Cheryl Polakow Knight

I’ve been creating artwork as long as I can remember and always taking classes to improve my skills. Learning and growing as an artist never stops for me.

I continue to have a life long passion for drawing, painting, and sculpting. I mostly enjoy realistic faces, nudes, but recently have started creating abstracts.   I find painting abstracts to be so freeing from the constraints of the body and the face.

Currently I am working primarily in watercolors and a member of the Valley Watercolor Society. 

I find watercolor  to be the most challenging of all mediums, but also the most versatile.

I received my B.A. in Fine Arts at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

I’ve studied illustration at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

I've studied sculpting with various instructors and continue to study art today at Otis College of Art & Design.  

When I was younger and worked for Quinn Martin Productions in their mail room, delievering the mail, I would create drawings and paintings for their set of homes or offices which were used in their television shows.

When i got a little older I was able to get into the animation industry through my fine art portfolio and was trained in animation with Ralph Bakshi on the orginal "Lord of The Rings".

For over 16 years I worked in the field of animation.

I worked for Hanna Barbera, and Filmation doing Saturday morning cartoons.

I also worked at Walt Disney feature animation and was part of the team that created “The Lion King”, " Aladdin", "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", "Hercules", "Mulan", and “Beauty and the Beast.”  

When I  left Disney I decided to become an art teacher, (I figured with my background I might as well teach),

and now  teach art in high school with the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The last few years my paintings have been shown in Gallery 800, North Hollywood, California.