Fine Art Gallery

Douglas Ball was born in Northern Colorado in 1950. He was raised on a farm/ranch and was encouraged by his grandmother at a young age to draw and paint. Spending most of his time outdoors, he developed a deep appreciation of nature and of the effects of light on the surrounding landscape.

In his early teens, Douglas helped to illustrate his grandfather’s book “Into the Sunset”, and produced art for his high school yearbook and newsletter. He studied art at Colorado State University, and it was there he discovered his lifelong passion for drawing and painting the human form.

After leaving school, he became absorbed in the Vedic culture, and illustrated Indian classics, eventually becoming one of the founders of the Neo-Vedic Art Association. His oil paintings depicting Vedic subject matter are in collections worldwide. While living in Florence, Italy in the early 80’s, enthralled by the landscapes of Tuscany, he became inspired to paint “en plein aire” for the first time. These “on location” paintings serve to infuse his work with a genuine feeling of light and atmosphere.

In 1989, Douglas joined the background department at Walt Disney Feature Animation, painting backgrounds for “The Little Mermaid” and “Rescuers Down Under”. He was asked to be assistant background supervisor on “Beauty and the Beast”, and then background supervisor on “The Lion King”. Following the success of “Lion King”, he and his wife spent a year in Paris as he supervised the background department in Disney’s new Paris studio during the production of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” In 1995, being chosen for the job of supervising Disney’s first partially 3-D animated feature “Tarzan”, he accompanied the show’s artistic team to Africa, where he helped to do the visual research for the film.

After the completion of “Tarzan”, Douglas and his wife spent three months traveling and painting in Moorea, French Polynesia, where he developed his appreciation for the tropical landscape. He then returned to work on several Disney projects. His painting excursions have taken him to Europe, India, French Polynesia, Mexico, and numerous parts of the United States. He has exhibited his work in the Oil Painters of America’s National and Western Regional Exhibitions, the California Art Club’s Gold Medal Exhibition and On Location in Malibu Exhibitions, and is a regular participant in plein air events, such as Sonoma Plein Air and Estes Park Plein Air.
 
Douglas and his wife now live and paint in Hawaii.