Young Artist Makes A Splash In The Whitsundays

Ten-year-old Reef Little, has been making waves on the ‘Fishing the Whitsundays’ Facebook page, where he has impressed with his marine life and sea creature inspired artwork.

Reef began drawing at the age of eight, and while he has always been a naturally creative individual, his artistic skills have reached new heights, particularly since he enrolled in Bridget Peel-Fine Art classes at the encouragement of his mother, Nadine Little.

90% of Reef’s fantastic drawings are inspired by marine life or sea creatures, due to his love for fishing and the ocean.

As he has always enjoyed fishing, he has been on the fishing page from a young age posting pictures of his recent catches.

His recent posts, however, have transitioned from fish pictures to promoting his art on there, where he sells framed copies and prints of his original art work.

While Reef is mainly selling prints of his work, he will also do custom pieces if asked, with businesses, including fishing charters even asking to have his drawings on their shirts.

Since he was eight years old Nadine has put Reef’s drawings on the fishing page and over the past two years his work has become increasingly popular with locals, there is 20,000 people on this specific Facebook page and Nadine explains how increasingly supportive the members on there are, with one guy from Sydney even buying three of reef’s drawings.

“He has now got a name for himself from posting his artwork on that page,” Nadine exclaimed.

The profits from the paintings go directly to Reef for pocket money, and Nadine is excited about the possibility of launching a clothing line featuring Reef's artwork in the near future:

“We’re likely to start with a market stall, and then expand to sell his prints alongside the shirts,” she says.

In addition to the clothing line, Nadine is planning to launch an Instagram page to showcase Reef's talent and reach a broader audience, helping to introduce his art to more people.

Besides being an upcoming artist and going to school, Reef is a very kind boy who loves fishing and the outdoors, and going to his art classes twice a week:

“He’s not a sit inside and be stuck on the iPad kid, he just constantly wants to go out fishing on the boat,” Nadine stated.

Reef has a dedicated wall in his home where he displays his framed artwork, and he is determined to fill it as he continues to create.

Although his art has garnered significant support from the local community, Reef remains incredibly modest. He humbly believes he’s "not that good" and would never claim to be better than anyone else.

Reef’s artistic journey took a notable step forward when he entered his first competition at the Reef Gateway Hotel during the Great Barrier Reef Festival, where he earned second place for his striking striped marlin drawing.

If you’re interested in acquiring one of Reef’s unique paintings, you can reach out to Nadine Little via Facebook.

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Reef with one of his framed prints

Reef drawing up a storm

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