For years, the "Awesome Art We've Found Around The Net" series has celebrated two fundamental elements: exceptional artwork and the talented artists who create it. Taking this mission a step further, the first week of each month now features "Awesome Artist We've Found Around The Net," a dedicated column that shines a spotlight on individual artists and their remarkable creations, whether they're amateurs, emerging talents, or established professionals. The goal remains constant: to introduce these artists to wider audiences and help more people discover their incredible work.

This month's featured artist is Doug Bloodworth, whose unique journey from commercial billboard painter to fine art master represents one of the most fascinating career transitions in contemporary art. Born on an Air Force base in the Philippine Islands, Bloodworth's early life was marked by constant movement as his family traveled through Oklahoma, Kansas, Florida, and Alaska before finally settling in a small North Texas town where he completed junior high and high school.

After graduating high school, Bloodworth pursued an associate degree in Commercial Art and Advertising, which led to his first professional position designing outdoor advertising for Lamar Outdoor. However, the young artist's restless spirit soon called him to adventure, and he left his desk job to spend several years traveling across the country, creating caricatures at amusement parks and county fairs. This nomadic period proved invaluable in developing his artistic skills and understanding of public engagement with visual art.

Bloodworth's pivotal career moment came when he returned to outdoor advertising, but this time focusing on painting actual billboards rather than designing them. Recognizing this as an opportunity to master photorealism while earning a living, he began the challenging work of translating photographs into large-scale oil paintings. His subjects ranged from 40-foot-long Coca-Cola bottles on ice to hamburgers, tacos, new cars and trucks, portraits of news teams for television stations, hotels, whiskey, and beer bottles. The reference photographs, typically provided by advertising agencies, were of the highest quality available, setting the stage for what would become a 15-year odyssey of learning and perfection.

Working in the late 1970s and 1980s, long before the internet revolutionized information sharing, Bloodworth could only learn his craft directly from other painters. His educational journey took him across the entire country, from Minnesota to the Carolinas, as he sought out different artists and techniques. During these travels, he discovered two distinct types of people in the industry: generous artists eager to share their knowledge and techniques, and those who jealously guarded their secrets. Bloodworth has always been grateful to those willing to teach and has made it his mission to share knowledge with anyone genuinely interested in learning.

Throughout his travels, Bloodworth kept hearing about a legendary figure in billboard painting: Marv Gunderson, who had been discovered by Marlboro during a nationwide search for the best pictorial painter in the country. When Bloodworth learned that Gunderson's shop was located in San Diego, California, he made a life-changing decision. Packing up his wife Karen, young daughter Bini, and their dog Kat, he drove across the country to meet this master artist.

The meeting with Gunderson proved to be exactly what Bloodworth had hoped for. The two artists immediately connected, and Gunderson, who was behind on his work, welcomed the help. Bloodworth stayed for just over a year, learning invaluable techniques while helping Gunderson catch up on his projects. Gunderson, a graduate of the Chicago Art Institute, was far more than just a billboard painter, and his influence on Bloodworth was profound. "Marv taught me so much about light, form, and color, and showed me the techniques that I still use in my paintings today," Bloodworth recalls.

Together, the two artists tackled some of the largest outdoor advertising projects in the country, painting massive Marlboro bulletins in 10x4-foot sections in San Diego before shipping them to NFL stadiums nationwide. Their work included creating tri-vision displays – three billboards arranged in a triangle and mounted on a single pole – that were installed in the parking lot of every football stadium in the United States. These triangular displays typically consisted of two 30x90-foot panels and one 30x60-foot panel, with one notable exception: a giant 42x90-foot board at Chicago's O'Hare Airport featuring a single image of the most famous Marlboro man, known as "the Outlaw," with his distinctive bushy mustache.

The majority of Marlboro billboards featured scenic western imagery: horses, cowboys, and beautiful landscapes, all painted in artist oils with brushes. For Bloodworth, this period represented pure artistic joy. "I loved every minute of it," he reflects. The work allowed him to perfect his photorealistic technique while creating art on a massive scale, combining technical precision with artistic vision.

Eventually, Bloodworth left Gunderson's shop and returned to Texas, where he established his own operation and contracted pictorial work from various outdoor advertising companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. His reputation for quality work led to another opportunity with Lamar Outdoor, this time in Pensacola, Florida, where he spent five years painting pictorials for the surrounding region.

Just as vinyl printing began to revolutionize and ultimately replace the painted billboard industry, Bloodworth was introduced to an innovative product called Contravision. This revolutionary two-way viewing material allowed designs to be visible from one side while remaining completely transparent from the other. The product transformed the bus advertising industry overnight, and Bloodworth was among the few artists licensed and trained to work with this new medium.

This expertise led him to Orlando, Florida, where he secured contracts to paint bus advertising for Disney and Universal Studios through the Lynx bus system. Bloodworth assembled a crew of talented artists, and together they created incredible artwork on 40-foot-long city buses, painting not just the sides but the windows as well. This period lasted nearly 15 years and even included an international opportunity: a trip to Switzerland to paint a pictorial bus for Kuoini Travels in London.

Throughout his commercial career, Bloodworth also took on large mural projects, with one particularly memorable commission standing out. "I was asked to do two 30x200-foot murals inside the Tropicana Field concession area for the Tampa Bay Rays," he explains. "One of the scenes started with Jackie Robinson sliding into home plate. The umpire standing there was 20 feet tall, and the crowd in the stands could be seen very small in the distance, almost abstract. As the scene moved to the right behind the concessions, the crowd became larger until it reached the escalators going up to the second floor, where the crowd was life-sized."

The project allowed Bloodworth to inject personal touches into his work. "I had so much fun putting celebrities and friends in the crowd," he recalls. The scale of the project required calling in artist friends to help, and the entire team lived and worked in St. Petersburg for six months to complete the murals.

However, technological advancement eventually caught up with the bus painting industry as well. Vinyl printing began replacing hand-painted bus advertisements, just as it had with billboards. Facing this industry shift and approaching his 50th birthday, Bloodworth realized he had been diverted from his original artistic goal: using the photorealistic techniques he had mastered in commercial work to create fine art oil paintings on canvas.

After discussing the decision with his wife Karen, Bloodworth made the leap to fine art, though he admits he had no clear vision of what he would paint. "I had no idea what exactly I would paint," he says. "I just went to work painting whatever came to my mind." As he began displaying his work at art shows and events, a clear pattern emerged: viewers were most drawn to paintings featuring products and snacks that evoked childhood memories and nostalgia.

These subjects – Lay's potato chips, Coca-Cola, Oreos, comic books, and board games – were ironically the same products he had spent years painting in the advertising industry. But now he had the freedom to paint them as he wanted. "This was great! I could paint these things the way I wanted, and the way they actually are – chips with air bubbles, and cookies with crumbs, bags crinkled and maybe even upside down. I looked at it as almost anti-advertising. I went at it with a passion."

Bloodworth's fine art focuses on texture and contrast, elements that showcase his technical mastery. "I love painting the different textures – shiny plastics and the rough cookie edges, all in contrast to the hard black outlines on comic books and newspapers," he explains. His wife Karen plays a crucial role in the creative process, helping set up still lifes and lighting them with dramatic shadows. Bloodworth takes numerous photographs of each setup, typically using three or four images as references for his final paintings.

His reputation grew rapidly, eventually earning representation in thirty different galleries simultaneously, primarily due to his comic book and snack-themed paintings. One particular obsession has emerged in his work: the Monopoly board game, especially the iconic car game piece. "I have an admitted slight obsession with painting the Monopoly car," Bloodworth confesses. "I almost always have one in progress in my studio at any given moment."

In addition to his nostalgic subjects, Bloodworth creates movie stills by pausing television shows and taking snapshots to use as painting references. This technique allows him to capture specific moments and lighting that appeal to his artistic vision. Despite decades of painting, his passion remains undiminished. "I am surprised that after painting all these years, I still love it so much!" he says.

When asked about his artistic origins, Bloodworth's answer is simple: "I have been drawing as far back as I can remember, which is about four years old." His influences include contemporary artists Mariana Duarte Santos, Will Rochfort, Rod Penner, Darren Reid, Walfrido Garcia, Mark Maggiori, and Holly Farrell, many of whom he follows on social media.

For aspiring artists, Bloodworth's advice is both simple and profound: "Draw and paint as much as you possibly can!" He illustrates this principle with a story from his early career. At age 20, he decided to try caricature drawing at Six Flags over Texas despite having zero experience. On opening day, when he expressed nervousness to his supervisor, she told him something he has never forgotten: "Don't worry about it. Do 500 caricatures and you will be good. Do 5,000 caricatures and your own personal style will emerge."

Working alongside about a dozen other artists at three park locations, Bloodworth could complete up to 100 caricatures on busy days. One of his fellow artists, Bob Camp, later created the "Ren & Stimpy" cartoon. They drew with Sharpies on 8x10 acetate sheets using overhead projectors, allowing crowds to watch their work appear on walls behind them. Each artist developed such a distinctive style that Bloodworth could identify the creator of any drawing just by seeing someone walking through the park with it.

This principle of repetition leading to style development applies equally to painting, though Bloodworth notes it may not require 5,000 paintings for an artist's personal style to emerge. The lesson remains constant: consistent practice and dedication are essential for artistic growth and the development of individual artistic voice.

Looking toward the future, Bloodworth expresses enthusiasm for commission work, stating, "I LOVE doing commissions for people and bringing their visions and favorite things to life. So, I am always looking forward to what could be coming next." His website features extensive examples of commissioned pieces, and he actively encourages potential clients to reach out about creating custom artwork.

Currently, Bloodworth is exploring an innovative approach to presentation by creating custom frames for his paintings. After successfully incorporating actual toys into the frame of his "Toybox" painting, he has been working on a frame for his newest Monopoly car painting using an actual Monopoly board and colorful play money. The 4x6-foot piece will feature real hotels and houses mounted on top of the board, along with Chance and Community Chest cards and property deeds placed randomly around the frame to create a three-dimensional effect.

Future projects include revisiting his 4x6-foot hubcap painting with a frame constructed from assorted chrome parts and medallions, possibly using an actual car bumper for the bottom rail. He also plans several movie-themed paintings, particularly focusing on "Die Hard," "Indiana Jones," and "Back to the Future." The aesthetic and atmosphere of film noir movies and classic black-and-white science fiction films also appeal to his artistic sensibilities.

As a tribute to his diverse interests, Bloodworth's favorite films reflect his appreciation for action, adventure, and classic cinema. His movie preferences include all installments of Indiana Jones, Die Hard, Mission: Impossible, Fast & Furious, and Back to the Future franchises. He particularly enjoys Clint Eastwood films, especially "The Good, the Bad & the Ugly" (whose theme song serves as his ringtone), westerns, and Dirty Harry movies. Arnold Schwarzenegger films hold special appeal, including "True Lies," "Last Stand," "Last Action Hero," and "Predator."

Sylvester Stallone movies also feature prominently in his preferences, from all the Rocky and Rambo films to the recent "Tulsa King" series. His superhero favorites include "Guardians of the Galaxy" (except the most recent installment), "Iron Man," "Thor," "Ant-Man," "Spider-Man," and "Avengers." Other beloved films include "The Big Lebowski," "They Live," "Escape from L.A.," "Escape from New York," "Mars Attacks," "Rio Lobo," and "El Dorado" (which he notes are essentially the same movie with different sidekicks for John Wayne).

His television preferences include "Tulsa King," "Justified," "The Sopranos," "24," "Columbo," "Vegas," "The A-Team," and "Walker, Texas Ranger." These entertainment choices reflect the same appreciation for classic American themes and iconic imagery that appears throughout his artwork.

Bloodworth's artistic portfolio spans an impressive range of subjects, from superhero-themed pieces featuring Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, The Hulk, Wolverine, Wonder Woman, and Deadpool to nostalgic brand celebrations including Oreos, Lay's potato chips, Cheetos, Twizzlers, Hershey's, and Crayola crayons. His movie tributes include paintings inspired by "The Big Lebowski," "The Big Sleep," "Escape from New York," "Mars Attacks," and "Star Wars." Gaming and toy-themed works feature Nintendo products, Monopoly boards, and childhood toy collections.

Food and diner culture appear in paintings of pies and classic American dining scenes, while automotive subjects include detailed hubcap studies. His Disney work captures the magic of Main Street, and his comic book paintings celebrate beloved characters like Scooby-Doo and Quick Draw McGraw. Each piece demonstrates his mastery of photorealistic technique combined with a deep appreciation for American pop culture and nostalgia.

Bloodworth's journey from a young art student to a master of photorealistic painting illustrates the power of persistence, continuous learning, and passion for craft. His story serves as inspiration for artists at any stage of their careers, demonstrating that technical skill combined with personal vision can create a unique and successful artistic path. Through his work, he continues to celebrate the intersection of fine art technique with popular culture, creating paintings that resonate with viewers on both aesthetic and emotional levels.