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James Reynolds was born in a Standard Oil lease house in 1926 and raised in Taft,
California. As a boy, he spent summers at his grandmother’s Nevada City hotel, which was
situated just beyond the infamous Donner Pass and literally above the south fork of the Yuba
River, supported by stilts. In Nevada City he experienced firsthand the remnants of the Old
West and heard the stories of that time. Although he dabbled with drawing during grade
school, Reynolds didn’t investigate it seriously until after World War II. The trip home from
China was a long and boring one; luckily, the sailor on the bunk beside him had a painting kit.
Reynolds took to it immediately and, upon returning to America, enrolled in the Kann Institute
of Art in Beverly Hills. Reynolds soon found work in Hollywood. For almost two decades, he
sketched storyboards and sets for most of the major studios. Finally, after a particularly
grueling assignment designing and helping to apply a body of tattoos for the film version of
The Illustrated Man, he moved to Sedona, Arizona, and never looked back. Today Reynolds
is considered to be one of the finest artists of the Western experience. He was a proud
member of the National Academy of Western Art (NAWA) and an active member of the
Cowboy Artists of America. In 1992, for his painting Arizona Cowboys, NAWA awarded
Reynolds the Gold Award for Oil Painting, the Nona Jean Hulsey Buyer’s Choice Award, and
the Prix de West. Reynolds’ other honors include Gold Awards from NAWA, and, from the
Cowboy Artists of America, gold medals for best oil painting, Colt Awards, and two George
Phippen Memorial Awards.
California. As a boy, he spent summers at his grandmother’s Nevada City hotel, which was
situated just beyond the infamous Donner Pass and literally above the south fork of the Yuba
River, supported by stilts. In Nevada City he experienced firsthand the remnants of the Old
West and heard the stories of that time. Although he dabbled with drawing during grade
school, Reynolds didn’t investigate it seriously until after World War II. The trip home from
China was a long and boring one; luckily, the sailor on the bunk beside him had a painting kit.
Reynolds took to it immediately and, upon returning to America, enrolled in the Kann Institute
of Art in Beverly Hills. Reynolds soon found work in Hollywood. For almost two decades, he
sketched storyboards and sets for most of the major studios. Finally, after a particularly
grueling assignment designing and helping to apply a body of tattoos for the film version of
The Illustrated Man, he moved to Sedona, Arizona, and never looked back. Today Reynolds
is considered to be one of the finest artists of the Western experience. He was a proud
member of the National Academy of Western Art (NAWA) and an active member of the
Cowboy Artists of America. In 1992, for his painting Arizona Cowboys, NAWA awarded
Reynolds the Gold Award for Oil Painting, the Nona Jean Hulsey Buyer’s Choice Award, and
the Prix de West. Reynolds’ other honors include Gold Awards from NAWA, and, from the
Cowboy Artists of America, gold medals for best oil painting, Colt Awards, and two George
Phippen Memorial Awards.
James Reynolds
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