David McLeod was born in Alabama and raised by a self-employed architect and his wife. David’s mother educated him and his four brothers from home for most of elementary school. At an early age, David took to drawing, and his parents encouraged him by giving him private lessons and space to draw. He was introduced to oil painting by his high school art teacher. During his undergraduate studies at Vanderbilt University, McLeod took on an apprenticeship with one of the premier portrait artists in the nation. After four years, he graduated magna cum laude with two degrees (Bachelors of Science in Engineering, Bachelors of Arts) from a top 20 school and gleaned priceless information from his apprenticeship. He started work as an artist immediately, taking on portrait commissions and completing personal work to explore his artistic voice. Most of his personal work has never been seen by anyone. After a decade of full time work as an artist, he is finally showing the fruits of his labor. His earliest passions were drawing, building, exploring, and thinking. He considered options within the fields of surgery, industrial design, prosthetic design, and mechanical engineering. His latest work is an expression of who he is from childhood, through his formative years and into his life as a full-time artist. Every aspect of McLeod's work is designed, fabricated and finished by him.
