Thomas Fluharty facts for kids

Thomas Lively Fluharty Jr. (born in 1962) is an American artist and teacher. He is famous for his amazing illustrations. You might have seen his artwork on the covers of big magazines like Der Spiegel, Time, and Mad. His art has also appeared in The New York Times and in many children's books. Thomas Fluharty also teaches drawing and oil painting online to students around the world.

Thomas Fluharty's Artistic Journey

Thomas Fluharty was born in 1962 in Santa Ana, California. He started studying art in high school in Englewood, Ohio. After that, he earned a degree from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

Fluharty studied the work of Bouguereau.

He then moved to New York City and trained for 13 years with Ken Bald. Ken Bald was a famous artist who drew comics. Thomas also learned about acrylic paint at the School of Visual Arts. He took classes at the National Academy of Fine Arts too.

Later, from 2002 to 2010, he focused on learning classical art. This means he studied old art styles, especially for oil paint. His favorite artists are Rembrandt and William-Adolphe Bouguereau.

Thomas is married to Kristi Fluharty. They have five daughters and a dog named Cash. The family lives in Prior Lake, Minnesota.

Amazing Art Career

Thomas Fluharty's first big success was designing a cover for Mad magazine in 1996. After that, The New York Times asked him to draw five caricatures of actor Jerry Lewis. A caricature is a drawing that exaggerates someone's features in a funny way. Thomas said this project "really started it all" for his career.

From 2004 to 2008, Thomas drew five covers for Der Spiegel magazine. His artwork was even featured in a book and a traveling show about Der Spiegel's covers.

Thomas has also illustrated three children's books. These include Fool Moon Rising (2009), which he wrote with his wife, Kristi. He also illustrated The Barber Who Wanted to Pray (2011) and The Boy and the Ocean (2013).

In 2013, he painted a special portrait for The New York Times. It showed Woody Allen with famous actresses like Diane Keaton and Scarlett Johansson. These women had played important roles in Allen's movies.

Thomas Fluharty also helped start a company called Pitch House. This company creates storyboards for advertising. Storyboards are like comic strips that plan out how a video or ad will look.

Awards and Special Recognition

Thomas Fluharty's art has received many awards. In 1998, his portrait of baseball players Ken Griffey Jr. and Mark McGwire was on the cover of Time magazine. The next year, Time gave this artwork to the National Portrait Gallery. This is a famous museum that collects portraits of important Americans.

He has also been recognized by the Society of Illustrators in New York and Los Angeles. His work was chosen as a winner for the Communication Arts illustration annuals in 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2013. These are important awards in the world of illustration. Thomas also won a gold medal from Spectrum Fantastic Art for his portrait of Hillary Clinton.