Terry Isaac

Terry Isaac (September 24, 1958 – July 16, 2019) was an American painter from Salem, Oregon who was known for his realism paintings of wildlife. In 2007, he moved to Canada.

His work has been exhibited at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum and the Saint George Art Museum. In 1999 he was named Friend of the National Zoo "Artist of the Year" and was named Special Guest Artist at the Southeastern Wildlife Expo in 2000. His work is included in the books Painting Birds Step by Step, The Best of Wildlife Art, and More Wildlife Painting Techniques of Modern Masters.

Isaac was hired as a visual consultant to create the concept art for the main character in the Disney movie Dinosaur because the producer's wanted characters rendered in a realistic way.

Life and career

Terry Isaac grew up in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, and it is there that he began working with wildlife. Drawing inspiration from his own backyard and from the captivating vistas of the Northwest, he began to create dramatic wildlife art. He later called Penticton, British Columbia, Canada home. Since moving, he continued to create paintings capturing unique characteristics of wildlife and their habitats. Terry travelled around the world to capture images, but his main painting focus continued to be on North American birds and mammals. Isaac painted predominantly in acrylics and particularly admired the art of the nineteenth century painters Thomas Moran and Albert Bierstadt, who painted the dramatic light and landscapes of the west.

Terry's formal art began with an interest in animation and drawing cartoons, with an intent on working for Disney.

Isaac participated in several important art competitions, including the Society of Animal Artists and the Artists for Conservation annual exhibitions and Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum's prestigious Birds in Art exhibition, in which his art will have been featured 14 times. Besides painting, Isaac was a casual singer-songwriter of folk rock and soft rock music. It was his dream to have a song written by him on the radio. Terry taught annual workshops, with students attending from all over the world. There he gave workshops on painting techniques throughout the year. Although Isaac received a formal art education, graduating with honours, he believed his best training came from being outdoors and from studying the work of his favourite wildlife artists.

Isaac died unexpectedly from a heart attack in Penticton in 2019. He was sixty years old.