From 1970 to 1979 David Byrd taught Sophomore Illustration, Life Drawing, & Airbrush Technique at both Pratt Institute and The School of Visual Arts • In 1980 he came to Los Angeles to work on the Van Halen World Tour with tour designer Chip Monck and Van Halen manager Noel Monk, both of whom he had worked with at the Fillmore East and Woodstock Festival • He decided to stay in Los Angeles where he subsequently did posters for The Mark Taper Forum, The Ahmanson Theater, The Doolittle Theatre, LA Classic Theatre Works, The LA Stage Company, The Pasadena Playhouse, The Long Beach Civic Light Opera, Theatre 40 and many equity waiver venues • From 1984 to 1986 he was Art Director of the national gay news magazine The Advocate, taking it from a tabloid newspaper to a standard national magazine format • Beginning in 1978, David was a regular contributor of covers for TV Guide magazine, creating portraits for Cagney and Lacey, Murder She Wrote, Battle Star Galactica, Family Ties, Robert Conrad, the 1988 Winter Olympics, the Fall Preview, and Prince Charles & Princess Diana • In 1985 David created Byrd / Beserra Studios with his partner and fellow-artist Joe Lino Beserra, whom he met shortly after working on the Van Halen Tour • Together they designed a classic poster of the Pan Pacific Auditorium for the American Cinematheque; all the art for the board game Past Lives; art for the Franklin Mint Special Edition of the board game Clue; as well as backgrounds for an animated Sprint commercial •