Jimmy Pickering #2
Jimmy Pickering #2
Best-selling artist, designer, author, & illustrator
Jimmy Pickering is a renowned and beloved artist and designer across the fields of fine art, illustration, and book publishing. He has also created dozens of projects for theme parks and resorts around the world as a creative leader at Walt Disney Imagineering and Universal Creative.
Pickering was accepted into the school of animation at California Institute of the Arts at the age of just seventeen, where he studied under legendary Disney animation talents Hal Ambro, Bob McCrae, Chris Buck, and Joe Ranft, among others; learning the art of animation and the skills of visual storytelling through design and color—two elements that remain fundamental to his style.
At Imagineering, Jimmy was mentored by the legendary Leota Toombs Thomas, who not only broadened his skills, but instilled important design philosophies set forth by Walt Disney for his original WED Imagineers. Jimmy later became an art director and production designer for Universal Creative, leading a design team that won two "Best Attraction" Themed Entertainment Association Awards.
Since then, Jimmy has struck out on his own, telling stories through fine art and publishing. As an author and illustrator, Jimmy's work has graced more than forty children's books, his illustrations have won prestigious awards (including Illustrator of the Year), and his fine art has been exhibited at the Armand Hammer Museum of Art in Los Angeles, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City, Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and The Canadian Center of Architecture in Montreal.
When asked if Tim Burton is his inspiration, Jimmy replies: "To be compared to someone so talented is a great compliment, but the reality is there was no Tim Burton when I was growing up and discovering my creativity. There was, however, a mix of many things, which imprinted my style. I guess if my style had a recipe it would read, "A dash of Pirates of the Caribbean, a smidgen of The Haunted Mansion, a pinch of It's a Small World, combined with equal parts Funny Face Drink Mix, Freakies Cereal and Crazy Foam. Then add even amounts of Dr. Seuss, Edward Gorey, H.R. Pufnstuf, STAR WARS and every one of those television stop motion animated television specials and bake. The results are something odd, strange, a little scary, but somehow funny and harmless. A style an take on things that are me to my core."
His wonderful website contains work from his past, present, and will contain work from the future - all of which carry an element of his childhood influences, along with a peek into the world that hides in the darkness behind his eyelids. The work of Jimmy Pickering. VISIT and ENJOY!
Jimmy Pickering's Official Website