About Chuck

About Chuck Galey

Delta Boy

I was born by the river, or as we here in the South say, riv-ah ! My wife really teases me when I say that. But I was born by the Yazoo River in Greenwood, Mississippi! Right smack-dab in the middle of the birth place of the blues, the Mississippi Delta! I began to draw when I was in very young. I had everything I needed to learn how to draw. A pencil. A piece of paper. And a long winded Baptist preacher. Many an artist got their start as a child while drawing in church. I loved to draw growing up. I'd draw animals and comic book characters. I made up my own characters, too! Then I'd draw them and take them on many adventures. I was always the kid everyone would choose when ever there was something to draw or create for a class project.

Services Offered

I offer a wide range of creative services, including custom illustrations, digital paintings, logo design, and animated videos. I work closely with my clients to ensure that their vision is brought to life in a way that exceeds their expectations.

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Reality Check

As fun as art is, I didn't know anyone in my hometown who actually made a living only doing art. Most folks looked at art as just a hobby. So when I graduated from high school and was planning my college studies, I decided to try my hand at... oceanography! Yes, believe it or not, I was going to study the ocean. I had learned how to scuba dive in a friend's swimming pool. I studied physical oceanography in college. I worked at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory during the summers, too. I learned a lot about the ocean: plant life, the mechanics of tides and water current in the Mississippi Sound. I also learned how to program the old card-fed computers back before there was Apple MacIntosh, PC computers or the internet!

Landlubber

There was one problem, though... I got seasick real easy! That was a problem that I could not overcome. So I looked around for another field to study. I decided that since I loved art so much, I would go back and continue to study art and become a, what we called it back then, commercial artist . Now days, it's called graphic design.

I graduated from Mississippi State University and got a job as an art director in an ad agency. Soon, I was working on layouts and advertisements. I continued to draw at home and began a freelance illustration studio in my house to work on assignments after hours. Soon, I had enough clients to work for myself. I have illustrated for clients like Este' Lauder, Ladies Home Journal and Highlights Magazine and Recorded Books, Inc.

Bookworm

Eventually, when my wife and I had a son, Sean, I began to notice the wonderful children's books given as gifts. We would read to Sean and enjoy the art along with him. I fell in love with picture book illustrations and wanted to try my hand at it.

Children's Bookworm

I have illustrated over 70 books for educational publishers around the country. I have created covers for Beverly Cleary's Ribsey and Henry Huggins , and R.L. Stine's Fear Street series for Recorded Books, Inc. Such an endeavor is rewarding because a picture story book brings an adult and a child together for a wonderfully shared experience.

Children's Picture Bookworm

But I have to admit, my favorite projects have been the picture books I've illustrated. In addition to illustrating, I have presented my "The Illustrator as Storyteller" seminar at book festivals and college library science programs. In this seminar, I demonstrate the development of an illustration from start to finish, while sharing book design aspects. My "Animal Parts" presentation has thrilled hundreds of school children as I lead them down the road to creativity through art. I finally got the chance to illustrate a children's picture book. And I've been doing it ever since!

I live in Jackson, Mississippi with wife, Forrest.

Check out the article I wrote for the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection's Juvenile Miscellany Summer 2023; page 6.