Tara McPherson (born 1976) is an Americanpainter, freelance illustrator, comic book artist and teacher in New York City. A recurring motif in her work is a stylized heart-shaped hole through a person’s chest in the place of an actual heart.

McPherson was born in San Francisco in 1976 and raised in Los Angeles. She received her BFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California in August 2001 in Illustration and a minor in Fine Art. She interned at Rough Draft Studios and did work on Matt Groening’s Futurama during college.

Her art includes covers for Vertigo comic books, advertising and editorial illustrations such as Fanta and Spin Magazine, and numerous gig posters for rock bands such as Green Day, Beck, Modest Mouse, Isis, High on Fire, and Death Cab for Cutie. McPherson teaches Illustration at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City.

The first printed collection of her work is Lonely Heart: The Art of Tara McPherson, which was released in 2006 by Dark Horse Press. McPherson’s art has also been included in books such as The Art of Modern Rock, SWAG, Project Superior, The Art of Electric Frankenstein, Sci Fi Western, Panda Meat and Illustration Now!.

McPherson has been featured in several publications including Juxtapoz, Esquire, Elle, Marie Claire, Spin, Paste, Communication Arts, LA Weekly and Punk Planet. Her art has been featured in the Oscar Award winning film Juno.

McPherson recently had a story published in the original Fables graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall.

(Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_McPherson)

(Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Flora)