John 'Huldrick' Wilhelm is a self trained artist with a wide range of skills and interests. He has developed his varied painting styles over many years and considers himself an old school artist relying on the traditional hard learned skills of observation and drawing to produce realistic and creative images. His early works were technically detailed and photorealistic but today he is trying to shrug off this rigid discipline and enjoy simple mark making.

Huldrick's passion for drawing and painting developed during his early teens. He would doodle racing cars (particularly the Porsche 917) inside the covers of his school exercise books. But, his artistic talents where not encouraged during his school years where art seemed only the preserve of girls. In fact his secondary school art master was most dismissive of his abilities and he once told Huldrick he would never make an artist!

After leaving school he went to college to train as an engineering draughtsman. This proved to be a wise choice as he learned a great deal of useful theory and he could persue his interests in art within a highly technical surrounding.

While working in engineering drawing offices it was soon realised that John had a leaning towards the more creative side of drawing and his early employers encouraged him to use his skills. He evolved his own techniques for producing three dimensional drawings of engineering products and moved towards technical illustration.

About this time his passion for cars and his love of art came together when he began sketching racing and classic cars using ball point pen and coloured pencil. He would take his art to the Grand Prix teams and aroused much interest in his work even selling some of his paintings to drivers and teams of the day. He produced several limited edition prints of F1 racing drivers and also got involved in producing a popular range of Grand Prix cartoon T' shirts.

A major influence in Huldrick's artistic development during the 1980's was his discovery of the airbrush. With this he developed a unique style that captured the impression of speed in motor sport subjects with photographic realism.

It was at this time that Huldrick chose to explore the career possibilities open to him with his skills and he left engineering to work in advertising. It was not long before he realised that the demand for people with his level of skill could find a great deal of work and so he took the plunge and went freelance. This gave him the opportunity to work with many major companies producing illustrations and artworks for major companies like American Express, BT, BUPA, 3M and L'oreal.

After more than twenty years as a freelance illustrator Huldrick decided that it was now time to set up his own gallery and sell his work directly to the public. Something he had always wanted to do. In 2004 he established The Huldrick Studio & Gallery in Hastings Old Town. It has been very successful and he has been joined in the area by many other galleries.

Above; One of Huldrick's recent paintings of Hastings. This is his treatment of Hastings Pier showing his mastery of perspective with his delicate watercolour technique.

Today, Huldrick is trying to become much looser in his styles and treatments. He now loves the interaction between the media he is using and the surface on which it is applied. In the past he would have strived to conceal any brush work or allow any imperfection into his work. Now he revels in it and welcomes the "happy accidents" of loose watercolour work.

Huldrick has become captivated by the landscape and is fascinated by the changing weather and light that he finds living by the sea.

The result of all his tight technical development has been a foundation on which now allows him the freedom to capture the world around him in whatever style he chooses. From his studios in Hastings Old Town and at home he now produces paintings covering a wide range of subjects including landscapes, automobiles, advertising & commercial illustration and cartoons and he has recently developed an interest in space paintings and abstract designs opening a new area of experimentation.

If you would like to know more about Huldrick's work or would like to discuss a commission or other project, please contact Huldrick using the contact page.

During his years as a freelance advertising illustrator Huldrick produced many photorealistic illustrations for publication in technical and advertising literature. Above is an example of this... it may look like a photo but it is all hand drawn!

One of Huldrick's limited editions of the Old Town in Hastings which have proved very popular with collectors and tourists.

In a recent change of direction Huldrick awakened his trusty airbrushes and produced a series of space paintings.