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Bruce Thomson was born in Toronto
in July of 1966. His father was a teacher of English but also
an avid wildlife artist, so Bruce grew up surrounded by paints
and sketchbooks, and showed an early aptitude for drawing. His
natural ability led him, upon his graduation from high school
to apply to The Ontario College of Art where, after he had completed
the standard foundation year course, he applied and was accepted
to the Industrial Design Department. Despite having followed
Auto Racing and especially Formula One since high school, it
wasn't until about this time that Bruce started to draw and paint
automotive subjects with any seriousness.
Bruce graduated from the Industrial
Design Program at OCA in 1990. In his career at OCA he was granted
the Monsanto Tuition Scholarship, Second Place in the Ontario
Engineering Design Competition, Third at the Canadian Engineering
Design Competition, and Third in the Cooper Canada Design Competition.
From 1990 to 1993, Bruce worked in a freelance capacity as a
computer production artist at various Toronto advertising agencies,
until he became a full time freelancer in 1996. In 1996 he also
began teaching art and design at Sheridan College in Oakville
Ont. Bruce has also had "Formula One comics" printed
in Formula magazine, where he had a monthly feature, and
Autosport.
Most of Bruce's paintings take
between 35 and 50 hours, though some larger subjects have taken
up to 120 hours to complete. His paintings are painted in a combination
of gouache and acrylic on a high quality smooth finish "Frisk
Grafic 8" or "Bainbridge 80" illustration board,
with some detailing done in pencil and pencil crayon. Much of
the work is completed with an airbrush, though he finds a traditional
sable brush is invaluable for detailing and fine work.
Bruce enjoys travel and tries
to attend race meetings where his schedule allows. He lives in
Unionville, Ontario with his wife, Karen.
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