Randy McGovern grew up in New Orleans. One day his fourth grade teacher, Sr. Helene saw him draw a horse and buggy and then advised his parents to give him art lessons. Every Thursday, Randy would get on a bus and ride across the city to his art lesson. That year (1964) Randy won a city-wide art contest and the grand prize of $5 which proved to be a good enough incentive to continue. He studied first under a European portraitist from Sicily, Mrs. Donatella Kypers and later more closely under Mrs. R.T. Perkins also a master portraitist. Meanwhile, Randy's other hobby was snake hunting in the swamps and marshes of Louisiana and selling them to the snake farm in LaPlace, Louisiana. Still, another hobby was that of trapping animals in humane animal traps that he invented for sketching purposes. At age 21, he graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, magna cum laude with a B.A. in advertising, but in 1983 launched a career in fine art instead. Randy has earned acclaim from sportsmen and collectors alike, both nationally and internationally. By taking the demanding accuracy of the wildlife painter and combining it with the discriminating talent of a trained and gifted artist, he has become one of the nation's most beloved realists in just a few short years.
