Rising Stars: Meet Avery Diecks of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Avery Diecks.

Avery, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve been an artistic person for as long as I can remember. As a child, I would create paper sculptures of scenes from my favorite movies to make them feel more real and give myself a sense of escapism. My parents always encouraged my artistic ventures, letting me participate in art-themed summer camps and pushing me creatively. I don’t think I would be where I am now without their support.

In middle school, I started to realize that I didn’t fit in as much as others did. As an introverted kid, I struggled to make friends. Art became an outlet for me. By 8th grade, I had become so focused on honing my craft that I was able to replicate any photo using colored pencils. It was also in middle school that I started posting my drawings on social media — I gained a significant following, made tons of online friends, and was able to work with art supply brands such as Strathmore Artist Papers and Arteza to create sponsored content.

By high school, I started to face burnout. I struggled with my mental health, and as a result, lost my motivation to draw. My social media accounts also fell off by my senior year. It was during this time that my artistic style and voice changed significantly; I realized that just copying images to create art lacked originality and passion. I began to create my own characters that appeared in my artwork, and made the switch to digital art over traditional colored pencil drawings.

Now, I am a senior at Savannah College of Art and Design at the Atlanta campus. I’m studying illustration with a concentration in surface design.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’d say my path has been smoother than most, thanks to the support I have from my family.

However, the main struggles I’ve faced have been internal, namely anxiety and depression, which can make it difficult to create consistently.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Currently, I’m focused on illustration for publication and surface design. This means I make lots of drawings for books (one of my current projects is illustrating a reimagined version of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid”), as well as making patterns/product and branding designs.

My work has an emphasis on clean linework, which I think makes it most recognizable, with a semi-realistic rendering style. I use light and bright colors pretty frequently, and I’ve been enjoying working with limited color palettes. I like to focus on the natural world and human figures, I’d definitely consider those subjects to be my strengths.

Because of my foundational skills being quite classical, I think that reflects in my current pieces, even though I’d still consider them to be stylized. As a teenager, I took a lot of inspiration from academic artists such as William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and I think I picked up some of his rendering and coloring choices along the way.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
I’m most passionate about our planet; I believe preserving and protecting the Earth is essential. We tend to forget how much we depend upon properly functioning ecosystems and the stunning wildlife that surrounds us. This is why I like to feature natural elements in my art; whether it’s botanicals, bugs, or simply a cloudy sky in the background, I find the world around us incredibly beautiful and inspiring. I hope my art serves as a reminder for how valuable and irreplaceable our planet truly is, and maybe inspires even a little bit of change.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.averydiecks.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/averydiecksillu/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/averydiecks