Walt Reed is an artist, author, illustrator and one of the world's top scholars on illustration art. He based The Figure on teaching methods developed by the faculty of the Famous Artists School where he taught for 15 years. He attended Pratt Institute and the New York Phoenix School of Design, beginning his art career as Art Director for CARE in New York. Reed has written several books, including the classic The Illustrator in America: 1900-1960s and The Western Art of Harold Von Schmidt, as well as numerous magazine articles. Reed founded the Illustration House in 1974, Americas foremost gallery devoted to the art and history of illustration (illustrationhouses.com).