Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, the last thing I expected was to become a naval architect. But after seeing a Titanic documentary when I was four, I knew I was going to do something ship related. That initial encounter with Titanic sparked a love for ships (particularly with dramatic stories), as well as an obsession with drawing. So much so that by the time Middle School came to an end I struggled to identify any appealing career options, since as far as I knew “draw boats” wasn’t a real job.

But by Divine Appointment the high school art teacher at my small, rural school in the mountains of Pennsylvania knew Professor Gallagher’s family. So, he introduced me to Webb and the career of Naval Architecture.

A great irony of my time at Webb, though, was the slow decline of the time I spent really drawing boats beyond notebook doodles. That trend continued as I began my career at SAFE Boats International (near Seattle) and as my wife and I began raising our family.

By early 2020, in the midst of COVID, we decided it was time to move back to the east coast in order to be closer to family and away from the dreary Seattle winters. I took a position with Combatant Craft Division, and we began developing our homestead in the country outside of Suffolk, VA with our five children. Through much of that time my drawing paper and pencils languished on the shelf.

It was only in late 2022, when the kids began sleeping better, that the inspiration to start drawing again struck me. I saw an old drawing from high school and wanted to try it again. That experience reignited my love of drawing, and I launched my art studio in June 2023.

As I have started sharing my artwork, one of the surprising results has been the joy I have found in honoring and celebrating the broad maritime history and heritage we love as naval architects, but also the very personal achievements we experience in our careers. The commissions I’ve had the privilege to draw (so far) have celebrated either a career or specific, meaningful project. And it is such an honor to contribute to that celebration through my artwork.

The excitement I’ve found has inspired the idea for a drawing that will celebrate the heritage of American naval architecture broadly. The idea is an image of William Webb’s Young America and William Francis Gibb’s United States crossing paths. The two very patriotically named ships were launched nearly 100 years apart, and both were the product of two incredibly significant naval architects in American maritime history. I am excited about this drawing because of how meaningful I think it will be to people with connections to naval architecture and who take pride in our maritime heritage.

And so, as I am given the privilege of celebrating the achievements of my peers and our shared maritime history and heritage, I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to make “draw boats” a real job after all.

If you’d like to follow my art journey, you can find my work in my online gallery at BenFisherArt.com.

I also post regularly on social media- I’m on LinkedIn: BenjaminDFisher, Facebook: BenFisherArt and Instagram: Naval_Art.chitect