Tara McPherson

Tara Mcpherson

Tara McPherson is a painter, poster artist and freelance illustrator based out of New York City. Creating art about people and their odd ways, her characters seem to exude an idealized innocence with a glimpse of hard earned wisdom in their eyes. Recalling many issues from childhood and good old life experience, she creates images that are thought provoking and seductive. People and their relationships are a central theme throughout her work.

Tara's array of art includes painted comics and covers for DC Vertigo, advertising and editorial illustrations for companies such as Pepsi and Spin Magazine, and numerous gig posters for rock bands such as Beck, Modest Mouse, Mastodon, and Death Cab For Cutie. She exhibits her paintings and prints in fine art galleries all over the world.

Currently she is working on a painted graphic novel for DC Vertigo Comics, paintings for gallery exhibitions, designing a new line of toys for Kidrobot based on her characters, and teaches a Concept Illustration class at Parsons in NYC.

McPherson's art has been included in books such as Lonely Heart: The Art of Tara McPherson (Dark Horse Press), Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (DC), The Art of Modern Rock (Chronicle), Illustration Now! (Taschen), SWAG and SWAG 2 (Abrams), and more. She has lectured at the School of Visual Arts, AIGA NYC, AIGA Austin, The University of Arizona, MADE in Edmonton, Foyles London, and San Diego Comic-Con International.

Tara was born in San Francisco in 1976 and raised in Los Angeles. She received her BFA from Art Center in Pasadena, CA in August 2001 with honors in Illustration and a minor in Fine Art. She interned at Rough Draft Studios, working on Matt Groening's "Futurama" during college.

She has been featured and/or interviewed by Juxtapoz, Esquire, Bust, Magnet, Spin, TV 3, Current TV, CBC Radio, Super7, Paste, HOW, Step, Communication Arts, Society of Illustrators, International Tattoo Art, AIGA, Seattle Times, LA Weekly, Gothamist, DC Comics, Punk Planet, Savage Tattoo and many more.

Some of her clients include DC Comics, Warner Brothers, Dark Horse Comics, Kidrobot, Spin, Pepsi, Fanta, Goldenvoice, Harper Collins, Bloomsbury, Revolver, Knitting Factory, Playstation 2, House of Blues, Punk Planet, Dogfish Head Brewery, and Nike/Wyden & Kennedy among others.