Donavon was born in 1982 in Onley, Maryland. He developed an interest in comic and video game art that would begin his study of the figure while altering the proportions, colors, and playing with abstraction. After his military service, he gained the opportunity to go to Kansas State University to major in studio art and art history. During his time in university, he experimented with many styles and mediums to find his artistic voice such as watercolor, collage, and mixed media but found his preferred medium of charcoal and inks.

Donavon received his BFA in studio art from Kansas State University with concentrations in painting and drawing and BA in art history in 2021.

He now lives and works in Manhattan, Kansas.