James (Jamie) Browning Wyeth was born in Wilmington, Delaware, just south of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. He is a third-generation American artist-the son of Andrew Wyeth, who is one of America's most renown figurative painters, and the grandson of Newell Convers Wyeth, famous for his illustrations for classic novels by Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott. From the time he was born, Jamie had before him the example not only of his father and grandfather, but also two of his aunts, Carolyn Wyeth and Henriette (Wyeth) Hurd, and his uncles Peter Hurd and John McCoy, who were all painters. Jamie always had easy access to paints, brushes, and pencils and he naturally used them to express his feelings about a book he had read or a movie that he had seen. He left public school after the sixth grade to be home-schooled in order to devote more time to his art, spending at least eight hours a day studying, drawing, and painting. Jamie's father Andrew was also tutored at home and felt that his son did not need a formal education to become a serious artist. After taking English and history lessons in the morning, Jamie Wyeth would go to his Aunt Carolyn's studio, where for the first year his assignment was drawing cubes and spheres. Although, this was not exciting, Jamie understood the discipline that was required and its value for an artist. His natural talent developed under the guidance of his father, Andrew, who was instructed and encouraged by his father, N.C. Wyeth.