Largely self-taught, David takes inspiration from the masters: Rembrandt Van Rijn's thick highlights and high contrast, Vincent Van Gogh's impasto and colors, Amedeo Modigliani's textured, distorted yet revealing portraits, Lucian Freud's expression of raw beauty  in heavy brush and knife marks, George Seurat's use of optics in pointillism, and Salvador Dali's "Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea", an abstract-realist masterpiece which at a distance becomes a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.

David was raised on Long Island, 30 minutes east of New York City, by parents for whom art, music, and theater is a central force.  His mother is a stone sculptor and former art business owner and his father is a playwright, novelist, inventor and retired creative packaging designer.  David holds a  M.S. in Clinical Counseling and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology.  He performs as a guitarist/singer/songwriter in a Seattle-based alt-rock band and shows his paintings in local salons and cafés.