Thomas Kinkade's Work

At the age of 11 Thomas was taken under the wings of Charles Bell, a painter in Placerville who taught young Thomas the techniques of painting. It was in that same year that Thomas sold his first painting.

After college Thomas and Jim Gurney decided to travel across the States in June 1980. Their journey ended in New York where the two sketched people in bars and sold them for $2.00 per sketch. People liked them so much that the duo decided to create a handbook for sketching which was published by Guptill Publications.

The book sold so well that two years later the The Artist's Guide to Sketching followed and became one of the best-sellers in 1982 of Guptill Publications. This caught the attention of the Walt Disney Studios and Kinkade and Gurney were hired to do background art for the film Fire and Ice in 1983.

©2009 The Thomas Kinkade Company

During this time, Kinkade began to explore the depiction of light and of imagined worlds. He made his first painting in 1984 and Thomas and his wife began to sell prints of Thomas' work from their garage. It was a smashing hit and with help of investors 10 more galleries were opened. Up until today this number has grown to over 300.

Kinkade contributes his inspiration to his religious beliefs and lots of his paintings depict certain Bible passages. Kinkade also hides the letter "N" in his paintings as a tribute to his wife Nanette and upon a closer look you may see the names and images of his daughters in several of his creations as well.

Thomas Kinkade is also known as the Painter of Light; looking at his paintings, you can understand why. The combination of vibrant colors and the expression of light in each painting is worth its own spot light!