Biography

David Opie was born and raised in the beautiful rolling hills of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. After he "grew up," he headed to Providence, RI, so that he could earn his BFA in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. He went on to earn his master's degree from the MFA Illustration As Visual Essay program at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

David illustrated Dozer's Run, a picture book published by Sleeping Bear Press (written by Debbie Levy, 2014). He illustrated a picture book for Pelican Publishing, There Was an Old Gator Who Swallowed a Moth, (written by B.J. Lee, 2019). His author-illustrator debut picture book, All the Birds in the World, was published by Peter Pauper Press in June of 2020. He followed that up with All the Fish in the World, All the Insects in the World, and All the Mammals in the World.

His illustrations have appeared in many publications, such as the Boston Phoenix, Family PC, Highlights High Five, Keyboard Magazine, Little Lutheran, LA Times, Providence Journal, Providence Phoenix, Publishers Weekly, Rhode Island Monthly, Spider Magazine, Sports Illustrated for Kids, TimeOut Chicago, and Weekly Reader.

He has worked for many educational publishers, including Celebration Press, Heinemann, Houghton Mifflin, Learning A-Z, Macmillan, McGraw-Hill, National Geographic School Publishing, Scholastic, and SoundPrints (for the Smithsonian). David illustrated a series of trade chapter books for Ladybird Books UK, and JD Publishing produced a picture book that he illustrated, Monkey and the Engineer (based on the song by Jesse Fuller).

He has taught at the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago and the Lyme Academy College of Fine Art and was a full-time instructor in the illustration department of the American Academy of Art in downtown Chicago. He currently teaches at the University of New Haven and Eastern Connecticut State University..

David loves dogs, birds, and space (among many other things). He and his wife live in Hartford, CT. And that's their Boykin spaniel, Amelia, on the left.

Miller Opie, his wife, is a sculptor. You can see her work here.

David is a member of the Picture Book Artists Association and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

David is represented by Rubin Pfeffer and Amy Thrall Flynn at Rubin Pfeffer Content.