Born in Los Angeles, Lee Blair became a recognized fine artist and also an industry leader in animation and film production. He studied at the Chouinard Art Institute with Pruett Carter, Edward Adams, and Lawrence Murphy, the latter whom he credited with influencing him the most with life drawing classes. In 1931, he joined the California Watercolor Society, which he served two terms as President beginning when he was age 23. At the 1932 Olympic Games, he won a gold medal in the International Art Competition.

In 1934, he married Mary Robinson, also a student at Chouinard and a member of the California Water Color Society. He worked at the animation studio of U.B. Iwerk and designed "Flip the Frog" cartoons. He taught life drawing at Disney Studies and was Director of Color and Animation there, working on both Pinocchio and Bambi.

He taught at Chouinard from 1939 to 1942.

In 1946, he and Mary moved to New York to run their own film production company. From 1968, he lived in Soquel, California teaching animation and landscape painting. His social realist paintings are of lower class life subjects.

Source:
Gordon McClelland and Jay Last, California Watercolors, 1850-1970

Born in Los Angeles, CA on Oct. 1, 1911. Blair studied with Morgan Russell, D. A. Siqueiros, Lawrence Murphy, Pruett Carter and at the Chouinard Art School. During the late 1930s he worked in the art department at Disney Studios and taught at Chouinard. During WWII he served in the Navy making animated training films. After the war he moved to New York where he was president of the New York Film Producers Ass'n for two terms and helped establish the mayor's desk for film production. Returning to California in 1968, he settled in the small town of Soquel near Santa Cruz where he remained until his demise on June 19, 1993. A Regionalist, his paintings are of urban life and border on Social Realism. Member: SWA; Calif. WC Society (pres. 1934); American WC Society; Laguna Beach AA; NY Film Producers Ass'n (pres. two terms). Exh: Calif. WC Society, 1931-42; Painters & Sculptors of LA, 1932-37; LACMA, 1932 (Olympic gold medal); Arizona State Fair, 1932 (1st prize); American WC Society, 1933 (prize); Oakland Art Gallery, 1934; GGIE, 1939; Chouinard Alumni, 1954. In: Polytechnic High School (LA); Orange Co. (CA) Museum; Santa Cruz City Museum of Natural History; CPLH; LACMA.

Biography provided courtesy of "California Watercolors 1850-1970" By Gordon T. McClelland and Jay T. Last.

Lee Blair (1911-1993)...Born: Los Angeles, CA

Studied: Chouinard Art Institute (Los Angeles)

Member: New York Water Color Club, American Watercolor Society, California Water Color Society.

Lee Blair was born and raised in Southern California. He attended art school in Los Angeles and studied with Pruett Carter, Millard Sheets, Lawrence Murphy and briefly with Mexican artist David Alfarc, Siqueiros. While attending art school he won several major awards for his watercolor paintings, including a gold medal in the art division of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. He became president of the California Water Color Society in 1935, and it was largely through his efforts that the Society shows began traveling nationally and internationally.

Throughout his life, Blair produced California Style watercolors. In the 1930s, he was one of the key artists who helped develop this approach to watercolor painting and was a prominent award winner in many art exhibitions. He had a unique sense of wit and humor which often came through in his art works and usually determined the subjects he chose to paint.

Blair is also known for his innovative work in animated films. He began working at the famed U.B. 1werk Studio, producing art for "Flip the Frog" cartoons in the early 1930s. He then went on to the Harman-Ising Studios where he worked on Bosco and other innovative cartoon shorts. In 1938, he switched to the Walt Disney Studios, where, over the next few years, he worked on "Pinocchio", "Fantasia" and "Saludos Amigos".

During World War 11, Blair served in the United States Navy, and for a time produced animated training films for the government. While in the navy, he continued to paint watercolors of wartime activity. After the war, he and his wife Mary, who was also an artist, moved to New York where they started Film Graphics, Inc. and TV. Graphics, Inc. Both companies produced animated films; some for training and education, others for television commercials. Their clients included General Motors, American Iron and Steel, the United States Navy, Army Signal Corps, Walt Disney Educational Films, Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. and many others. The latter years of his career were spent near Santa Cruz, where he sailed, painted watercolors and worked on animated films.

Biographical information:

Interview with Lee Blair, 1983.