Early Morning Artist

It’s Saturday morning. Early Saturday morning, just after midnight.

Zack Pinto has just finished his shift at the front desk of the Hixson-Lied Small Animal Hospital.

At the end of a long week, most of us would head home as quickly as possible.

Not Zack.

Instead, he leaves his spot at the front desk and heads to Primary Care where spends up to two hours working on his passion.

“It has become a small tradition for me to draw every week on Fridays (technically Saturday) after I have clocked out for the day,” Zack says.

Zack spends early Saturday morning making a new artistic creation on the Primary Care white board. It’s something he started in May 2025.

His first drawing was of the character Kuzo from the Disney film, “The Emperor’s New Groove.”

“A lot of people took interest and everyone in Primary Care has been incredibly sweet and kind,” Zack said. “This silly drawing sparked something in me that I used to do at the Ames Public Library when I was growing up.”

Zack moved to Ames with his family in his mid-teens from Brazil. His life has been surrounded by art even before his move to Iowa.

His aunt exposed him to animated films at a young age. His grandma had beautiful oil paintings throughout her house. His grandpa was skilled at making leather books, while his mom could “craft anything” and his dad had exceptional carpentry skills.

“Ever since I can remember, I’ve always been surrounded by art,” Zack said. “I’ve taken that inspiration from where I have lived and the people around me.”

Every week, the Primary Care white board has a new piece of art by Zack. He has also created a TikTok page (@theytboard) and has been posting there since the beginning of this year.

“I’ve connected with people I would have never met before or run into due to my art,” Zack says. “It’s been refreshing to see that people still appreciate traditional art in this age of AI.

“A lot of the art I create I am not proud of but there’s always someone out there to whom that art will speak to. Art isn’t always about talent. It’s about skill and how much time you are willing to put into it.”

September 2026