Rich Lo is a professional artist whose work features a combination of imagination and technical excellence. His expansive portfolio of drawings and paintings can be seen on retail products, TV commercials, print ads, private collections and in public spaces. Rich is also an author/illustrator of 7 children’s books. His first book, Father’s Chinese Opera, was chosen as the honor title for the 2014-2015 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in the Picture Book Category.

The journey:

I studied art at Eastern Illinois University, where I was awarded a graduate assistantship. During graduate school, I discovered that I wanted to be a professional artist and felt that teaching was not an option. I prepared for life as an independent artist.

In Chicago, I landed a freelance job with a typography company as an entry level illustrator doing line art for textbooks K-3. I quickly grew out of that position and looked for work in advertising. The creative community was small at that time, so finding work was not difficult if you had the chops.

One of my first important assignments was to do large instore artwork for Sears—a coup for a young artist. Soon assignments for national brands followed. This proved to me that I couldn’t be overwhelmed by enormous tasks.

In 2004, I played with conceptual art, doing large works, and studied Abstract Expressionism. From 2011- 2017, I was commissioned to do a series of public works in downtown Chicago. I was living in two creative worlds, realism and abstraction. I realize now that I was expanding intellectually and imaginatively, which played an important part in my developing into the artist I am today.

In 2009, I was awarded the biggest commercial project of my career—25 pieces for a Cleveland Clinic ad campaign with the art being the center piece. Peter Norton, a trustee for MOMA and the Whitney Museum, saw the art in the New York Times and commissioned a portrait of himself and his wife using the same technique.

From 2009-2014, the Great Books Foundation commissioned a series of book covers and interior art for short stories and posters. My experience as a commercial artist was instrumental in getting this commission, as I was familiar with telling visual stories.

In 2012, I met literary agent Anna Olswanger. She took a chance on working with someone with no writing experience. In 2014, my first book, Father’s Chinese Opera, was an honor title for the 2014-2015 Asian/ Pacific American Award for Literature in the Picture Book Category. Five titles followed: New Year; Chinese New Year Colors; 123 Dim Sum; After the Snowfall; Chinese Kite Festival; After the Moonrise. The best part of creating children’s books is that originality is encouraged by the publishers. I can use all my capabilities without worrying about boundaries. Most importantly, the books allow me to showcase my Chinese heritage.

My mission today is to explore artistic possibilities in a wide spectrum.