Steven de Groot doesn’t sketch like most designers. He doesn’t chase perfection, and he doesn’t stay inside the lines. Instead, he picks up a bold marker, lets his hand move fast, and colors with intention—often spilling outside the borders. Then he pulls everything back into focus using shadows, highlights, and sharp white outlines. You don’t just see his drawings—you feel them coming to life.
Steven lives and works in Eindhoven. You can call him a product designer. You can also call him a sketch artist. Both are true, but neither tells the full story. What he does sits somewhere in between: it’s design, but with energy. Art, but with structure. He draws cars, tools, chairs, everyday objects. And he gives each one of them a presence, a story, and a pulse.
You’ll notice his style right away. He begins with loose shapes and bold strokes. At first, it looks messy. But as he layers and builds, you start to see the object take form. A wrench turns into a clean rendering. A car sketch starts to shine. His process feels like watching order rise from chaos.
Steven doesn’t hide the sketch. He makes it part of the final look. You see rough marker strokes. You see decisions in real time. Then you see how he sharpens them—adding crisp outlines, smart shadowing, and just enough detail to hold your eye. The result isn’t polished like a computer render. It’s better. It feels human.
He works fast, and he works with purpose. There’s no second-guessing. He trusts the process. That confidence shows in every drawing. You get the sense that if he made a mistake, he wouldn’t erase it. He’d build on it.
His drawings show you how design works—not just the end result, but the thinking behind it. You see proportions, balance, weight, form. But you also see curiosity. He doesn’t just draw what things look like. He explores how they feel.
Look through his Instagram feed and you’ll see a pattern. One day he sketches a vintage motorcycle. The next, a folding knife. Then a coffee machine. Each drawing holds a little tension: loose and tight, raw and clean. He plays with contrast. He lets shapes clash, then aligns them. It keeps your attention. It keeps his work alive.
Steven is unique in that he doesn’t overthink things. He doesn’t hide behind design theory or trends. He draws what interests him. He keeps his tools simple—just markers, pens, maybe a white pencil. He shows up, puts the idea on paper, and lets it speak.
You don’t need to be a designer to connect with his work. His drawings feel accessible. They make you want to pick up a pen and try something. They serve as a reminder that wonderful things can be created without expensive equipment. You need curiosity, control, and the nerve to let go of control once in a while.
In a world full of digital perfection, Steven’s analog sketches feel fresh. They have texture. They breathe. You can almost hear the markers sliding across the page. You can sense the weight of the object he’s drawing. Not just how it looks, but how it sits in space. That’s not easy to pull off with just ink and paper.
He’s not trying to impress you with perfect lines. He’s showing you how ideas grow. His drawings are decisions made visible.
Steven’s work speaks to anyone who creates—designers, builders, artists, thinkers. It reminds you that the best ideas don’t always start clean. Sometimes they start with a bold line and a blank page. What matters is how you shape them.
He doesn’t post for likes. He posts to share a process. And you can tell he loves that process. That’s what makes it work. That’s why people keep watching.
If you’re learning design, study his sketches. You’ll see how to build forms, how to think in layers, how to use contrast and weight. If you’re not a designer, just watch the drawings take shape. They’ll teach you how to look closer at the objects in your world.
Steven de Groot doesn’t call himself a teacher. But his work teaches by doing. And if you let it, it’ll shift how you see design. Not as a final product—but as a living, changing thing.
And maybe that’s the point.
Steven de Groot
Hello art lovers. My name is Deepak Mehla, and I’m from Karnal, India. I enjoy reading stories about people’s struggles and how they overcome them. These motivational stories work like a source of energy for me.
Although Arttellers is completely different from my original vision, I, too, am going through a challenging phase in life. To keep myself busy and to hold on to hope, I share stories of artists with all of you. I believe these stories will give you a new direction, just as they inspire me.
Arttellers exists because I want to share how some people turn the work they love into their livelihood, and how choosing their passion leads them to success. I started Arttellers to keep my own hope alive and to help you discover people whose journeys might inspire you too.
