TOM WHITING - ARTIST - LOWELL, MA

Tom had an early interest in drawing. In Junior High School, his art teacher took an interest in him and noticed his talent. In high school, Tom took drawing and painting classes. In his senior year concentrated in art, taking extra art classes as he had completed his other requirements by the end of junior year. One thing Tom is particularly proud of is in his senior year the head of the high school art department chose one of his pieces for a solo exhibit in the high school lobby.

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He attended Framingham State College (1977-1981) as a studio art major and art history minor. He took drawing, life drawing, painting, color theory, three-dimensional art, and ceramics. Tom left Framingham State prior to completing his degree with plans of becoming a professional artist. Then, life took over. He continued to draw, paint, and take ceramics classes on occasion. When his children attended Saint Michael School in Lowell, Tom was the head of the decorating committee and he supervised and created the decorations for several school and church auctions based on various themes. Other than that, his art career took second place to family life and a career in commercial real estate appraisal (valuing apartments, retail, office, industrial buildings for banks and other parties).

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About two years ago at the encouragement of friends and family, Tom decided to throw himself back into art. Due to the small space he had available, he chose digital drawing and painting. Digital art also appealed to him because of its similarity to working with physical art tools. He creates his work on a computer screen with a digital stylus, which can act as pencil, pen, brush, palate knife, and airbrush. The work process is very similar to painting and drawing with physical media such as pencil, pen and ink, and acrylics. For the most part, Tom works in a realistic style, but also occasionally ventures into abstract and conceptual art. The past year or so, Tom has concentrated on building his skill set in preparation of finally taking the step to becoming a professional artist.

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Tom has recently decided to join the local art community. In January 2020 he joined the Arts League of Lowell and has exhibited in their shows, Faces and Postcards. Tom achieved his goal of getting a larger studio space at the Brush Art Gallery and Studios in Lowell, Massachusetts. In September 2020 he was accepted as a studio artist (their first digital artist) and works in the presence of the ten other fine artists there.

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One of Tom's current goals is to make art affordable to more people. He believes through his digital work he can achieve that goal.