Born in 1940 in Monroe, Washington, Wayne Thiebaud struggled with muscular weakness and learning disabilities as a teen but found he had a talent for drawing. He went on to receive a BA from the University of Washington and an MFA from Yale. Beginning in the 1960s, Thiebaud's pop art-influenced paintings primarily featured the human face in a photorealist style until a spinal injury forced him to change his technique, building paintings from small marks. Thiebaud has focused on portraiture for over 30 years and believes faces have universal importance.

3. 
Born in Monroe, Washington in
1940

In his teens, muscular weakness
and learning disabilities made
sports and academics a
challenge – he found drawing
was what he was good at—
and making people laugh!

He really was a smart and
talented guy - Received a BA
at the University of Washington,
MFA at Yale, Fulbright Scholar in
Europe

4. When he was a kid in Monroe, he studied with a
neighborhood artist and was probably the only eight year
old around drawing a nude model. This influenced him to
continue his study of nudes at the University of Washington.

6. 
Began painting in 1960’s- influence from
pop art.

One subject for 30 years – the human face
› ―I paint heads because heads matter to
everybody. If you
paint a face big
enough, it’s hard
to ignore.‖

Began as a photorealist artist but
a spinal injury forced
a necessary change
in his style.

18. ―I had to recover to paint. There is
nothing else I can do. There is nothing
else I want to do.‖

20. ―I build a painting by putting little
marks together – some look like
hotdogs, some look like doughnuts –
the way a writer makes a novel by
slamming words together.‖