Legally Blind Artist Michael Sincic Launches New Website

Michael Sincic has touched the hearts and lives of many people in Northern Michigan. He is a well-known celebrity around Traverse City Michigan, his home town. Everyone knows Michael as an amazing artist who happens to be legally blind. He recently announced the launch of a new website showcasing his work.

Born with sight, Michael started having headaches, blackouts, and blurred vision at the age of 13. The cause was discovered to be a brain tumor. Michael had to learn a new way of reading, writing, and walking—it was essentially like learning how to have a whole new way of life.

“I started going to school at the beginning of the school year, taking a class a day, and eventually went a full day at the end of the year. I still did not know where my life was going,” he said. “After a couple of years, I started getting some vision back. We went to the ophthalmologist, but they said they didn’t know why my vision was improving. The only way they knew I could see was by hand motion as I could see shadows. I felt a little relief but was still frustrated.”

Art changed his perspective. Once he moved to high school, he started working with an art therapist, doing different projects. One of the projects Michal completed involved watercolors—and he found himself connecting with and enjoying this type of art.

“I then bought my own small set of paints and started to try painting abstracts. I couldn’t picture in my mind what I was doing, so I bent a pipe cleaner in a circle shape and painted in the inside with red. I kept my finger at the top and dipped my brush in brown and painted in the stem and made an apple.”

As the years went by, a little more of his vision came back. He started seeing more shadows, and they were beginning to look a little more defined. Working with the art therapist in high school opened a whole new world of self-expression for Michael.

He eventually took a business and marketing class. One of the projects involved creating their own business, and Michael excitedly leaped at the idea of having one that is focused on his artwork. “It helped me with moving forward with painting and selling my artwork. I believe that art is the core of my life,” he says.

Now that he has refined his own technique, Michael’s new website offers clients and potential buyers the opportunity to check out his amazing watercolor artworks. Many people wonder how he can paint while he is blind. Michael uses a combination of techniques that rely on touch so that he can accurately pinpoint the placement of objects in his canvass.

Michael is also incredibly organized when it comes to arranging his colors and brushes. This ensures that he can get the colors right on the paintings. If he is unclear of the color that should be painted, he will often ask a friend to describe the object and color.

“When I do the sky, I first wet the paper and then go over with a brush. It helps control the paint from bleeding. I then use the ends of my brushes to mark where things are, such as the horizon line. I use pipe cleaners to mark sections off,” Michael says. “I use masking tape for marking sections. When you pull it off, the paper is left white.”

Michael describes his reliance on masking—a technique that many artists use, but he finds especially beneficial for his process. “If I am painting a very small section red and want to paint the rest green, I first paint in the red section with the masking. When that is dry, I use a large brush to paint in the green. Once that is dry, I use rubber cement to pick up and lift up the masking. It leaves that small section white to then paint red. People ask me how I paint my trees. I simply use a sponge, which works great.”

Michael, a truly inspiring artist, began his love for art even before he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. But this did not put an end to his pursuit of artistic expression. Today, he is able to continue his love of art with painting and sculpture.

Michael's story has touched the hearts of so many people that meet him. One of those couples is a long time family friend of Stephen Twomey, co-founder of Mission To Market.

Stephen was approached by this couple to build an e-commerce based website for Michael. This anonymous couple put down some money, to cover some basic costs, and M2M also donated large amounts of time and resources to make sure this amazing young man has a way to get his artwork into the hands of people who want to support him.

With the help of M2M and a family friend, Michael Sincic is proud to announce the launch of his new e-commerce based website: https://michaelsincic.com/. To support Michael, click the link here to shop his amazing watercolor artwork. His prints are available in cards or in 11X17 prints.