Kevin-John Jobczynski: Disney Master Artist Spotlight

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Kevin-John Jobczynski is a Disney Master Artist among so many other things. He is a business owner, a humanitarian, a motivational speaker and all around great guy. I had a chance to sit down with Kevin-John and chat about his art, his passion and where he will go from here.

Kevin-John Jobcyznski: Disney Master Artist

In typical Kevin-John fashion he is humbled by his success. This was not an overnight success, it was a lot of work, dedication, and hard-fought resilience that helped to build his empire.

Who is Kevin-John?

Kevin-John has had a long road to get where he is today. When he was in 3^rd grade, Star Wars: A New Hope was released, and it was then that a fire was lit inside him to be an artist.  While going through school, he continued to work and perfect his style of art.   At 17 he had a business plan without even knowing it. He knew that he would someday have to support himself, and knew he wanted to do that with his art. He didn’t want to be a starving artist selling his work at local festivals under a tent. He had much bigger dreams, and boy did they come true!

He is an incredible talent, and get this, has little to no formal art training. He is simply gifted, oh and did I mention, he is color blind. A celebrated, master artist who is color blind. Yeah let that sink in for a minute.

All of his art starts with a special color of purple, a color formulated by him. He has never shared the formula with anyone. It is known as Kevin-John Purple. His work starts with that color because it is the easiest color for him to identify and build upon. He works only in water colors. A difficult technique because of it’s fast drying nature, there is no room for error. If you want to watch his work come to life, follow him on facebook as he always shares his creative process with fans.

Since 1987, the Kevin-John brand has quickly become one of the strongest fine art brands. With a client list that houses more than 350 of the top athletes, celebrities, pro sports teams and corporations in the country, as well as an international list of collectors, he is one of the most in-demand professional artists of our time. If you have met Kevin-John you know he doesn’t let any of this fame go to his head, he is one of the most down to earth people I have ever met.

How Did He Get To Disney?

Kevin-John spent 25 years as a sports artist for ESPN. It was through his work at ESPN that Disney found him.  Over all his years as an artist, he was able to build his brand nationally and Disney decided to approach him.  At first, he ignored the phone calls and emails as he didn’t see himself as an animator or character artist.  He is very simply put, his own brand.  It wasn’t until his girlfriend, finally encouraged him after several ignored calls and emails to meet with Disney. They knew his strong background in realism and portraiture and had given him specific direction to create art based on environments and experiences in the parks.  After all, that’s what Walt Disney World is really about, isn’t it?

By being a master contract artist, he isn’t an employee of Disney and is still able to run his own business.  Because of that, he couldn’t sign fast enough.  It was that same day that he and his girlfriend went to Disney and got an “I’m Celebrating” button to wear around the parks.  When asked by the Cast Member what he was celebrating, he started to cry happy tears.  He was able to wear a button that said “I’m celebrating being Disney’s newest artist!”

So what makes his Disney art so unique?  His homage to Walt Disney, the legend that he loves, shines through in all of what he does.  He has such a passion and love for Walt himself and the parks he envisioned.  The parks, however, had the most impact on his art.  Working for Disney wasn’t ever a dream he had.  It was a goal that he was working towards from his early career.  His objective would be, that if Walt were still alive, Walt would go to him.  While Walt is no longer with us, his vision is.  And with that, Disney did come to him!

Epcot International Food & Wine Festival

This year, Kevin-John’s painting was chosen as the signature art for the event. Kevin-John comments, “The Festival is such a highlight on Disney fan’s calendars, that I knew that I had to do the event justice through my art. I believe that this painting says it all. Everything that we love about the fest. In fact, the piece is titled “Eat, Drink, Music, Magic, Repeat.”

KJ’s painting will be sold as framed giclees, matted prints and more at Walt Disney World during the event. If you will be in Walt Disney World for the festival be sure to visit during one of his exclusive signing events. It will certainly be a Disney moment you won’t soon forget.

There are only 20 Disney Master Artists in the world. To say that Kevin-John is a Disney treasure would surely make him blush, he just does what he loves. His theme park centered art has brought happiness to many collectors, and will continue to for years to come.

He won’t be slowing down anytime soon, and all I can say for now is Disney fans better get ready for what’s coming next.