Born in Ajo, Arizona, Chuck Ren is a realist painter of sporting and Western figures. He grew up in a small copper mining town, and spent most of his time indoors, drawing. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona.

After graduation he worked as a commercial artist in southern California for such companies as Lockheed Air Service and Computer Sciences. And while producing illustrations for slide shows, annual reports, and brochures at his "day job", his freelance work brought him into record album covers, billboards, and work for the National Football League. He not only created the official 1980 Super Bowl Poster, but he also ended up working for all 28 of the League's franchises.

Today Ren is known for his work depicting the American Indian. Most of his art is related to the American West. Ren says, "Because that is a way of life that is gone, and I want to preserve it in memory. If you look at a modern cattle round-up, you realize that the American cowboy's way of life hasn't essentially changed. I'm trying to learn everything I can about the Indians. Most paintings I've seen dealt with the Indian in a group or social setting. I've tried to focus on the individual."

Ren died in 1995 in Sedona, Arizona.

Source:
The Pearce Western Art Collection

http://www.aaartdenver.com/mall/ren_product_page.asp

Chuck Ren

Realist painter of sporting and Western figures in acrylic, born in Ajo, Arizona in 1941 and living in Vista, California since 1978. "I grew up in a small copper mining town," he explains, "and there wasn't all that much to do. It was always so hot that I'd spend most of my time indoors, drawing. What I was twelve, I sent in for the Famous Artist School test that you'd always see offered in ads. They sent back my work with a grade of B plus, but told me I was too young to enroll. I was really crushed.

After taking his freshman year at Northern Arizona University, he earned a BFA from the University of Arizona, in 1964, but he "almost dropped out of college. They put you through elementary design and some other basic courses before you get to anything like figure drawing. It was pretty boring." He then became a technical illustrator. "Whenever I had the chance," he says, "I'd also do free-lance work for whatever it would pay. I started making a lot of contacts. The free-lance work increased to the point where I couldn't do both, so I quit my full time job in 1976 and went totally free lance."

A $75 ad in the Los Angeles Illustrator's Catalog produced calls from movie studios, record companies, and the National Football League. Compared to employment as an illustrator where he was "tired of the lifestyle that had company heads telling designers what to design," the NFL called him "perfect." By 1980, he had done over 200 illustrations for the NFL and a dozen covers for Pro! Magazine. Sixty percent of his work was football oriented. By 1982, however, the bulk of his output was fine art related to the American West.

Resource: Contemporary Western Artists, by Peggy and Harold Samuels 1982, Judd's Inc., Washington, D.C

Chuck Ren was born in the Arizona mining town of Ajo in 1941. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona. But it was only in his last 2.5 years of college that he received any formal art training! After graduation, southern California and the corporate world of design (Lockheed Air Service, Computer Sciences and others) called.

And while producing illustrations for slide shows, annual reports, and brochures in his "day job", his freelance work brought him into record album covers, billboards, and work for the National Football League. His work was so respected, that he not only created the official 1980 Super Bowl Poster, but he also ended up working for all 28 of the League's franchises. In fact, a poster done for the L.A. Rams brought him to the attention of Joe Wright.