TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – They say practice makes perfect, but one international artist seems to have mastered that skill.
Rebecca Thomson, 22, is a sports artist and illustrator based out of Scotland.
“I’ve been drawing pretty much as long as I could hold a pencil,” Thomson said. “It was something I instantly loved and continued to do growing up.”
On Saturday, the artist posted one of her latest masterpieces to Twitter, and the subject of the drawing might look quite familiar.
Thomson completed a colored pencil drawing of Tampa Bay Lightning’s captain, Steven Stamkos.
The drawing has so much detail it looks like a true photograph.
She said the illustration of Stammer might have been one of her quickest drawings yet, coming in at around 22 hours to complete.
“Usually my drawings take between 50 to 100 hours,” she said.
This isn’t the first time she’s sketched out a Lightning player, though.
Just last year, she drew Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman with the Stanley Cup. Thomson said Hedman not only saw the drawing but he liked it so much he offered to pay for it.
She’s also drawn the Big Cat himself, Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The 22-year-old said she got into drawing sports-related images around six years ago.
“My family (has) always been interested in sports so it’s something I definitely grew up around but I didn’t really take much interest in ’til my early teens when I got into ice hockey,” she said.
While hockey is her favorite sport to draw, she’s also dabbled in football and golf drawings as well.
When asked who her favorite player is to draw, Thomson said, “I don’t think I could pinpoint a favorite player to draw. I think that’s the fun part of starting each drawing is getting to figure out how to draw a new person.”
Not only does Thomson share her incredible talent with the world, but she also makes sure to give back in the process.
Ten percent of every order on her Etsy page goes to Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS), which is a charity that provides care and support for children with life-shortening illnesses and their families.
“I found out about them through my local hockey team fundraising for them and I just was in awe of the work they do,” she said. “The level of joy they can bring to children going through incredibly tough times is honestly amazing and the most heartwarming thing. Anything I can do to help support the running of that, I’ll always try my best to do.”
To those who are aspiring artists, Thomson said to just have fun with it.
“Nothing will motivate you more to keep growing and creating than being passionate about what you are drawing. The more you create, whether that’s a quick doodle to something you’ve spent weeks on, the more you will improve and when you look back you’ll see just how much you’ve improved,” she said.
You can check out more of Thomson’s work by visiting her Etsy page or her Twitter page.
