One of the things Richard Cowdrey enjoys most about the acclaim that has come with being a New York Times bestselling illustrator is the opportunity it has given him to interact with young artists.
After the picture book Bad Dog, Marley! (2006) and other books in the Marley series, which he illustrated, hit the Times list, Cowdrey began receiving calls from schools throughout the country whose students were enthralled with the mischievous Labrador retriever.
He says he felt called to share his love of drawing with schoolchildren of all ages, to help them embrace reading, writing, and their own affinity for making art.
Richard Cowdrey illustrated the New York Times bestselling children's book "Bad Dog, Marley!"
“A lot of the kids say, ‘I can’t draw that well.’ So I make sure to tell them, ‘An artist designed your shoes, your clothes, your chair. There’s an artist behind everything,’” Cowdrey says. “I love those lightbulb moments, when you see them get it.”
Cowdrey has lived in the Knox County village of Gambier for 30 years, where he’s a member of Newark-based The Energy Cooperative — though he tells people he’s been drawing “as far back as I can remember.”
As a child growing up in Cincinnati, he says he lacked direction. He drew constantly, but it wasn’t until his high school art teacher noticed his talent and helped him secure a scholarship to study illustration at Columbus College of Art and Design that, in his words, “everything clicked.”
“I was now in an environment of art and artists,” he says, “and it was like putting on the glove that just fit perfectly. Here, I could refine my talent.”
After graduation, Cowdrey worked briefly for Hallmark Greeting Cards in Kansas City, Missouri, but he soon moved back to Ohio and married his college sweetheart, Cindy. The couple then moved to a mountaintop cabin in Vermont, where Cowdrey began his 40-year (and counting) career as an independent freelance illustrator — drawing for newspapers, magazines, and small design and advertising agencies.
During his early years as a freelancer, he drove from Montreal to Boston, drumming up work and taking last-minute gigs to cover other artists who had missed deadlines. “I stayed up many a night and got my foot in the door,” he recalls.
Wanting to be closer to family, the couple and their four children moved back to Ohio, specifically to the Knox County village of Gambier. He works in quiet — surrounded by nature in the former garage that he converted long ago into his art studio and wood shop.
He joined Illustrated Alaskan Moose, a group of illustrators in Westerville, and while working there, he had the opportunity to create illustrations for high-profile clients such as the NHL and Honda. For the NFL, he drew the artwork for all media for Super Bowl XXXII in 1998; for the Longaberger Company, he created a decade’s worth of calendars featuring the company’s iconic baskets. “They would give me the baskets and say, ‘Have at it,’” he chuckles. “That was my master course in painting.”
Cowdrey has extensive experience creating illustrations and book covers for publishers. He illustrated author Pam Conrad’s Animal Lullabies (HarperCollins Publishers), his first full-length children’s picture book, in 1997.
In 2006, HarperCollins tapped Cowdrey to illustrate Bad Dog, Marley!, the children’s book version of author John Grogan’s tremendously popular 2005 memoir Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog. More Marley books soon followed, including A Very Marley Christmas in 2008, bringing Cowdrey renown and a flood of offers to illustrate other children’s books, including Kathryn Lasky’s Guardians of Ga’Hoole series.
Then came Fiona. Yes, that Fiona: the resilient baby Nile hippopotamus at the Cincinnati Zoo. She had been born six weeks premature in 2017 and had not been expected to survive. But, against the odds, she pulled through and eventually thrived. All the while, the zoo shared constant updates about her condition on social media, and soon, the plucky hippo gained worldwide fame and many adoring fans.
Cowdrey had often visited the Cincinnati Zoo as a child, and he became intrigued by Fiona’s story. He called the zoo and pitched his idea of creating a children’s book about her, and the rest is hippo history. Fiona the Hippo (2018) quickly became a New York Times bestseller, followed soon after by A Very Fiona Christmas (2019), Fiona, It’s Bedtime (2020), and several others.
Since the Fiona series, Cowdrey has illustrated Nate Davenport and Luke Freshwater’s Bryson, the Brave Bison (2023) and has begun focusing on creating commissioned pieces, including horses and pet portraiture.
He still makes time for a school or community speaking event at least once a month, though. During those events, he often holds a “Draw-Along” for students, walking them through creating their very own picture of Marley or Fiona. “They get to go home with a masterpiece,” Cowdrey says, smiling. “I like that I’m encouraging young artists.”
