Timothy David Mayhew is a painterly realist who resides in the high desert of New Mexico near the borders of Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. Since the early 1990’s he has pursued advanced research into the oil painting and drawing materials and techniques of 14th to 17th century Northern European old masters at the Smithsonian’s National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. In addition, Mayhew has studied under the renowned wildlife painter, Bob Kuhn, and studied en plein air landscape painting from Clyde Aspevig and Matt Smith. Mayhew is a signature member of the National Academy of Professional Plein Air Painters [NAPPAP].

Mayhew’s artwork has been included in many important exhibitions including the Boston Museum of Fine Art, the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the Thomas Gilcrease Museum, the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum, the Nicolaysen Art Museum, the Settlers West Miniature Exhibition, and the Art of the Animal Kingdom, where he regularly receives many awards and honors for his artwork, including several Best of Show and Best Oil awards.

Mayhew's artwork can be found housed in the permanent collections of major museums including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, the University Of New Mexico Museum Of Fine Art, and the Tamarind Institute.

Mayhew is listed in the 28th Edition of Who’s Who in American Art.

It has been said of the artist Timothy David Mayhew that he is a painting pioneer who is about 500 years behind the times, but that is a good thing.

He has a seemingly unquenchable thirst for knowledge which has led him to do extensive original research on the materials and techniques of 14th to 17th Century Northern European artists. This is the age, and the region, of the dawning of the technique of oil painting, and it yielded such giants as Jan van Eyck, Johannes Vermeer and Rembrandt van Rijn. Mayhew began his studies at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and has since expanded his research at Harvard University’s Fogg Museum of Art.

The techniques and materials of artistic expression in use in Northern Europe in the 14th to 17th Centuries are very unique when compared to the techniques and materials available today. Many of the exquisite drawing materials in use then are no longer available, and the details of how they were created and how they were used are poorly understood. The unfortunate result is that these traditional materials and techniques are nearly lost to use. The methods of the rich painting techniques in use at that time are very difficult, involving special mediums and numerous layers of paint, allowing for sufficient drying times between layers. This allows the artist to create great depth and subtle nuances of colors by the complex interplay of a variety of opaque, translucent and transparent layers. Although this complicated technique requires pains-taking efforts, the result it yields is worth it.

Mayhew has studied and adopted the working methods and materials the 14-17th Century Northern European artists, who thoroughly study their subject matter through detailed studies, drawings and even small oil painting studies, before approaching the final painting. His working methods include meticulous research to learn as much as possible about the subject.

Mayhew starts with direct observation with drawings and sketches of live wildlife specimens in order to understand how they move, what their interactions are, their individual personalities, and how they carry themselves. Because of his research, and the traditional old master drawing materials that he has revived, Mayhew’s sketches and drawings are always done in the nearly-lost renaissance mediums of natural red chalk, natural black chalk, silverpoint, Campanian bronzepoint, goldpoint and other rare but exceedingly beautiful drawing materials.

Using this approach allows him to truly understand his subject matter before he begins the final painting. Mayhew chooses his artistic subjects from the landscapes, people and animals that he seeks out.

If you would like to see more drawings or would like to learn more about the nature of old master drawing materials, and the research that Mayhew has done to resurrect their use, please use "the artwork" link at the top of the page. There you will find new links to studio oil paintings, en plein air oil paintings, drawings and a link to information about Mayhew’s research and efforts to rediscover the traditional use of old master drawing materials.