My name is David James Willet

How does a poor, neglected Irish/Chilean/Miwok kid learn to draw? Well, for me growing up in the 80s and 90s, I studied the pages of my favorite comic books and copied the best panels with as much detail as I could muster. That was the beginning of the path that led me to where I am today as a teaching artist and emerging author with various publications under my belt, occasional art shows, and a legitimate career that my own family never would have imagined for me! My mother was one of my biggest influences as a developing artist because she was such an avid fan of science fiction and fantasy. She made several attempts to write her own stories in her lifetime, but to my knowledge, she never completed any before she lost her life to cancer and her stories have disappeared. I have picked up the torch to honor her memory with my own stories and hope to inspire others to pick up the torch and make their own creative journeys.

I earned my AA in 2-Dimensional Art from Fresno City College and graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Liberal Arts from Fresno Pacific University. After completing my single-subject teaching credential in Art, I worked with Fresno Unified School District for two years before revitalizing the Visual Arts program at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in nearby Madera, where I served for six years as Department Chair and was named Teacher of the Year in 2017. I now teach at Madera South High School, focusing on the Elements of Art and Design, and preparing students for advanced art courses.

Beyond the classroom, I explore a variety of artistic mediums in my own work, including sculpture, 3D design, costume creation, printmaking and anything else I can try. My artwork has been published in various e-zines and magazines since 2015, including an ongoing collaboration with esteemed poet Gary Allen Jackson. Our hybrid poetry/art collection, is finished and is currently seeking a publisher.

During the pandemic, I taught myself to use programs like Nomad Sculpt, Blender, and Tinkercad, applying my art skills to projects ranging from custom action figures to lightsaber gear and anything else I could think of. As a member of The Central Republic lightsaber dueling group in California’s Central Valley, I combine my artistic talents with my passion for competetive dueling and I created my first solo publication The Way of the Warprider; a lightsaber dueling manual conceived, written and illustrated, by myself with the intention of explaining information about Lightsaber Dueling and Fantasy Swordplay to duelists at any level. The Way of the Warprider is available in its second edition on Amazon.com.

My second solo project, The Blackened Blade, was began as a tribute to my mother, who was a homemaker an avid reader of Science Fiction and Fantasy stories while I was little and constantly encouraged me to create. She was one of my earliest influences and the foundation she built inside of me is still standing strong today. Although she did some writing of her own, she was never able to complete her projects and she lost her battle to cancer in 2014-- her writings have been lost to time without me ever having the chance to read them. 

Driven by a relentless curiosity and desire to create, I continue to work to inspire others while pursuing new creative frontiers.