I started around 18 and kept on drawing with pencils all through my years at university (becoming a geologist).
After that I managed to get a job as a Concept Artist and only then I really started to improve.
So I did that for 5 years and now its Battle Brothers time :) If you want to see some more stuff check out my artstation (Artstation Profile)
I am really looking forward to painting some more illustrations for BB, the ones I did unto now are really rushed and of a pretty low quality (in my eyes). Dont know when this will happen though, my task list for ingame assets is longer than Gandalfs beard at the moment :)