Profile of Artist Dick Bobnick
Dick Bobnick has been a successful illustrator for over 40 years. His versatility in creating celebrity portrait montages, beautiful figures, action-adventure and sports illustrations in addition to historical and gorgeous pinups keeps his work in demand among regional, national and international corporations, advertising agencies, public relations firms as well as book and collectibles publishers.
Dick graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and upon graduation, with a great portfolio already prepared, was hired within two months by a major Minneapolis graphic arts studio to learn production. After 6 months he moved on to another studio as a full time illustrator.
For the next 25 years Dick worked as an illustrator or lead illustrator at four major graphics studios in Minneapolis. Then, deciding to strike out on his own in 1990, he opened his own illustration studio in Bloomington, Minnesota, and pursued his specialties: Sports, celebrity portraiture, historical and action-adventure illustration.
In 1985 Dick was selected by the National Republican Inaugural Committee to create the illustrations for three double truck ads in U.S.A. TODAY heralding President Reagan's second inauguration. Silk screened prints of those montage illustrations of presidents Washington, Lincoln and Reagan were presented to president Reagan and his cabinet.
In 1988 Dick's full color portrait of golf legend, Sam Snead, was chosen by Snead as his official portrait in the Professional Golf Association's Hall Of Fame.
In 1994, Dick created a montage illustration and art print for the United States Historical Society commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion for worldwide distribution to all U.S. armed forces personnel. Two years later Dick was commissioned to create portraits of the four presidential candidates in the 1996 election (Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, Jack Kemp and Al Gore) for historical commemoratives for the 1997 inaugural. That year also brought a commission for an advertising promotional portrait montage of musical giants, Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, Bill Cosby, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock and K.D. Lang, all of whom were honored in a Sony sponsored nationally televised American Music Honors telecast shown on December 28, 1998.
Dick also completed a series of sports superstar portraits of Kirby Puckett, Ryne Sandberg, Jim Kelly, and Greg Maddux for open edition prints. The Puckett illustration was selected for inclusion in the prestigious Illustration West 35th Annual Exhibit in Los Angeles and it was subsequently published in the show's 1998 annual.
Dick has also designed commemorative stamp cache art for U.S. first day issue stamps honoring Louis Armstron, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, Pete Fountain and Reggie Jackson among others. He also designed and illustrated commemorative stamps honoring Elvis Presley for several foreign governments.
In April of 1998, the Franklin Mint made a decision to produce a special commemorative fine art collector plate based on a painting of Mother Teresa that Dick had submitted 2 months earlier. That limited edition heirloom collector plate was released for general sale worldwide in June of 1999.
In 2000, the Franklin Mint selected Dick's stunning portrait of Marilyn Monroe for the inside front and back covers of their special leather and gold limited edition of Joyce Carol Oate's newest best seller, Blonde. More recently Dick was commissioned to create a series of glamour illustrations for the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's national advertising campaign promoting their new exotic and Turkish blend cigarettes.
In the past 15 years Dick has produced many illustrations for the collectibles giants: the Franklin Mint, the Bradford Exchange, the Hamilton Collection and the Danbury Mint. He has completed two Heirloom Collector plate series for the Franklin Mint commemorating the James Bond films starring Sean Connery as well as the Gunsmoke television series.
Throughout his career, Dick has been the recipient of many local and regional art directors and illustration awards as well as recognition in national illustration exhibitions and competitions. Some of the most recent awards are described on the Contact - Portraits From Your Photos page.
Over the years Dick has created illustrations for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the Franklin Mint, General Mills, Burger King, 3M Company, Barbour Publishing, the U.S. Army, the Grand Ole Opry, Opryland, U.S.A. Today, the Onan Company, Pillsbury Company, Rosemount Aerospace Corporation, Northwest Airlines, Editor/Publisher Magazine, Elvis Presley Enterprises, AT&T, the United States Historical Society, the Minnesota Orchestral Association, Art Instruction Schools Inc., Sony Corporation, the U.S.A. Cable Network and numerous local, regional and national advertising agencies and corporations. He continues to create the dynamic images for which he has become known in his studio in Burnsville, Minnesota.
Sports Art | Painted Portraits | Portraits From Your Photos | Painted Portraits | Pinup Art
Montage illustration of GOLDFINGER , one of a series of six paintings commissioned by the Franklin Mint for Heirloom collector plates commemorating the James Bond films starring Sean Connery.