About
Don Rogers started drawing as a sixth grader under the influence and guidance of his Grandmother Cosby. Then, Don’s grade school art teacher, Mr Miller, noticed his drawings of none other that Rat Fink and the biology project that featured a colored pencil drawing of a fresh water fish. His parents responded and put Don into an oil painting class. This class was taught by Mrs. Fielder and it was full of grown-ups. This painting class became Don’s first point of art education and the beginning of his art lineage. Next, Don’s high school art class was taught by Mr. William Mac Farland. During this time, Don was selected to attend the Carnagie Museum’s public education program called the Saturday PM palette class. And the third point of art education was taught by Mr Fitzpatrick, head of art ed for the Pittsburgh art education.
Over the next ten years of drawing and painting along with incidentals such as high school, four years of college, three semesters in a Columbus College of Art and Design and a month long stay with the top illustrators at the Illustrators Workshop in New York, Don brought his burgeoning and somewhat ill informed talent to Atlanta. There he worked for the Atlanta Journal Constitution as a board artist in the advertising department, a book publisher as a freelance Art Director, for the Whistlin’ Dixie studio as a staff illustrator. He then made the transition into freelance, and, in a modest way, was a success.
After some ten years in Atlanta, Mr. Rogers made a change to education. He began teaching at the Savannah College of Art and Design in 1985. During this time, he earned a MFA in illustration, won several gold, silver and bronze Addy awards locally, exhibited in the faculty exhibit, New York Society of Illustrator’s One show and various special exhibits.
Having worked with numerous well-known clients such as Delta Airlines, Mac Donald’s, Coca-Cola, Peachtree Software, Ballantine Books, Wendys, Boston Globe, Eucalyptus Tree Studios, Pittsburgh/ Savannah Ballet, Strachen Shipping Company and GTE, Don brings years of work experience to the classroom. He emphasizes numerous classical compositional techniques, structural drawing methods, color control strategies and various materials and techniques along with the perimeters of commercial illustration in the classroom. Recently, he has begun to teach a graduate on-line techniques course.
Professor Rogers strives to continue his education through reading and research into European 18th and 19th Century masters and the U.S. 20th Century Figurative Masters and Illustrators through out history. In 2000, Professor Rogers attended the Barnstone Studios and studied with Myron Barnstone for 9 weeks who brought the working methods of the masters alive. In 2005, Professor Rogers attended the Gnomon Workshop: Live in LA where he learned about the entertainment industry, special 3-D software and heard from such notables as Scott Robertson and Neville Page. Then in 2006, Professor Rogers attended the Illustration Academy for 7 weeks studying under some of the top of the illustration field like Mark and John English, Gary Kelly, Anita Kuntz and C. F. Payne. He also is enrolled in the web based Visual Literacy program created by the Illustration Academy faculty.
Professor Rogers continues to work on various illustrious works whether a commission or a personal work for a show. Recently his focus is plein-air painting. He is a member of the Low Country Plein-air Painters.