Otto Stürcke was born in 1971 and grew up in Southern California. Primarily self-taught, Stürcke joined the U.S. Marine Corps in hopes of attaining financial aid to attend an art college. His plans were momentarily altered in 1991 when he was called to serve in Desert Storm. Soon after his military service, Stürcke enrolled in art workshops and courses at several local art associations and colleges while launching his illustration career under the mentorship of Mike Butkus. Working as an illustrator served Stürcke for honing many techniques and found pastels to be his principal medium of choice. As a representational artist, Stürcke seeks to find common ground between the contemporary and the classical. Greatly influenced by the Dutch Masters, Stürcke aims to depict the personal, the emotional, and the quiet elegance in his paintings through light, shadow, and texture. In recent years, Stürcke has garnered recognition and several awards for his works including the title of Master Pastelist and the Art Spirit Foundation Dianne B. Bernhard Gold Medal Award by the Pastel Society of America, 1st Place in Pastel Journal’s 19th Annual Pastel 100 Competition Animal/Wildlife Category, 1st Place in the 8th Annual Members Show of the Pastel Society of Southern California, Stabilo Award at the 1st International Pastel Exhibition in Rome, Butler Institute of American Art Selection, the Robert & Patricia Suggs Award by the Pastel Society of the West Coast, the “Best of 2012” by Art Los Angeles Magazine, and has also been chosen to be part of the American Latino Collective at the Smithsonian Museum. His work has been published in the French publication “40 Maitres du Pastel” (40 Masters of Pastel) by Pratique des Arts Magazine, “The Art of Chalk” by Tracy Lee Stum, and as “Artist of Note” by Southwest Art Magazine.