Malcolm T Liepke was born in Minneapolis, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. He studied at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, but dropped out after a year and a half. He moved to New York and began studying on his own artists such as John Singer Sargent, Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Diego Velázquez, James McNeill Whistler, and Édouard Vuillard. In turn, his style has been imitated by others, notably Michael Carson. Liepke and Milt Kobayashi are friends and former roommates with similar styles.

His nickname is 'Skip.'

His art has been on the covers of Time, Newsweek, Forbes, and Fortune. His artworks are now in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution and the Brooklyn Museum. Liepke's work has been widely shown and exhibited in The Pastel Society of America, The American Watercolor Society, National Academy of Design, and the National Arts Club. Leipke's emphasis has been on figurative artworks. His paintings and drawings often focus on intimate moments of sensual pleasure and introspection.

He is represented by New York's Arcadia Fine Arts An interview with Liepke appeared in the October, 2006 issue of American Artist magazine