April Kim Tonin

A native New Yorker, I began drawing as soon as I could walk. My first large-scale “works” of art involved decorating the walls of my parents’ Brooklyn apartment with scribbles in crayon and ink. I moved onto covering rolls of drafting paper with horses because when I wasn’t riding, I was drawing. In high school, I began studying life drawing. In between classes, my friends would time me with a stopwatch to see how quickly I could draw caricatures.

These days, I divide my professional time as an artist and educator. I am the author and illustrator of Start Naked, a book inspired by New York artist Lisa Dinhofer’s Saturday morning life drawing class at the National Academy School. To this day, I still take life drawing classes because as an artist, you never stop learning something new.

EDUCATION

Columbia University School of Arts and Sciences (New York, NY), M.A., Art History

Mount Holyoke College (South Hadley, MA), B.A., Fine Arts and French

The Dalton School (New York, NY)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Mid-Year Exhibition, National Academy School, New York, NY, December 14 – February 2, 2017

Creative Mischief, Juried exhibition at the National Academy Museum, New York, NY, May 19 – 29, 2016

Black & White Perspectives: Works on Paper, National Academy School, New York, NY, April 14 – May 8, 2016

Year-End Exhibition, National Academy School, New York, NY, June 4 – July 12, 2015

Experiments in Self-Portraiture, Juried exhibition at the National Academy School, New York, NY, January 29 – March 1, 2015

Creative Mischief, Juried exhibition at the National Academy School, New York, NY, May 2013

Start Naked: Saturday Morning at the National Academy with Lisa Dinhofer, Solo Exhibition and Book Launch, National Academy School, New York, NY, October 22 – November 10, 2012

Bar / Bat mitzvah albums

Brochures and textbooks

Customized illustrations for corporate functions, political fundraisers, school events, weddings

Commissioned portraits

Equestrian themed illustrations

Holiday cards and personalized stationery

Website illustration: media and news organizations

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

Academy for Teachers

Graphic Artists Guild

Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators