Faces of the Valley: Art imitates life for Lower Burrell graphic artist, who got early boost in field from his father

New Kensington native Shane Henderson followed his father’s example into his life as an artist.

“He taught me stuff before I was even in high school. I had a nice starting point for taking it professionally,” Henderson said. “I always drew as a kid. He always encouraged that. It was definitely a big influence on me wanting to go into an art career.”

Henderson and his father, Don, both graphic designers, started their own company, Henderson Graphic Design & Illustration, in 2013.

“When we started, we were doing a lot of logo design and website design for smaller businesses,” Shane Henderson said. “We’ve kind of transitioned now into just trying to sell our own artwork.”

Since 2016, Shane Henderson has done digital illustrations of more than 220 buildings under the banner of “Buildings by Shane.”

“I’ve always liked architecture, and I’ve had an interest in different architectural styles. Whenever I went on vacation to a new city, I would spend a lot of time taking photos of the different skyscrapers or churches or bridges in that city,” he said. “I had a big stockpile of photography. I wanted to do something creative with that.

“Setting yourself apart as a photographer is really difficult. There’s a lot of good photographers out there,” he said. “I wanted to take my graphic design skills and apply that to do something with all these photos of buildings that I’ve taken.”

Don Henderson, 65, also a photographer and founder of the New Kensington Camera Club, takes pride in his son’s work.

“He has such incredible attention for detail,” he said. “I’ll eyeball things. He’s precise.”

Shane Henderson, 37, lives in Lower Burrell with his fiancee, Nicole Ritchie. Their wedding is planned for Sept. 3, followed by a honeymoon in Florida.

A 2003 Valley High School graduate, Shane Henderson went to an art school and college but didn’t get a degree from either one. Instead, he went to work for a graphic design studio where his father also worked.

“It was probably a dumb decision, but I dropped my classes and went to work full time,” he said. “I got into the field early, I guess.”

It was after father and son were laid off at the same time that they started their own company.

The origin of “Buildings by Shane” was in Shane Henderson wanting to do artwork to commemorate the 125th anniversary of New Kensington’s founding in 2016.

“I started doing illustrations of buildings that were in New Kensington that were local landmarks,” he said. “People seemed to like the artwork. I continued doing it and started getting requests from people to print them and sell them to them.”

From New Kensington, Shane Henderson branched out to buildings in other cities, states and countries. People also have commissioned him to do illustrations of their houses and other buildings.

His last commission was the Gulf Tower in Downtown Pittsburgh lit with colors for Pride month in June. He donates half of the proceeds from sales of those prints to the PGH Equality Center.

He also has been making donations from sales of his illustration of St. Vladimir Ukrainian Catholic Church in Arnold to the church to assist in its effort to rebuild after a fire in December.

“One of the things I really like is when someone comes up to me and they’re so happy I did an illustration of something that’s meaningful to them,” he said. “That’s always really cool when I can put a smile on someone’s face just by my artwork.”

Shane Henderson mainly pays his bills doing graphic design for Wesley Family Services.

“If you see anything by them, it’s a pretty good chance it was me that designed it,” he said.

Having a career in art is not easy to do.

“It can feel kind of overwhelming at times to think that this is something you can do full time and make money at,” he said. “The opportunity is there if you really believe in yourself and keep trying.”

For those wanting a life in art, Shane Henderson says to always be creative and try to learn new ways of doing art.

“If you’re into drawing, keep drawing. If you’re into painting, keep painting. Hone your craft and be the best you can,” he said. “Don’t take criticism to heart. You’re going to get criticism that is probably going to hurt your feelings. It’s the way it goes. Accept that and know that you can get better if you try.”

Like his father, Shane Henderson says he probably never will retire.

“When you’re an artist, you never get the opportunity to retire. God retires you,” Don Henderson said.

“Being around Shane, that keeps me young.”