David Blackwood is Canada's premiere printmaker. He has portrayed the distinctive culture of his native Newfoundland for more than thirty years and has advanced printmaking traditions developed by Rembrandt to create distinctly Canadian prints that are sought the world over.

David Lloyd Blackwood was born November 7, 1941, in Wesleyville, situated on Bonavista Bay in Newfoundland. He is the sixth of ten children born into the large Blackwood family. His father, Captain Edward Blackwood was a seafaring man and his mother Molly, kept the home fires burning in the small outport. There were few artistic influences for young David, but a portrait of his grandfather's fishing schooner, the Flora S. Nickerson painted with matchsticks on oilcloth in 1929, is credited with kindling his life long interest in art. As a child, he filled many of his youthful hours drawing and listening to stories of the sea, especially during the long Newfoundland winter months.

Art was not taught as a subject in the small school he attended in Wesleyville, but he was encouraged to pursue his abilities. When he graduated from grade 12 in 1959, David received a scholarship to attend the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. It was here that his formal art education began and he developed his talents in drawing, painting and printmaking. David credits painter Carl Schaefer, printmaker Fred Hagen and the art work of Kathe Kollwitz as the major influences for him and his art. Upon completion of his studies in 1963, and for the following ten years, he taught art part time, was Artist in Residence at the University of Toronto and most importantly, began to develop his narrative Newfoundland etchings. In 1974 he moved with his wife Anita to Port Hope, Ontario, where he has worked as a full-time artist ever since.

Many significant achievements have marked his professional career. In 1976, a National Film Board production "Blackwood" was nominated for an Academy Award and has since been translated into seven languages. He has been the subject of the books "The Wake of the Great Sealers" by Farley Mowat and "The Art of David Blackwood" by William Gough. He has regularly exhibited his work across Canada. His art can be found in many public and private collections around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the National Gallery of Australia in Melbourne, the Uffizi Museum in Florence, Italy and in the collection of her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth in England. He has been awarded many honours, including honorary doctorates from the University of Calgary and Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1992, and in 1993, he received the prestigious Order of Canada.