Blue Sky was born Warren Edward Johnson in Columbia, South Carolina, on September 18, 1938. He attended the University of South Carolina, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in art and education. Sky has been painting professionally for over 45 years, and has been solely supported by his art since 1970. In 1974, he legally changed his name to Blue Sky, and engraved it across his most famous work, Tunnelvision, a year later.