Born and raised near Cincinnati, Ohio, Todd Muskopf captures the essence of the Midwest in his paintings.  Lush fields, rolling hills, and quiet bodies of water are the typical subjects for Mr. Muskopf’s unique approach to landscape painting.  Heightened colors punctuated with contrasting complements create a shimmering surface which conveys the vigorous and powerful life force teeming in the subject.  These intense colors combine with a lavish application of oil paint to create paintings which could be termed an active Impressionism or an articulate Expressionism. 

He lists the works of Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh as guiding influences over the development of his style.  He has also been influenced by Emil Nolde, Chaim Soutine, and Oskar Kokoschka, among others.

While he used a film SLR to document his paintings for years, his photographic work began to emerge as a creative outlet when Mr. Muskopf bought his first digital camera in 1997.  He felt free to experiment with digital in a way he was unable to do previously with film cameras.  In 2004, he started a 20 month experiment by entering photo contests.  He focused on expressing his fascination with the natural world through a unique close up view and won over 90 "picture of the day" and "picture of the month" awards during this period.  He now shoots with digital SLR cameras and "L" lenses and focuses on creating expressive portraits and stock photography as well as shooting for a regional newspaper.  He is a member of the American Society of Media Photographers, National Press Photographer's Asssociation and National Association of Photoshop Professionals.

Mr. Muskopf received his B.F.A. in Painting from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and got his teaching certificate and other graduate coursework through Wright State University.  He has had several solo exhibitions and has shown in numerous group exhibitions across the United States.  He currently teaches Art at a private K-8 school three days a week to keep his spirit charged and creates paintings and photos during the other four days of the week.  He says the interaction with youngsters keeps him young.  He resides with his family near Dayton, Ohio.