Don Berry

It's not unusual for pre-school kids to draw and paint, but only a few, it seems, continue doing so into adulthood. I'm one of those. I have always known I was an artist and never seriously considered another field.

I studied drawing, painting, and design on my own through a correspondence course (Art Instruction Schools) in my early teens. There wasn't much in the way of art instruction in public schools in Tucson until I reached my junior year in high school and, finally allowed in, I spent all free school time in the art classroom. After that I attended the University of Arizona, got a BFA degree, and pursued interests in painting and animation as an independent graduate student for several years afterwards.

I began illustrating professionally for local clients while still an undergraduate, and found that area of art to be more interesting and challenging than gallery art. It also paid the rent. My first job after school was as an artist In the advertising department of Levy's, then the biggest department store in Tucson. I was yanked from that career path when drafted into the US Army a few months after being hired. When I returned to Tucson nearly 3 years later there wasn't room for me at Levy's. I found a job as sign and set painter for Old Tucson Studios, once a mecca for the production of western movies.

After a year or so I formed a business, Elmer Graphics, to serve the movie production companies, but western films fell out of favor almost overnight and work dramatically slowed on the movie lot. I created another business, Design Resources, to provide graphic design and art services to the local business community, especially ad agencies. I gradually grew weary of the office environment, established myself as a home-based freelancer and have continued in that mode to this day. Also through this period, for about 10 years, I taught illustration, graphic design, drawing, and cartooning at the University of Arizona and Pima Community College.

After a stock market downturn, advertising budgets dried up and, virtually overnight, calls for my services dried up as well. From there work shifted to drawing health and safety coloring and activity books for Positive Promotions, a New York company with it's editorial offices in Tucson. That work also dried up over time as the company enhanced it's in-house art department and needed me less and less.

Throughout my career an occasional request would come in to illustrate a book for a small publisher or self-publisher. I enjoyed those projects but Tucson is not a publishing center, and book illustration opportunities were rare ...until the onset of the digital age with the internet and digital art tools.

By 2003 I had trained enough with graphics software and pen tablet to create an internet-based illustration service for self-publishing authors. Projects began coming in almost immediately and as of this writing I've designed and illustrated dozens of storybooks and covers for authors around the USA and the world.

 

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