Upon graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design many years ago, Omar Rayyan settled on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The bucolic surroundings compliment and help inspire his "old world" aesthetic toward painting. He enjoys looking to the past for inspiration and guidance from the great oil painters of the Northern Renaissance and the Romantic and Symbolist painters of the 19th century. In the past, he created illustrations for many publishers, including Simon & Schuster, Random House and Hyperion/Disney. His market was mainly geared towards children's and young adult's magazines and books, doing cover and interior illustrations. He also illustrated several children's picture books. In 2016, Omar published an illustrated book, “Goblin Market”. It was the culmination of many years of work, a personal project based on the narrative poem by Christina Rossetti. A successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign helped the project come to fruition, and the result was a beautiful hardcover book packed with over 100 full-color watercolor paintings. Nowadays, Omar is concentrating more on doing personal works and commissions for collectors. Paintings of whim and fantasy made to indulge his own personal tastes and humors and to hopefully entertain and please the viewing public.