Thomas Blackshear II

Thomas Blackshear II, the son of an Air Force captain, was born in Waco, Texas, and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. “Drawing was all I ever liked to do,” he says. “While all the other guys were playing baseball or basketball, I was in my house, drawing.” He pursued an interest in art throughout high school, securing a scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago. After a year there, he transferred to the nearby Academy of Art. While finishing his college education, he was recruited by Hallmark Cards and later became the apprentice of illustrator Mark English.

Blackshear settled in Kansas City, where he became head illustrator at the prestigious Godbold/Richter Studio. A year later, he began a prosperous freelance career, illustrating many advertisements, several U.S. Postal Service stamp collections—one called “Black Heritage,” another on classic movies, and a third on jazz musicians—and several series of Hamilton Group collector’s plates featuring scenes from Star Wars, Star Trek, and The Wizard of Oz. Although he was successful, he was dissatisfied and decided to pursue a career in fine art. "My goal is to produce inspirational paintings that touch the soul, capture the imagination and have a timeless quality," he says of his art.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST by Thomas Blackshear

NIGHT IN DAY by Thomas Blackshear

WATCHERS IN THE NIGHT by Thomas Blackshear