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31st Jul 2014

“Life Changed Forever” – Teenager Opts Out Of School After One Direction Portrait Success

Eh, someone pass us the pencils, we think we've just found ourselves a new hobby.

Her

Stay in school kids… unless of course you have fantastic artistic skills and really love One Direction.

18-year-old Jack Ede had a life changing experience when his One Direction artwork was shared by group member Louis Tomlinson’s sister online.

After becoming bored during some scheduled study time for his A-Levels, the Lincolnshire lad decided to “take my future into my own hands”.

In an interview with BBC Newsbeat the teen explained how his “life changed forever”, however admit he isn’t actually a fan of the band.

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Pencil portrait of Louis Tomlinson.

“The first one was the Louis one and they absolutely loved it,” Jack said.

“Then I did Niall after that, and they absolutely loved that.

“Then I built suspense by posting subtle pictures of the progress of the Harry one. When I posted the finished piece, it just went insane.”

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Jack was offered £400 (€505) for his finished piece of Harry Styles.

“There were a few comments where people said, ‘I have seen better’ and I just thought, ‘Fair enough’, but most of the comments have been great.”

In the weeks following the Instagram sharing Jack set up his own business, began portraits of other famous faces and now receives requests from fans all over the globe.

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Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston.

Jack admitted that he prefers the music of Drake and Bastille, however feels ‘a strong loyalty’ to One Direction.

“I want to do all five of them and then a group photo,” he added.

“I have done three so far so I still have a long way to go. It’s worth it, I have been offered hundreds of pounds for their drawings.”

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Pencil perfect: Mullingar man, Niall Horan.

Eh, someone pass us the pencils, we think we’ve just found ourselves a new hobby.