Passion & Purpose | January 25, 2021

This Artist Picked Up a Paint Brush at 77

For 40 years, Tony Herbst was a pro in the pizza business. Owning seven Round Table Pizzas on the West Coast, he knew a thing or two about the perfect pizza pie. But after retiring from day-to-day operations, he was looking for something new to master.

Picking Up the Paint Brush

One day, he saw a local ad for painting lessons, and while he’d never considered being an artist in all his previous 77 years, he thought he’d give it a try.

“It was just three consecutive Tuesday mornings from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and the first thing I painted was a sunflower, and I thought it was just the neatest thing in the world to paint,” Herbst says.

Even though it was just three classes, he knew he found his next calling and he decided to go all in. He went home and told his wife, and while she supported him, she wasn’t thrilled at the idea of turning their home into an art studio.

“So I had the idea to open a studio in a little strip mall, and I used it for storage and to paint,” he says. “I just started painting away and started doing Bob Ross paintings.”

As a self-taught artist, he relied on videos and tutorials from other artists, picking and choosing different techniques and styles to incorporate into his own work.

“I really wanted to learn one type of painting,” he says. “I wanted it that way because I’m 80—I was 77 at the time—and I did want to take a bunch of lessons.”

Eventually, Herbst found his own signature style, inspired by his own imagination, his love of colors and memories of his youth in Pennsylvania.

“I just wanted to stick to colorful, abstract palette knife paintings,” he says. “I only use a palette knife. I don’t use brushes. I like bright colors. I like oil painting. I like impressionism. I like abstract paintings.”

The YNOT Art Studio & Gallery

After perfecting his style and occupying all the space at his first studio, he decided to move on to a bigger, better space. A studio he would call YNOT Art Studio—his name spelled backwards, but also a nod to his motto: “Why not paint?”

“I just kept painting and painting and after three years I had 150 to 175 paintings,” he says. “My walls were filled with paintings right up next to each other, so I moved out of there to a place in Folsom where I have a gallery in the front and the art studio in the back where I paint.”

This new studio receives a lot of foot traffic thanks to its location near popular antique stores, and he’s even been on the local news after a reporter came in to look around. Because of the news segment, he said he sold a year and a half’s worth of paintings in eight days.

He considers the YNOT studio his man cave. He likes that it keeps him busy and productive, while giving him an opportunity to create.

“It’s my sanctuary,” he says. “I love it. It’s time consuming, it takes up time in my day and I love to see the finished product.”

He considers the YNOT studio his man cave. He likes that it keeps him busy and productive, while giving him an opportunity to create.

“It’s my sanctuary,” he says. “I love it. It’s time consuming, it takes up time in my day and I love to see the finished product.”

A Painter’s Lesson

It took Herbst 77 years to pick up a paint brush, but he says he’s happy that he did. He admits it took him a while to get into the swing of being an artist, but he never let missteps get in the way.

“I threw away a lot of canvases in the beginning,” he says. “I threw away about 30 canvases right away. They were awful, but over a period of time, you just learn.”

It’s a lesson he thinks everyone can learn from, regardless of age. And though he knows starting something new with no experience can be intimidating, he also says it can be rewarding.

“If it’s painting, all you need is a canvas and some paint and a brush,” he says. “Take some lessons. If you like it, great, and if you don’t, oh well. Just throw it in the trash, but just give it a try. Just try it and take that chance.”

“I threw away a lot of canvases in the beginning,” he says. “I threw away about 30 canvases right away. They were awful, but over a period of time, you just learn.”

It’s a lesson he thinks everyone can learn from, regardless of age. And though he knows starting something new with no experience can be intimidating, he also says it can be rewarding.

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