do that with a pencil.” The rest, as they say, is history – albeit a history that involved “thousands of hours of practice.”
Connell spends up to 130 hours on each piece. “It’s not always easy,” he says. “I’m always trying to push myself at the limit of my ability.” He describes himself as self-taught, but readily acknowledges the debt he owes others. “I used to watch tutorials with people doing similar stuff. I’d watch time-lapse videos and pick up tools on YouTube or TikTok.” Now, he pays this debt forward to his own social media community, which has grown to nearly a quarter-million followers on both TikTok and Instagram.
People are “shocked and mesmerized by the fact that you can create something with your hands that looks so close to what a camera can do.” Some ask for specific guidance or advice, and while he can’t keep up with everything, he does interact as much as he can. And while the occasional comment is critical or even hostile, for the most part Connell appears to have created that rarest of things: a social media community that is positive, supportive, and encouraging.
Connell’s art and artistry continue to evolve, but his core desire to investigate and illuminate the human condition remains. “I’m trying to capture some essence of humanity in my portraits,” he says. “I’m also trying to explore pieces of myself.” This intensely personal process is one he shares with his wife and their 10-year-old son, both artists in their own right. “My son likes to draw. We’ll put a record on, and I’ll draw at my table while he lays on the bed and draws his pictures.” Sharing the artistic experience of creation with others is a rare gift. “It’s a great thing that we have.”
Connell’s relationship with art began at an early age and has endured through everything: a decade-long hiatus, its very public evolution on social media, the pandemic, parenting, and all the challenges of a creative life. To the extent that the artist can control – or at least influence – the destiny of this relationship, it doesn’t seem likely to end anytime soon. “I’m doing what I’m supposed to do,” he says. “I’ll never stop drawing.”
Read the full magazine on Issuu.
