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For Kevin Zych, the present moment is everything.
Before becoming an entrepreneur (or “artrepreneur”), he spent three years living in a Buddhist monastery, immersed in meditation and mindfulness. But once he returned to modern city life, he kept that “presence” philosophy with him.
Now, as a reportage illustrator, Kevin uses his pen and sketchbook to capture everyday moments in real-time. Through his website, created with Wix Harmony, he’s built a successful business, selling his art, teaching online, running in-person workshops and collaborating with brands.
From learning his craft to making a website, Kevin didn’t take the traditional route to get there. He followed his gut and sketched out his own path instead.
Taking the scenic route
Like many self-taught artists, Kevin never went to art college. Instead, he studied English at New York City’s Hunter College, where he spent more time doodling in his notebooks than actually taking notes. Still, he ignored the signs and, after graduating, pursued a career in book publishing.
Instead of climbing the corporate ladder, Kevin decided to step off it completely. Craving the freedom to live on his own terms, he abandoned the traditional 9-to-5, trading the publishing world for a Buddhist monastery in upstate New York. At first, he considered becoming a monk, but ultimately decided to head back into everyday life at 26.
“At one point I realized I'm either going to ordain and stay at the monastery or have a normal life,” he explains. “But then, I wondered, what if my normal life could be exceptional by pursuing something deeply personal. I realized at that time that drawing on location is what I love the most.”
His big break came when a high-profile international athletics meet took place in New York. At the time, Kevin was working in customer support for an electric toothbrush company, and sketching on the side. He thought it’d be exciting to document the event with live drawings.
After checking the press pass requirements, Kevin decided that if he stood any chance of getting accepted, he’d need a professional business website.
The problem was the deadline for submissions was the next day. “I was looking at it, thinking, ‘This isn’t going to be a typical application, but if there’s a chance that they’re going to buy into it, I should at least have a bunch of drawings they can look at.’”
The overnight portfolio
Kevin got to work, testing different website builders, “doubling down” on Wix Harmony for its efficiency and intuitiveness. He started with a single prompt, vibe coding his way to a solid site structure, then manually adding his artwork.
Even during that initial sprint, Kevin could see the platform’s massive potential to iterate his website further and knew he’d be back to add his signature touch. But, for the moment, speed was key. After just a few hours, he published a compelling online portfolio and submitted his application.
To Kevin’s surprise, the organizers didn’t just say yes—they were so enthusiastic about an artist drawing their event that they gave him VIP access to get up close to the Olympic athletes at the start line.
“That was the moment, I thought, ‘Wow, the website matters,’” says Kevin. It was also when he knew he had to pursue his passion, even if the odds were stacked against him.
“There's no blueprint for a sketch artist,” he says. “I didn't know anyone else who was doing what I wanted to do. I was really afraid that five years from now, I would look back at all this time and effort and say it wasn't worth it. But I knew I had to do it.”
After Kevin took the leap to go all-in on reportage art (i.e., on-the-spot illustration), he began building a presence on social media sharing his creative process and picking up client work. As his services grew to include meet-ups and online classes, he decided to enhance his site to reflect his latest work.
“Reportage art is an immersive world. It’s about first-hand experience,” he explains. “My drawing style is a raw, authentic interpretation of the moment, so my website needed to showcase that same kinetic energy.”
Related: 6 best website builders for artists
Squiggles, subways and white space
Wix Harmony gave Kevin total creative control, allowing him to switch seamlessly between vibe coding and drag-and-drop editing to add neat design touches—like a gridded paper background and free-hand squiggles. He could also lean on Aria, the built-in AI agent, to generate content quickly and guide him through the creation process.
To capture that “alive” feeling he was after, Kevin chose a looped video for the hero section, which immerses visitors in his world right from the start. He also peppered micro-interactions throughout the website, including slick hover animations in the Collaborations section.
For layout, Kevin structured the site around his three main pillars of work: classes, collaborations and his online store. Knowing people connect with him just as much as his art, he put his personal story front and center, and to bridge the gap between his site and social media, he integrated his Instagram feed on the homepage.
Inspired by the iconic typography of the New York Subway, Kevin chose a distinct Helvetica font to anchor the design and lots of white space to let his artwork breathe. He saved what’s perhaps the sweetest design touch of all for the footer, where the cursor magically transforms into a nifty doodle tool. It’s a small detail, but it perfectly connects his physical sketchbook to his digital world.
All in all, Kevin’s website serves up high-energy design at its best, showing how effortlessly a creator can translate their vision to the screen. With simple, one-click animations, Aria’s AI assistance and manual tweaks, he created a site that lets his raw, street-level creativity do the talking.
Turning art into income
Behind the aesthetic, Kevin’s website acts as a solid business engine. A picture gallery lets him show off his best pieces in a sleek portfolio mode, while Wix Stores and Wix Bookings allow him to sell his artwork and manage class registrations without hassle.
But Kevin doesn't just let the site sit there, either—he puts his analytics to work. He regularly checks to see who his top customers are, emailing them with special discounts, and uses automations to welcome and onboard new students.
Kevin says almost all his business is inbound, which is no surprise given the massive following he’s amassed on social media (368k on TikTok, 13.5k on YouTube and 270k on Instagram). Even so, he believes social media isn’t everything when it comes to your brand.
“It can help people get excited about your work, but when they go to book you, they need to see a website because they want that professional trust,” he says. “They need to know that you're going to show up on time. You're going to have your act together. My website acts as that assurance.”
Landing major brand deals proves his point. Look at his recent brand activation work for Land Rover, where he live-sketched car enthusiasts next to their beloved Defenders.
“One thing that stood out from that event is I had maybe two dozen people tell me they were going to frame the drawing,” he says. “From a brand perspective, they’re going to frame the product and put it up in their front hallway. You can't have a bigger win than that because it's a cherished part of their lives now, a part of their home. No one's going to do that with, say, an electric toothbrush.”
Working smarter, not just harder
The road to entrepreneurship isn't always clear, especially as an artist. Kevin says he took lots of business lessons from his previous roles, and building a website helped him realize the different business dimensions that most artists miss.
For one, he realized that selling low-margin artwork at scale wasn’t sustainable. So, he put his entrepreneurship skills to work and shifted his focus to high-value services like collaborations with brands and a four-week online drawing bootcamp dubbed “Zero to Sixty Sketchbook School.” He also began hosting free meetups as a way to get sign ups for his paid classes.
“I've had people tell me that they've learned more in just one class or one course than they did in the entirety of their art education,” says Kevin. “That’s meant a lot to me and encouraged me to pursue this new form of education where people can learn what I do.”
Looking ahead, Kevin is setting his sights on a couple of big goals: expanding his educational content and securing more high-end illustration work. But he’s also looking to level up his in-person workshops by turning his focus to his hometown.
“One of the things I'd like to do next is start hosting drawing tours around New York City, where I show people not only how to draw, but how to see this location as an artist,” he says. “That's something that will, of course, have its own page on the website.”
Ultimately, whether he's teaching a masterclass or sketching a live event, Kevin’s core mission remains the same: “Success for me is when other people get to experience life more deeply through art…It's a way of appreciating the moment, recording it and sharing it with other people.”
From his quiet days in a monastery to becoming an entrepreneur, Kevin has proven that staying present isn't just a mindfulness practice—it's a seriously good business strategy.
Stay inspired: The story behind the world’s most photographed bookstore
5 business lessons from Kevin
If you’re thinking about starting a business and turning a creative passion into a profitable brand, Kevin’s journey is full of insights on taking risks and scaling a unique business model.
01. Feel the fear and do it anyway
“I was really afraid that five years from now, I would look back at all this time and effort and say it wasn't worth it. But I knew I had to do it.”
02. Chart your own course
“There's no blueprint for a sketch artist. I didn't know anyone else who was doing what I wanted to do... But I knew I had to do it.”
03. Match your digital presence to your brand's energy
“My drawing style is a raw, authentic interpretation of the moment, so my website needed to showcase that same kinetic energy.”
04. Shift to high-value offerings
“What I struggled with for so long is trying to sell $60 art prints. The problem is that you’d have to sell 10,000 of those over the course of a year to make good margins.”
05. Deliver an emotional connection
“From a brand perspective, they’re going to frame the product and put it up in their front hallway. You can't have a bigger win than that because it's like a cherished part of their lives now.”
