Who Am I?

My name is Dakota G. Thompson. I am an award-winning artist born and raised in Michigan. I have been making art for over 15 years, and have recently started sharing my art with the world. This is my story.

Artistic Background

I first began taking art lessons when I was just 7 years old when my parents saw I had a talent. They were very supportive of me, though, they always joked I got my art skills from my grandmother. When I first started, I was very bad. My proportions were all wrong, I couldn’t draw a face to save my life, but I kept practicing. I did countless studies on anatomy, shading, shapes, lighting, and many other drawing practices. Eventually, after years of not being able to draw people, they became what I drew best.

At this time, I also studied painting, going through a very similar process of learning how to paint landscapes. I had to learn everything from mixing colors, compositions of landscapes, foliage, stones, and even color theory. With each painting I made, I learned new techniques and things I could add to my next to make it better. I continued my lessons through the end of high school until I eventually left for college. All these lessons culminated in a painting I made of a scene from my favorite show, Gravity Falls.

In many ways, this painting of the Mystery Shack took everything I learned and wrapped it into one painting. It has dynamic lighting elements from the portal below. It has architecture, trees, bushes, and the sky. All of these elements tied together in a visually appealing composition. This painting still hangs over my bed.

Why Do I Make Art?

In short, because I need to.

In more words, some art, I try to capture the beauty and wonder of God’s creation and glory, other art, I wish to tell stories through, some I try to capture the human experience (be it through emotion, experience, or relation), and finally, some I do not know, but I try to honor God in it all the same. Making art isn’t just something I do, it’s who I am. It is like an idea that just keeps growing inside you

Artistic Influences

As with any artist, I have many themes and influences I tend to work from when creating art. My paintings are often centered around landscapes and my drawings are normally centered around people. However, it goes further than that. There are always Christian symbolism, or religious themes in my paintings, whether it be subtly like in Humility, or overtly like in my painting of the Three Crosses at Golgotha.

My Dream

One of my goals in life is to become a great artist. I want to become one of the old masters, without having to become old first. I’ve spent a lifetime honing my craft so far and I know I have, God-willing, a long life ahead of me to get better at it. So if you are still reading my story, thanks for believing in me on this crazy journey. I hope to only get better. And if you want to help me in my dream to become a world-great artist, I hope you’ll check out my gallery and be moved as I hope to move people through my art. Thanks for listening to my story.