Wayne Thiebaud (November 15, 1920) is a painter from Mesa, Arizona, known for his colorful works depicting commonplace objects such as pies, lipsticks, and ice cream cones that are often incorrectly associated with the Pop Art movement. Prior to his formal art training, Thiebaud apprenticed at Walt Disney Studios drawing "in-betweens" of Goofy, Pinocchio, and Jiminy Cricket. He went on to work as a cartoonist and designer in California and New York from 1938-1949. In 1951 and 1952, Thiebaud earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in commercial art from Sacramento State College. While in New York during the late 1950s, Thiebaud befriended artists Elaine and Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline. From 1960-1991, Thiebaud served as assistant professor at the University of California in Davis, where he still holds a Professor Emeritus title. He has received commendations including induction into the California Hall of Fame and the National Medal of Arts in 1994. Thiebaud’s artwork is held in collections such as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.