About the Artist
Hi! My name is William Willoughby, but most folks just call me Billy. I was born in Lafayette, Alabama, and raised around those parts most of my life. My dad passed when I was really young, so I was mostly brought up by my mom. I grew up running the woods and fields and fell in love with the outdoors from an early age. As I grew up, I got involved with the rodeo circuit and cowboying, so that was my life for the most part for many years. Later on, I moved out to Texas and went to work drilling. That’s when I got a little too involved with some things that got me into a little trouble. And now I am a guest of the state for a while, but I’ll be home soon. But I never left those roots of rodeos and cowboying behind. I get a lot of inspiration from those days, so most of my art centers around that part of my life. I love to draw horses and anything western/rodeo related. But I can’t complain about where I am, I got myself here and I’ve learned a lot about myself, made a lot of positive changes, since I’ve been here, and this is where my love of art started. I didn’t even know I could draw until I didn’t have anything else to do. I started out with just pencil and paper, trying to fill the time, I guess, and realized I wasn’t too bad at it and I really enjoyed it. So, I’ve continued to learn from this person and that along the way and have improved to what you see today. But I’m still learning something new every day. Those early pieces were small, just plain old art paper or whatever I could doodle on to begin with, but lately I’ve been working on art boards with colored pencils. Now I’m really critical of my work and will work on a piece right up until I send it home to my wife so you good people can see it. I just can’t seem to quit working on a piece until it’s no longer in my hands, even though my wife tells me all the time that I’m better than I think I am. But if you asked me, she’s a little biased because she loves me the way she does. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my work! And y’all have a nice day! – BW