The self-taught artist, J.D. Hillberry, has been a professional artist for almost 20 years. Over this time, he has become the most respected and well known artist in his field. His charcoal and pencil drawings are praised for being life-like and his style interests viewers because it plays with their perception of reality and tells a story. His book, Drawing Realistic Textures in Pencil, has sold over 50,000 copies to date and it is now considered a classic drawing instruction book that is used by student all over the world. However, although Hillberry always enjoyed art when he was younger, he never thought he was going to be an artist.