Famous Artist Thomas Kincade is from Placerville

Thomas Kinkade was born in 1958 and grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains.

From the age of four, his calling as an artist was evident, and by 16 he was an accomplished painter in oil under the apprenticeship of the well-known artist Glen Wessels. After studies at the University of California at Berkeley, and Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Kinkade began work for the motion picture industry at age 22. He personally created over 600 background paintings for the animated feature film, Fire and Ice. This intensive period of work for the movie business may well have been the genesis of Kinkade's mastery of pictorial lighting effects. While at work on Fire and Ice, Kinkade and fellow artist James Gurney adventured across across America aboard boxcars, recording their experiences in sketches, and subsequently authored a best-selling art instructional book based on their adventures entitled The Artist's guide to sketching (Watsonl/Guptill, New York).In 1983, Thomas Kinkade left the film industry to pursue his vision as painter of light-filled landscapes. Since then his career has been documented in feature articles and/or editorial exposure in such well-known magazines Architectural Digest, American Artist, Collector's Mart Magazine, Collector Editions, Lively Arts and Leisure, Worldwide Challenge, US Art, Southwest Art, and Weekend. He is a regular guest on radio talk shows and and has made a guest appearance on ABC's popular network show, "Home", starring Gary Collins.