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Many people won’t think twice whether he’s familiar or not whenever Terry Crews’ name is mentioned. He’s pretty much a popular guy. Two things are often attached to his name: football and acting.
When he finished his football career, he decided to be an actor though it wasn’t really what he originally planned. Yes, he’s passionate about the film industry but he wanted to be involved in some way other than acting. Still, the twist of events showed that acting was actually meant for him. Read his biography here.
You probably laughed out loud at his funny commercials and sitcoms. Does Brooklyn Nine-Nine ring a bell? Definitely. He also appeared in several films including Friday after Next, The Expendables and Blended. He hosted the US version of a popular game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire as well as the show America’s Got Talent.
No doubt, you’ve seen this guy on TV and on the big screen countless times already. However, his football, acting and hosting careers weren’t the only things he’s good at. Apparently, he has a knack for visual arts, too. Read on to learn more of the fun facts about his creative, artsy side.
It All Started in a Strict Home
Childhood is a period of life that’s supposedly all fun, play, curiosity, learning and discovery. Kids should be allowed to explore, play games with their friends and watch nice movies. Typical childhood, right? This isn’t how Crews’ childhood looked like though. He lived in a strict, religious family. He was only allowed to spend his leisure at home. As a young boy, he wasn’t allowed to play outside with his friends. Strictly no movies, too.
For most kids, growing up in such an uptight kind of environment could be tough. But Crews handled the situation in a much better way. He took advantage of it by using his time to be more imaginative, to spend his solitude doing art projects. He spent many hours on his own, sketching and drawing.
Using his imagination, he would draw the movies he couldn’t watch. There was one movie though that inspired him more to explore art. That’s none other than, Star Wars. Now that proves he’s a typical kid after all. From all these things, Terry Crews art has grown into something exceptional.
He was an Art Scholar Before Becoming a Football Scholar
Another proof that he was indeed an artist long before he was a football player was his art scholarship back in college. His football scholarship came later. Also, even when he was already a professional football player, he’d still spend his free time doing commissioned artworks. Whenever he got cut from a team, his art prowess kept him and his family surviving.
What he would do back then was to ask other players if they would want him to paint their portraits. And so, he was able to come up with a portfolio of photorealistic sports paintings. He could accomplish each painting for two months. He would get $5,000 for a two-month worth of work. That’s actually a decent amount already—an amount that’s enough to support his whole family.
Artists could learn a lesson from that, too. No matter how exceptional your talents and abilities are, you need to humble yourself. You have to approach potential clients. You need to market your services. Don’t assume that just because you’re too good in your craft, people would go lining up for your work. You need to start at the bottom.
A Versatile Artist
Aside from creating photorealistic sports paintings and sketches, he also became a courtroom sketch artist for what was tagged as “the worst murder case” in Flint, Michigan history. Many jurisdictions do not allow cameras inside the courtroom to avoid distractions and maintain privacy. This regulation has since called for a unique career path for exceptional artists. What a hardcore job that is! Is it your first time coming across this kind of job? Learn more about that in this article: https://time.com/5301818/courtroom-sketch-artists/
But it’s amazing how Crews can suddenly shift to feel-good artsy works. Did you know that he illustrated the children’s augmented reality book Come Find Me? Now, that’s really cute. Aside from that, he illustrated the cover of one of the issues of Ad Age magazine where he was also featured. If that doesn’t blow your mind yet, he also designs furniture pieces, a project of the design company Amen & Amen where he’s a co-founder, too.
And here’s another bonus: He’s pretty good in playing the flute.
