I've been an artist longer than I've been anything else.

I’m passionate about image making and I when I think about it, I’ve always been an image maker. Since I was a kid, I’ve been drawing cartoons, taking photos, building models, carving wood, hand-building pottery and taking art, illustration and design classes. 

In elementary school I remember wanting to be a cartoonist like Charles Schultz. So, I developed my first weekly comic strip at age eleven, built around a fumbling captain of a pirate ship, with a crew of 6 characters, shown to an audience of 7 (all my immediate family and close relatives, incidentally.) My first illustration commission was around age 13 when I made $15 designing and illustrating the grand opening flyer for a new shopping mall in town.

I’ve received an AIGA design award for an illustrated annual report for Ronald McDonald House in Omaha and several Telly awards for video editing and animation. I’ve exhibited my paintings and animations in galleries from New York to Nebraska. While always working as an artist I also have been an exhibit designer, college design instructor and an art director and creative director in advertising.

I love painting abstractions of the land and sky, or drawing characters, especially artists and musicians. I enjoy creating images in a loose, expressive style usually involving ink and paint. My hope is that my particular vision and style can embellish your walls or help to encapsulate your characters or illustrate your text. Thanks for stopping by!

Instagram: instagram.com/tomsain/

Vimeo: vimeo.com/tomsain

Behance: behance.net/tomsain

The AniMutts
I've been expanding my fine art animation work using stop motion captures of collaborative drawing and painting with two long time friends, Becky Hermann and Peggy Reinecke, both evocative artists working in various media, calling our collective, The AniMutts. Selected works are viewable and at TheAniMutts.com.