About the Artist
(and how it all started)
My name is Will Drzycimski. I’m a Christian, husband, soon-to-be father, and cargo pilot who finds himself with a God-given gift for painting. I enjoy flying airplanes as much as I enjoy painting, and I’m thankful for the ability to do both while earning an income. I was homeschooled by my parents along with my eight siblings, and I graduated from Liberty University with a 4-year degree in aviation.
I was raised in a Christian household, and I turned in my keys to God when I was about 12. Since then I’ve been following Him with my whole heart, and His word affects every aspect of my life.
Where the drawing began
I’ve been drawing ever since somebody gave me a pencil, and I eventually dabbled with Crayola paints. I got a set of acrylic paints when I was maybe ten years old, and from there I played around with this medium until about age 13, when I found some instructional books by another Christian artist. He gave some decent step-by-step instructions, and my ability to get things looking right grew rapidly.
I then bought some online coursework featuring videos made by the same Christian artist, and these got me the rest of the way to comfortably painting with acrylics. From then on, it was a matter of practice.
Family members and friends began to ask me for paintings, and eventually they started asking if they could buy paintings from me. At this point my parents could have stayed on the sidelines, and my artwork would have blessed a few people.
Starting a business
But they didn’t. My mother helped me get a vendor booth at a local homeschooling conference, and my dad put a website together for me. We called it WillArt (art by Will Drzycimski), and from there I kept painting and widening my list of customers. I went to local conferences, fairs, and art festivals.
Throughout my starting out years, I learned many things about general business practices. One thing that hasn’t changed is the purpose of my work: to give glory and honor to God, the Creator and Judge of this earth. Without the handiwork He has already created, there would be no inspiration for any artwork of our own. Therefore, the end goal I wanted to have for my paintings was to reflect the artistic wonder of the world God made.
Our job on Earth
As humans, we have been tasked by God in Genesis to be fruitful, to multiply, and to fill the earth and subdue it—that is, to make order and productivity out of the wilderness. In this way, God has delegated to us the task of ruling over and caring for the physical earth. Why can’t He do this Himself? Isn’t he capable of it? Yes, but His perfect plan includes delegating tasks to us, and He is more highly honored through it.
And thus we find ourselves: God has made us, and we have a job to do—rule over and care for the earth, making it productive and orderly. Therefore, we not only look like God (being made in His image), but we also perform similar tasks (bringing order out of chaos and making stuff).
The cool part about this? We had this job from the beginning when the earth was just created, and when Adam fell and brought sin into the world, we kept this job—it just got harder. And at the end of time and into eternity, when the world is renewed, we will still have this job.
With all this talk about things God has created, one might notice that I am enthusiastic about painting airplanes and city scenes or other such man-made architecture. My opinion is that God has put within all of us an eye for beauty, and that includes skyscraper and aircraft engineers. Some buildings and airplanes are downright ugly for some reason—maybe because they remind us of grotesque things within the fallen world we live in.
Modern art is full of improperly directed praise. Viewers are called to laud the art, the artist, and the artist’s psychological troubles resulting from a depraved mind and a darkened conscience. Dissonant, unsettling depictions of twisted reality even plague the art of many self-proclaimed Christians. These “unique expressions” of darkness are poor things for Christians to dwell upon.
What does it mean to be a Christian artist?
It is a mistaken idea that in order to be a Christian one must get obnoxiously spiritual. We do not live on this earth with the sole occupation of waiting to go to heaven. Neither are we all called to be missionaries and pastors. Nor should a good host make a thirty minute blessing over the food while his hungry guests stand around his table waiting. And it also doesn’t mean that every Christian artist is only allowed to make paintings of Jesus and sun rays and white doves.
As a Christian artist, it is my goal to create God-honoring realistic artwork which presents the creation He has made in a clean, accurate, and biblical fashion. In doing so I proclaim truth about God’s nature and His creation, highlighting the beauty of the world when it is submissive to God’s law. I hope to thereby open the eyes of my viewers to the beauty of God’s creation around them, leading them to give the honor due the Lord of Hosts.
Art reflecting the glory of God
It has been my delight to fulfill my task of being a productive creator by studying and painting miniature snapshots of God’s creation. When my brother got married a few years ago, I got to meet my new sister-in-law’s pastor, who was intrigued by my art and the goal I had in reflecting God’s creation. In fact, he thought I should try branding the business around it.
At the time, I was painting commissions for people, flying airplanes, and trying to get college done. I hadn’t thought a lot about branding.
But the thought stuck with me, and a couple years later, I decided to switch website platforms, do a redesign, and build an online store. At the same time, I figured it’d be a good opportunity to get the thing rebranded like I’d been thinking about.
That’s where ReflectedWorks comes from. My work is a reflection of God’s glory—not mine. When someone sees a painting I did, I want them to immediately think of God, the only one powerful and wise enough to think up and produce such creativity on the earth.
What makes a painting special?
There’s another aspect to this as well: God is also honored when the people He has made turn around and made small versions of His creation for themselves. This is what sets a painting apart from a photograph or a window—the fact that someone took oil and pigments and arranged them on a flat surface in the precise shape and color of a hummingbird is itself glorious. It is awe-inspiring that humans, God’s creation, can replicate other aspects of God’s creation with paint.
For this reason, I prefer realism over impressionism, though I’m not entirely opposed to realistic types of impressionism, such as Monet’s work. There is something about the human mind that enjoys seeing the brushstrokes and masses of paint turning into a perfect rendition of some beautiful aspect of God’s creation when we step back and look at it from a distance.
Man made is beautiful?
It is my goal to further the kingdom of God by sending clean artwork of truthful clarity into thousands of homes—an impossible task for myself alone, but fortunately you can help! If, like myself, you want to proclaim God’s glory by putting some of your free wall space to productive use, I would be honored to provide you with artwork which gives praise to the Creator and stays in your family for centuries to come.
My objective as a Christian artist
Check out my other project!
In addition to flying and painting, one of my passions is helping churches in learning how to sing Psalms and hymns. I am in the process of writing a book on the subject, to include why this practice is more desirable to the modern contemporary style we find ourselves in. Check out my progress here!
