ST. POPE JOHN PAUL II Painting

I am a professional illustrator-painter having produced award winning illustrations for national corporations, advertising agencies and publishers of magazines, books and collectables for over 50 years. My interest in drawing began at a very early age sketching my favorite subjects; dream cars, police and fire vehicles and much later, celebrities in sports and movies. Later, in high school and college I illustrated for school papers, special events and yearbooks. During this time I studied the work of my art idols; Gil Elvgren, Jon Whitcomb, Frank McCarthy, Robert Fitzsimmons and others and prepared the portfolio I knew I needed to get an artists' job. Upon graduation from college I was immediately hired for my first studio job. Over the next 50 years I was lead illustrator at four major design-art studios. In those jobs I illustrated every known subject matter; food, products, people, architecture, medical, industrial, figures and portraits. I wanted to specialize on book covers, figurework and celebrity portraiture so, with that in mind, I became a freelancer and opened my own studio. I contacted all the potential clients I wanted to do work for and found early success. My client list read like a who's who for any illustrator: General Mills, 3M Company, Green Giant, the Minnesota Orchestral Association, Art Instruction Schools, Barbour Publishing, the United States Historical Society, Elvis Presley Enterprises, the Republican National Committee, Editor-Publisher Magazine, the Franklin Mint, the Hamilton Collection, the Danbury Mint, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for Camel cigarettes, the Bradford Exchange and many others. Among his most notable commissions was a six Heirloom Collector plate series commemorating the legendary James Bond films starring Sean Connery for the Franklin Mint. It was one of their best sellers of all time. Another was his portrait of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, another Heirloom Collector plate marketed worldwide. His existing portrait of film legend, Marilyn Monroe, was commissioned by the Franklin Mint for usage for the front and back covers of the Joyce Carol Oates novel, BLONDE. Dick has been the recipient of many awards over the years, a list of which will be provided. This year a framed print of his portrait of presidents Lincoln, Reagan and Trump was personally selected by president Trump to hang in the White House near the entrance to the Oval Office.