Fine art had to take a backseat while Doug pursued his many interests. He earned a B.A. in Media Studies from Webster University, in St. Louis, Missouri and went on to earn a M.F.A.in Motion Graphics at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California, the school founded by Walt Disney. It was at CalArts that Doug made two animated shorts. They were selected to be screened at the American Film Institute's Film Festival and copies of each were requested by Cal Art to remain in the California Institute of the Arts animation archives.
Returning to St. Louis, Doug returned to fine art. He began to turn his concern for wildlife into a pencil series. As he began studying endangered species, he felt confined by his limited reach. The power and strength he wanted to express in the animals couldn't be conveyed as a small image. So the self-taught artist taught himself again. Doug began to work on images upside down and sideways in order to create larger images and to do the animals justice.
As he began work on his wildlife series, "Vanishing Breeds," Doug was selected to be the only artist to represent Missouri at the 1994 International Very Special Arts Festival in Brussels, Belgium. The four day festival featured artists from 48 states and over 100 countries. The overwhelming response he received there encouraged Doug to continue and expand his series to include not only endangered, but threatened wildlife as well. To date his "Vanishing Breeds" has been exhibited in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, California, Las Vegas, Nevada, St. Louis, Missouri, and Brussels, Belgium. Doug has selected favorite pieces to print and hopes to find a publisher in the near future. Note: Doug is not a member or contributing artist of VSA Arts.