Thomas Blackshear II was born in Waco, Texas on November 14, 1955. Mostly raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Blackshear loved to draw. On finishing high school, the Art Institute of Chicago awarded him a scholarship. After spending only one year there, he enrolled in Chicago’s American Academy of Art, and after graduating from there in 1977, he worked for a year for the Hallmark Card Company in Kansas City, Missouri. While at Hallmark, he met the famous illustrator Mark English and became his apprentice for several months. By 1980, he was working as head illustrator for Godbold/Richter Studio. He became a freelance illustrator in 1982 and has been self-employed ever since.
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A Common Thread
Beauty and the Beast