Greg Dearth
A native of Dayton, Ohio, Greg Dearth graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1971. During his long career in art, he has worked as a designer, illustrator, photographer, and wood engraver, supplying blocks for handmade books. After studying at the Sander School of Engraving near Chicago, the art of wood engraving led him into a career as a commercial illustrator.
As an illustrator, Greg has worked for many book publishing houses, Fortune 500 companies, and major advertising agency in the U.S. His work has been awarded and included in many of the juried Society of Illustrators’ shows, the New York One Show, various Art Directors’ Clubs, as well as the juried annuals of Communication Arts, American Illustration and Print magazines. Alongside a busy commercial career, Greg maintained an avid interest in the Old Masters, and portraiture in particular began to hold great interest. His love of the oil paintings of artists such as Frans Hals and Anthony Van Dyck, of the Baroque, and Thomas Lawrence and Henry Raeburn of the Georgian and Regency period led to intense research into their methods. He has studied privately with the portraitist, K. C. Wells and with the renowned Nelson Shanks at Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia, PA. He has had a one man show at the Middletown Fine Arts Center in Ohio. In 2001, Greg was awarded a plaque for his artistic contributions, including a mural, for the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, PA. He has been guest lecturer and instructor at the Columbus College of Art and Design and Atlanta’s Portfolio Center. Today, he lives in Franklin, Ohio and is a member of The Portrait Society of America and The Dayton Visual Arts Center. He teaches painting at the Dayton Art Institute.