After an honorable discharge from the Army, Forbes attended the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles and soon began an illustration career that continues to this day. His work has graced publications and corporate clinets including Time, Sports Illustrated, Exxon, the United States Mint, the U.S. Postal Service, Hilton Hotels, Philip Morris, Pepsi Cola, Lockheed Martin, General Electric, ABC-TV and many more. In 1986, Bart was named Sports Artist of the Year by the American Sport Art Museum and Archives, in Alabama. Two years later he was named the Official Artist for the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, where he created paintings of each Olympic event, works that are now housed in their Olympic Museum.