Sylvester Hickmon

Hello and welcome to my online gallery. I can remember drawing on the ground as a child, and later spending every moment I could in the art room during my high school years, where I received my first formal art training, and later at South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, South Carolina, where I earned a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Art Education. For the past 20 years, I’ve taught art on the high school, middle school and elementary school levels. I teach colored pencil classes at the Sumter Gallery of Art and conduct workshops on drawing with colored pencils.
I am a signature member of the Colored Pencil Society of America. I have worked in oils, acrylics and relief printing, but for the past 20 years have worked exclusively in colored pencil.
My colored pencil compositions mostly depict figurative and still life scenes created in a realistic style.
My work has been exhibited throughout the United States and can be found in many private collections. I have received numerous regional awards and national recognition for my colored pencil work which has been featured in THE ARTIST'S MAGAZINE and THE BEST OF COLORED PENCIL 5.
I am the co-author of the colored pencil instruction book 'COLORED PENCIL STEP BY STEP.
Thank you for taking the time to view my work and feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.

Artist Statement

I have always been inspired by the effect of light on objects and the interesting shadow patterns that are created. Using bold, vibrant hues and layering techniques, I try to capture the sensations of form and texture, as well as the interplay of light and shadow that I find all around me. I am intrigued by the beauty of ordinary things and these everyday subjects come to life for me whenever the lights and the darks are at their most dramatic.

In my Colored pencil work I convey brief moments and interludes in our lives and leave it to the viewer's own individual experience and imagination to recapture these tales and turn them into their own stories. Our lives are moments; each one lived with the importance of the instant. The moments vanish as quickly as they come leaving behind memories, impressions, images, colors and feelings. These moments shape the routines and rituals of our everyday lives and define our humanness.

My recent work involves the use of fire as a metaphor for change and self-renewal. I have incorporated the use of mixed-media (acrylic, colored pencil, wood, plexiglass, found objects and collage) to suggest our ever evolving states of maturity and self reflection. It seems to me that there exists a simple universal attraction to fire as a symbol of transformation, and the renewing elemental spirit of life. This capacity for change dwells within each of us. Renewal is both the journey and the ending point, fueled by the fire of our need to grow and change.

Artwork Feed

Events Feed

Blog Feed