Johan Scherft was born in 1970 in Leiden, the Netherlands. At an early age he showed great talent in drawing, and also an interest in animals and nature.

The birds he observed inspired him at a young age to make birds out of paper, hand-colored with colored pencil.

With these self-created models, and other drawings, Scherft was accepted to the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague.

Johan Scherft has been working as a free artist since then, working in various disciplines such as painting, etching, drawing and illustrating.

Scherft designs  cardboard models of animals, especially birds.

He meticulously paints these realistic and life sized animals and upon completing the craft they look as though they would fit seamlessly into nature. 

More of Johan Scherft’s incredible work can be found at http://www.johanscherft.com/