About the Artist

Born in Thornton, CO, raised in Omaha, NE and now living in Austin, TX. Ben is a photo realism artist, specializing in portraits.

He adopted the name Ben-B-jamin as a kid from his parents and it has stuck with him ever since. He started taking an interest in art at a young age when his aunt (and god mother) suggested to his mom that he take an art class.

Through many challenges faced as a child born with cancer, being in and out of the hospital until the age of 3, an interest in cartoons such as He-Man sparked a continued interest in drawing. It wasn’t until junior high that the idea of art started to become a serious interest for his future.

He attended Roncalli Catholic for his Freshman year in high school, then transferred to Omaha North High, a Magnet School for arts and sciences, graduating in 2000.

It was at North that he met a great teacher, Mr. Kim Cooper, who helped him build upon and improve his skills as an artist. He also tried sculpting for the first time and won a Silver Key at Dana College for his life-sized bust of a para-teacher.

Since high school, he attended college, dropped out, led a career in the convenience mart field, moved to Ft. Collins, CO then back to Omaha, started a new career in shipping/receiving, worked for a graphics company for 9 years gaining experience in several different areas, got married and then…

A Reignited Passion

After 10 years, at the age of 30, he finally picked up art again. He took a single art class at Metro Community College in Omaha where he met artist Troy Muller. He was teaching a class which provided the spark and he gained a new confidence to continue on his journey as an artist.

Since then, he’s completed several pieces and met some of his biggest influences and celebrities including Stan Lee, Jonathan Davis (Korn), Terence “Bud” Crawford, Chris D’Elia, and Jason Momoa.

See the Work for Yourself

In 2016, he released his first portfolio book titled The Art of Ben Naughton Volume 1. He launched the book on Kickstarter and led a successful campaign to get it funded. It was a way for him to get all of his work up to that point into one collection and share it with others.

He doesn’t have any copies of Volume 1 currently, but he is considering doing another run especially since he just released Volume 2 this year.

More Yet to Come

He’s had a blast doing what he does, and he loves delivering his artwork to clients. In case you are wondering, he’s done many family portraits, pets, and other styles of art for his clients. Please reach out if you have an idea you would like to see brought to life.