Artist Todd L Thomas was born of Albanian and Dutch descent in the northeastern
United States. It wasnt long before Mr. Thomas began showing his future vocation
and at age three began painting and drawing on his own. His exposure to surrealism at a
young age birthed a style of dreams and visions even before He entered into a spiritual
relationship with his creator. But Mr. Thomas was most influenced by a 4 year stay in
western Europe in his early teens. Exposure to the great artworks of the masters such as
Michelangelo, Dali and Monet started Mr Thomas on a journey of artistic pursuit to
recapture the essence of the artisitic beauty and skill of that period in a contemporary
format and subject matter.
As Mr Thomas entered college his first important instructor, realist nd superb water
colorist Tom Motley at Richland, ordered Mr Thomas to study the sketchbooks of
Michelangelo to learn his means of presenting 3D illusion on a 2D surface. This launched
Mr Thomas to where he is today in both skill and technique. This was followed by
classes spent with Smithsonian Institute inductee artist Jim Stover. Mr Stover's slant of
surrealistic flair mixed with his use of human anatomy appealed to Mr Thomas as he took
on a similar style mixed with classical realism. Mr Thomas' concern for social and
political issues, particularly the massive stockpiling of nuclear weapons throughout the
world and the constant fear of man's anhilaion being possible at any moment, was the
center of his theme. He produced black and white drawings and pointleism ink drawings
of post nuclear scenes that depicted the forseen death and destruction of mankind. The
hopeless and lifeless approach to his subject matter was expounded by his very
dysfunctional, violent, life threatening family upbringing. He saw himself as a survivor
and lucky to be alive in real life, and similar, his work depicted the viewer as the being
only one left alive in a post nuclear conflict world. This hopeless, synical outlook carried
Mr Thomas into an interest in the dark underworld and was expressed in later works
through art, poetry and lyrics.
His first ever color piece, the stipling work "Into The Void", started a new beginning
and approach to his creative expression and was influenced by Dimitri Venters, the
guitarist and executive producer of Mr Thomas' new age rock band "Into the
Void". During the time the band had experienced some national success, Mr
Venters shared his newfound religion and Mr Thomas dangled in the mystical practices
as well.
In 1986, after the tragic loss of a loved one and an unpleasant divorce and separation
from his children whom he was very close to, Mr Thomas began a spiritual journey that
changed his hopeless and dark demeanor. Reaching out for help to battle his constant
desire to numb his inner suffering through substance abuse and suicide attempts, Mr
Thomas had many super natural experiences that he believes were direct contact with the
heavenly realm such as angels. Mr Thomas destroyed his earlier works and began to
endeavor on producing works of hope and mercy and love. In 1992, Mr Thomas began a
job as an illustrator for curriculum publisher "The School Of Tomorrow". His spiritually
stimulating illustrations had taken on a bright and colorful appearance and he when he
made his works public, he soon became known as the "artist of vivid color". His
medieval works in classical style also gained notoriety by those interersted in historicism.
During his second marriage Mr Thomas fell victim to a series of accidents that would
change his life foever. Mr Thomas could not walk for 6 weeks and struggled holding a
brush or pencil after that. Also compounding his troubles was the discovery of a genetic
heart issue that had to be corrected by laser surgery, and a battle with cancer.
Mr Thomas did not produce any new works for a couple years. He had stored a number
of works that were close to be completed but not finished. His good friend, artist Steve
Miller, encouraged Mr Thomas to pick up the skill of digital art using computers to
continue his creative vocation. With the unbearable pain endured through his last
traditonal artpiece, the 5 foot by 3 1/2 foot watercolor/airbrush/oil pencil mixed media
piece "The Lion Of Judah Over Dallas" in 1996, Mr Thomas realized he would have to
give in to the world of digital art. With well-known artist and friend Don Adair also
mentoring him, he slowly began the process of completing the unfinished works and also
began producing new pieces as he learned the new medium. He then made all his works
public worldwide via the internet and is featued on up to 10 websites today. His subject
matter, depiction of the celestial world, messages of hope and love and grace and his
versatility between realism and surrealism has added to his reputation as an artist of the
contemporary era, and a pioneer of digital media used in the purest sense to create fine
art. His transformation from synicism to an artist of hope has reached 20 years and while
some physical challenges still exist, Mr Thomas is making plans to teach and to instill
that message of hope as well as to impart his classical and surrealistic skills to others.
United States. It wasnt long before Mr. Thomas began showing his future vocation
and at age three began painting and drawing on his own. His exposure to surrealism at a
young age birthed a style of dreams and visions even before He entered into a spiritual
relationship with his creator. But Mr. Thomas was most influenced by a 4 year stay in
western Europe in his early teens. Exposure to the great artworks of the masters such as
Michelangelo, Dali and Monet started Mr Thomas on a journey of artistic pursuit to
recapture the essence of the artisitic beauty and skill of that period in a contemporary
format and subject matter.
As Mr Thomas entered college his first important instructor, realist nd superb water
colorist Tom Motley at Richland, ordered Mr Thomas to study the sketchbooks of
Michelangelo to learn his means of presenting 3D illusion on a 2D surface. This launched
Mr Thomas to where he is today in both skill and technique. This was followed by
classes spent with Smithsonian Institute inductee artist Jim Stover. Mr Stover's slant of
surrealistic flair mixed with his use of human anatomy appealed to Mr Thomas as he took
on a similar style mixed with classical realism. Mr Thomas' concern for social and
political issues, particularly the massive stockpiling of nuclear weapons throughout the
world and the constant fear of man's anhilaion being possible at any moment, was the
center of his theme. He produced black and white drawings and pointleism ink drawings
of post nuclear scenes that depicted the forseen death and destruction of mankind. The
hopeless and lifeless approach to his subject matter was expounded by his very
dysfunctional, violent, life threatening family upbringing. He saw himself as a survivor
and lucky to be alive in real life, and similar, his work depicted the viewer as the being
only one left alive in a post nuclear conflict world. This hopeless, synical outlook carried
Mr Thomas into an interest in the dark underworld and was expressed in later works
through art, poetry and lyrics.
His first ever color piece, the stipling work "Into The Void", started a new beginning
and approach to his creative expression and was influenced by Dimitri Venters, the
guitarist and executive producer of Mr Thomas' new age rock band "Into the
Void". During the time the band had experienced some national success, Mr
Venters shared his newfound religion and Mr Thomas dangled in the mystical practices
as well.
In 1986, after the tragic loss of a loved one and an unpleasant divorce and separation
from his children whom he was very close to, Mr Thomas began a spiritual journey that
changed his hopeless and dark demeanor. Reaching out for help to battle his constant
desire to numb his inner suffering through substance abuse and suicide attempts, Mr
Thomas had many super natural experiences that he believes were direct contact with the
heavenly realm such as angels. Mr Thomas destroyed his earlier works and began to
endeavor on producing works of hope and mercy and love. In 1992, Mr Thomas began a
job as an illustrator for curriculum publisher "The School Of Tomorrow". His spiritually
stimulating illustrations had taken on a bright and colorful appearance and he when he
made his works public, he soon became known as the "artist of vivid color". His
medieval works in classical style also gained notoriety by those interersted in historicism.
During his second marriage Mr Thomas fell victim to a series of accidents that would
change his life foever. Mr Thomas could not walk for 6 weeks and struggled holding a
brush or pencil after that. Also compounding his troubles was the discovery of a genetic
heart issue that had to be corrected by laser surgery, and a battle with cancer.
Mr Thomas did not produce any new works for a couple years. He had stored a number
of works that were close to be completed but not finished. His good friend, artist Steve
Miller, encouraged Mr Thomas to pick up the skill of digital art using computers to
continue his creative vocation. With the unbearable pain endured through his last
traditonal artpiece, the 5 foot by 3 1/2 foot watercolor/airbrush/oil pencil mixed media
piece "The Lion Of Judah Over Dallas" in 1996, Mr Thomas realized he would have to
give in to the world of digital art. With well-known artist and friend Don Adair also
mentoring him, he slowly began the process of completing the unfinished works and also
began producing new pieces as he learned the new medium. He then made all his works
public worldwide via the internet and is featued on up to 10 websites today. His subject
matter, depiction of the celestial world, messages of hope and love and grace and his
versatility between realism and surrealism has added to his reputation as an artist of the
contemporary era, and a pioneer of digital media used in the purest sense to create fine
art. His transformation from synicism to an artist of hope has reached 20 years and while
some physical challenges still exist, Mr Thomas is making plans to teach and to instill
that message of hope as well as to impart his classical and surrealistic skills to others.
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| Copyright Todd L. Thomas Copyright Artful Designs 2006-2008 |
Artful Designs
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| Kendra Walden |
Todd L. Thomas
| The Artists |
