garykelley

garykelley2

I don’t intend to turn this blog into a tribute to other artists, but when you find the good stuff, you gotta share it. Just came across this video interview with my good friend and mentor, Gary Kelley (you can find samples of his work at his rep’s site here). It’s a fascinating look at his work and has some great footage of him working on everything from a monoprint to a large mural project for the University of Iowa. The only frustrating part is that it’s in Real Player, so you may need to download their free player in order to be able to watch it. When will the world wake up and just use Quicktime exclusively?

I first met Gary as a student at the Illustration Academy back in ‘97, and studied under him again at the Academy for the next two consecutive summers. I had the opportunity to study under him yet once more when he was a visiting instructor for my graduate degree illustration program at Syracuse (now transplanted to the University of Hartford). Julie and I get to see Gary and his wonderful wife Linda every so often, as they love Santa Monica and visit frequently, and we’ve even managed to get Gary up to Westmont a couple of times to do demos for our students. One of those pastel demos hangs in my office and is one of my most prized possessions.

Gary is hands-down the best teacher I’ve ever had, and I feel fortunate to be able to call him a friend. He’s funny, witty, well-read, and extremely well-versed in art history—I’ve discovered many artists upon his recommendations. And as you can tell from the image above, he’s one heck of an artist. I’ve always maintained that Gary is one of the best “designers” around—his compositional sense is without peer. He’s been a powerful influence on my work.