Thomas Fluharty
{{Short description|American illustrator and art educator}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Thomas Fluharty
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| nationality = American
| spouse = Kristi
| field = Art, Illustration
| training = Art Institute of Pittsburgh
| works =
| awards = Communication Arts illustration annual winner 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2013
| website = {{URL|thomasfluharty.com}}
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Thomas Lively Fluharty Jr., (born 1962) is an American illustrator and art educator. Fluharty's work has appeared on covers for Der Spiegel, Time, Mad, and The Weekly Standard, in The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, the Village Voice, and in books for children. Fluharty teaches drawing and oil painting online at Schoolism.com.{{cite web|title=Instructors: Thomas Fluharty|url=http://www.schoolism.com/instructors.php?id=11|publisher=Imaginism Studios|accessdate=July 23, 2013}}
Early life
File:William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) - Self-Portrait Presented To M. Sage (1886).jpg.]]
Fluharty was born in 1962 in Santa Ana, California.{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/the-art-of-der-spiegel-tom-fluharty-a-384254.html|title=The Art Of DER SPIEGEL: Thomas Fluharty|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=21 November 2005 |accessdate=July 24, 2013}} He studied art during 11th and 12th grade at the Montgomery County Joint Vocational School, in Englewood, Ohio. Then he earned an associate degree at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Then he moved to New York City where he trained for thirteen years with Ken Bald, who in the 1950s drew Dr. Kildare cartoons and other Marvel Comics. Fluharty learned acrylic paint at the School of Visual Arts and also attended classes at the National Academy of Fine Arts. For eight years from 2002 until about 2010, he sought classical training for his new work in oil paint.{{cite video|title=Thomas Fluharty|people=Fluharty, Thomas|url=http://www.schoolism.com/interview.php?id=52|publisher=Imaginism Studios|work=Schoolism|accessdate=July 23, 2013|time=1:00}} His artistic heroes are Rembrandt and William-Adolphe Bouguereau.
He married Kristi Fluharty. They have five daughters and a dog named Cash.{{cite web|url=http://tlively.com/bio.html|title=T. Lively Bio|publisher=Thomas Fluharty|accessdate=July 23, 2013}} The family lives in Prior Lake, Minnesota.
Career highlights
His first major success came when Fluharty designed a cover for Mad magazine in 1996.{{cite web|url=http://www.madcoversite.com/mad333.html|title=Mad #333 Jan./Feb. 1995|publisher=Doug Gilford's Mad Cover Site|accessdate=July 23, 2013}} The New York Times then commissioned five caricatures of Jerry Lewis. "That really started it all," said Fluharty.
Fluharty served as a worship leader at Sovereign Grace Church in Bloomington, Minnesota, a Christian evangelical church affiliated with Sovereign Grace Ministries.{{cite web|title=Sunday Preparation|author=Fritz, Stacey|url=http://sovgracemn.org/sunday-preparation/sunday-preparation-52/|publisher=Sovereign Grace Church|accessdate=July 24, 2013}}
From 2004 to 2008, Fluharty contributed five covers for Der Spiegel magazine.{{cite web|url=http://www.spiegel.de/suche/index.html?suchbegriff=%22thomas+fluharty%22|title=Search result for "thomas fluharty"|publisher=Der Spiegel|accessdate=July 23, 2013}} His work was reproduced in the book and traveling show The Art of Der Spiegel: Cover Illustrations Over Five Decades.{{cite book|title=The Art of Der Spiegel: Cover Illustrations Over Five Decades|author=Aust, Stefan|publisher=Te Neues|date=October 1, 2004|isbn=3832790004}}
Fluharty illustrated three children's books published by Crossway: Fool Moon Rising (2009), cowritten with his wife, Kristi Fluharty;{{cite book|title=Fool Moon Rising|date=August 25, 2009|publisher=Crossway|isbn=978-1433506826|author1=Fluharty, Kristi |author2=Fluharty, T. Lively |name-list-style=amp }} The Barber Who Wanted to Pray (2011) by R. C. Sproul Sr.;{{cite book|title=The Barber Who Wanted to Pray|author=Sproul, R. C.|publisher=Crossway|date=September 16, 2011|isbn=978-1433527036}} and The Boy and the Ocean (2013) by Max Lucado.{{cite book|author=Lucado, Max|title=The Boy and the Ocean|publisher=Crossway|date=March 31, 2013|isbn=978-1433539312}}
For The New York Times in 2013, he painted a caricature portrait of Woody Allen towering over Diane Keaton, Dianne Wiest, Scarlett Johansson and Penélope Cruz, who were "strong and memorable women" who had played leading roles in Allen's films.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/movies/woody-allens-distinctive-female-characters.html|title=Annie and Her Sisters: Woody Allen's Distinctive Female Characters|date=July 17, 2013|author=Itzkoff, Dave|work=The New York Times}} and {{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2013/07/21/arts/21WOODY_ILLO.html|title=Image Page|author=Fluharty, Thomas|work=The New York Times|accessdate=July 23, 2013|date=July 21, 2013}}
Fluharty and four advertising illustrators founded Pitch House, a company that creates storyboards.{{cite web|title=About Us|url=http://www.pitchhouse.net/index.html|publisher=The Pitch House|accessdate=July 24, 2013}}
Awards and recognition
Fluharty's portrait of Ken Griffey Jr. and Mark McGwire was a cover of Time magazine in 1998.{{cite magazine|url=https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19980727,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217055025/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19980727,00.html|url-status=live|archive-date=February 17, 2008|title=Ken Griffey, Jr. and Mark McGwire: July 27, 1998|magazine=Time|access-date=July 23, 2013}} The following year, Time gave the work, titled Outta Here!, to the National Portrait Gallery.{{cite web|title=CAP Search Results: Object ID 86544|url=http://npgportraits.si.edu/eMuseumNPG/code/emuseum.asp?rawsearch=ObjectID/,/is/,/86544/,/false/,/false&newprofile=CAP|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|accessdate=July 22, 2013}} He has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators in New York and in Los Angeles.{{cite web|title=Thomas Fluharty|url=http://www.schoolism.com/interview.php?id=52|publisher=Imaginism Studios|work=Schoolism|accessdate=July 23, 2013}} Communication Arts selected his work as winner for their illustration annuals in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2013.{{cite web|title=Illustration Annual: Winners 2005|url=http://www.commarts.com/annuals/2005-illustration/winners}} and {{cite web|url=http://www.commarts.com/annuals/2006-illustration/winners|title=2006}} and {{cite web|url=http://www.commarts.com/annuals/2008-illustration/winners|title=2008}} and {{cite web|url=http://www.commarts.com/annuals/2013-illustration/winners|title=2013|publisher=Coyne & Blanchard|work=Communication Arts|accessdate=July 23, 2013}} Fluharty won a gold medal for a portrait of Hillary Clinton from Spectrum Fantastic Art.
Notes
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External links
- [http://www.schoolism.com/instructors.php?id=11 Fluharty and his courses at Schoolism.com]
- [http://tomfluharty.deviantart.com/ Fluharty at DeviantArt.com]
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Category:20th-century American painters
Category:American male painters
Category:21st-century American painters
Category:21st-century American male artists
Category:American illustrators
Category:American children's writers
Category:American art educators
Category:People from Santa Ana, California
Category:People from Prior Lake, Minnesota