Wildlife and the outdoors have always been Tim's love and creating these images on canvas is his passion. Growing up in Maryland Tim spent his summers on the shores of Solomon's Island by the Chesapeake Bay. As a young boy he experienced a wide diversity of wildlife from otters to ospreys that would both capture his spirit and direct his path.

Tim’s love of wildlife was passed down from his father. Tim’s dad was a helicopter pilot and would donate his time flying researchers from the Peregrine Falcon Program to nesting sites for the purpose of counting and banding the birds. 

"I can remember having at any given time around the house skunks, raccoons, ferrets and turtles just to name a few. Even as a child I loved the animals form and beauty, I would sculpt birds out of any material I could find."

By the age of twenty Tim started sculpting out of wood and in his first competition won a first place and best of show.

Tim did not pursue painting until the age of thirty. Being self taught he wanted more education so he enrolled in college majoring in art at the University of Texas at San Antonio. After college he apprenticed with artist Matt Zoll a traditional realist. Here he learned how to grind his own pigments and make his own mediums and oils. The two years spent with Matt dramatically changed Tim’s work.Tim is now combining egg tempera and oils. The combination of the two gives Tim’s paintings a unique look. He also combines egg tempera, watercolor and qouache. Now in 2006 he has started working in acrylics. Tim has had the opportunity to live all across the country from northern California to the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia where he currently resides. This unique opportunity to observe native wildlife in its natural environment has proved invaluable to his work.

To view more of Tim Donovan's work visit his website DonovanArt.com