Ethereal, evocative, and touched with a bit of mystery, the figurative imagery and cityscapes crafted by oil painter and pastelist William Schneider are beautifully rendered. They draw viewers in, eager to learn more about the person or locale he depicts.

Although Schneider enrolled as an art major at the University of Illinois in 1965, after 18 months he switched his major to psychology with a minor in business. He did so, he says, because he was playing in a successful rock band that was touring the Midwest six nights a week, making it difficult for him to get up in time for his early morning life drawing classes. Completing courses in his new field of studies, he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1968. Six years later, he also earned a degree in composition from the American Conservatory of Music.

Read the full article in the January/February 2021 issue.

On the Road to Mandalay

Oil
24” by 18”

“I imagined my model, Kelly, as an exotic starlet in one of the Road movies of the ‘40s.”

Winters’ Bane

Oil
12” by 12”

“My goal with this painting was to capture the icy feel of a frigid winter night.”