Darvin Atkeson, Darv to his family and friends, was born and raised in California. It was probably his mother’s attempts to keep him out of her oil paints as a young child that she purchased him his own paint set at the age of 4. He was instantly hooked and by 1st grade was winning awards at contests held in the local malls. A change from a large to very small high school forced a change from art classes to photography due to availability. The family outings to the desert and high Sierra provided great material to learn landscape photography and it wasn't long before his images won several awards at the high school.

Darv's father wasn't keen on art or photography as good paying work so he encouraged his son to look to more technical skills as a career choice. It was this encouragement that got Darv started in computers as they were just entering the mainstream.

Then in the 80's in an attempt to see a bit more of the world than just California and against his parents wishes, he joined the US Army. Well, apparently seeing the world wasn't in his cards at this time and in it's infinite wisdom the US Army stationed him back in California at Ft. Ord near Monterey. It wasn't long before he discovered the local art galleries and community in the Carmel / Monterey Bay area and picked up the brush and camera again. While pulling overnight duty his commander noticed his work an commissioned him (commandeered would be more accurate) to do several murals and door paintings in the company building. The work won him several awards in the All Army Art Contest and his commanding officer transferred him permanently into the job of company illustrator.

Upon leaving the US Army he returned to school and earned a Bachelors of Electronic Engineering at ITT. This led to a job working as a support engineer at Sierra On-Line near Yosemite National Park where he continued painting and photography. While working at Sierra, he was intrigued by work being done with a software program called 3D Studio being used by many of the artist to create games. At last the medium for combining the artwork with the technical skills was available and it wasn't long before he had acquired access to a system with the software and learned it well enough to join the art team at Sierra. His artwork has been published in several Sierra games including Kings Quest VII, Phantasmagoria, Gabriel Knight II, Rama and Lighthouse, just to mention a few.

The 3D Studio software was eventually upgraded to work on Microsoft Windows and renamed 3ds Max. In order to learn the software, he needed a project and guitar shapped starship image on the cover of the Boston "Don't Look Back" rock and roll album caught his eye. Using it as a reference, he learned the new software by building the unique guitar starship which was on the cover. The test image was posted to the Internet and fans of the rock band picked up on it. It wasn't long before the band contacted him and now his artwork can be seen on Boston's most recent album "Corporate America" and many fan sites, t-shrits and calendars.

Recent advancements in digital photography have gotten Darv back in to photography and with the vast knowledge of digital imaging he has acquired have combined to allow him to capture many incredible shots of California and nearby states. He now spends much of his free time hiking the beaches, mountains and deserts with his very supportive wife of over 25 years, Lynneal Atkeson. You will often find them sitting in the freezing wind waiting for the sun to set along the California coast or high in the Sierra’s during a snow storm.   

"Throughout my life I've, mostly by chance or fate, been given the blessing to live in some of the most beautiful places on this planet and to work with some of the most generous and talented people. I find that my most enjoyable and calm moments of my life have been spent hiking up some steep hillside high in the Sierra or strolling along a Northern California beach with camera, gear and tripod in hand seeking that perfect shot. I've put my favorites along with some of my artwork on line here for you to enjoy."

Welcome to my site."

- Darv