William Schimmel Jr. (who prefers to be called “Schim”), studied art with his father, William Schimmel Sr., a well-known watercolorist and art instructor. Schim subsequently taught watercolor, oil, and acrylic landscape painting to thousands of students for over a decade until he he quit teaching in 1987 to devote himself full time to his own art. In the process, Schim developed a unique style in which he sets exotic animals against the backdrop of fantastic scenes that are often out of this world. Snow leopards, white tigers and lions; the earth, the moon, galaxies and nebulas—these are the subjects that leap off a Schimmel canvas and into the hearts of those who see his work.

In 1991 Schimmel’s artwork was shown at the Tokyo Art Expo in Japan and his work was immediately embraced by the Japanese. The next year he was asked by Shogakukan, one of the largest book publishers in Japan, to write a children’s book using his artwork. Since then, Schimmel has produced six more books, and has traveled to Japan over 50 times, attending hundreds of art shows in dozens of cities throughout the four main islands of the country. Now his artwork is recognized around the world, and he continues to attend art exhibitions every year with Japan’s number one fine-art company, Art Vivant.

Schimmel’s talents are not limited to painting, as he is also a gifted musician who has played professionally in a handful of bands in his home state of Arizona. His father’s artistic teachings focused primarily on landscapes. As a result, William now primarily uses nature scenes for his subject matter.