Gary Kelley
Gary Kelley used chalk pastel to create this portrait, incorporating a touch of stylization to shape the image.
Gary Kelley applied subtle stylization throughout the process of creating this chalk pastel drawing.
A lifelong fascination with the nation’s past informed Gary Kelley’s portraits of John Dickinson and James Madison. “I have always been interested in American history, so doing these images was a real treat,” Kelley recalls. Raised and educated in Iowa, he studied at the University of Northern Iowa and received an honorary doctor of humane letters from his alma mater in 1995.
His work, which has been honored by the Society of Illustrators as Best in Show and with multiple gold and silver medals, has been exhibited across the U.S., as well as in Tokyo and Paris. Kelley has illustrated nearly 30 picture books and lectured at institutions including the Smithsonian, Chicago Art Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, and Art Center College of Design. In 2006, he was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame.
