Lake County Illinois artist Gregg Hangebrauck became deeply interested in art at a very early age. Upon seeing a realistic drawing sometime before beginning grade school, he knew that he wanted to be an artist. Drawing was something he took seriously and was driven to do ever since.

Much of Gregg's grade school & high school works were pencil and pen & ink drawings of people he knew. Many of his subjects were his teachers and school friends. Gregg realized early on that he had a gift for capturing very realistically the people he came in contact with. When Gregg should have been learning about science, english or math, he would be distracted by studying his latest artistic subject, drawing him or her over and over until he had them just right. When arriving at a finished face in which there was no question of who the person was, Gregg would then draw elaborate scenes, often humerous, in which the subject became the brundt of a visual parody much like you would see in the then popular Mad or Cracked magazines of the time. " I was very popular when a new masterpiece was hung in the school cafeteria."

Shortly after graduating high school Gregg was intrigued after touring a local graphics firm. He knew his artistic ability would serve him well in the company, and after calling them twice a week for six months they finally had to hire him. His natural ability landed him a position in the art department, and after an abbreviated apprenticeship he became a journeyman etcher. The years of training in this cutting edge company finely honed his skills of observation, color, tone, perspective, and composition. As a retoucher before the advent of the computer, a skilled artist such as Gregg would be asked to " Photoshop " special effects by hand in a dark room and an etch sink. The results were as seamless and natural as the work being done on today's computers. Later, when his company purchased a computer which cost the firm nearly a million dollars, Gregg was the natural choice to be selected to operate the rare and expensive color and retouching equipment. Labeled as a top artist on the machine by the manufacturer within a six month period, Gregg was being sought after by some of the most prestigious firms in the country. Shortly afterward Gregg was retouching the highest profile imagery to be found. The thousand magazine covers he personally retouched include ten years of Vanity Fair which contained such iconic imagery as the Demi Moore ( pregnant ) and ( body painted ) covers of New York photographer Annie Liebovitz.

During his thirty year career as a leading retoucher in the graphic arts, Gregg concurrently entered art competitions and was earning top honors from judges in several local and regional artistic competitions. He also began to paint and sell portraits. After exploring many different mediums, Gregg now works almost exclusively in oils. His favorite subject matter as always is the human face, and the figure respectively. What drives Gregg as an artist is the process and exploration of painting, and the love of color.