Figures of the American Revolution

Ethel Kessler is an award-winning designer and art director who has worked with corporations, museums, public and private institutions, professional service organizations, and now, the United States Postal Service.  

After earning a B.F.A. in visual communications from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Kessler worked as a graphic designer and project manager for the exhibits division of the United States Information Agency. Her work was distributed internationally on subjects such as Immigration, Entrepreneurship, Renovation of American Cities, and the Bicentennial of 1976. She was also responsible for exhibits in Morocco, Botswana, and El Salvador. 

In 1981, she established Kessler Design, Inc., for which she is creative director and designer. Clients have included the Clinton Government reorganization, the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Television, the National Park Service, and the American Institute of Architects.

She has been an art director for the U.S. Postal Service’s stamp development program for more than 25 years. As an art director for USPS, Kessler has been responsible for creating more than 500 stamp designs, including the Breast Cancer Research stamp illustrated by Whitney Sherman. Issued in 1998, the stamp is still on sale and has raised more $98 million for breast cancer research. Other Kessler projects include the popular and highly regarded Nature of America 120 stamp series, a collaboration with nationally acclaimed nature illustrator John Dawson, the 12-year Lunar New Year series with Kam Mak, the American Filmmaking: Behind the Scenes 10 stamps issued in 2003, a 2016 pane of stamps celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, and the 2023 stamp honoring Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And many, many others. 

Thomas Blackshear II was born in Texas and grew up in Georgia. He pursued his interest in art — “Drawing was all I ever wanted to do,” he says — throughout high school. After graduating from the American Academy of Art in Chicago in 1977, he went to work for Hallmark Cards, where he met and served as an apprentice to illustrator Mark English. In 1980, Blackshear became head illustrator for Godbold/Richter Studios. He began his freelance career in 1982.

Known for his dramatic lighting and sensitivity to mood, Blackshear has produced illustrations for stamps, posters, collectors’ plates, magazines, greeting cards, calendars, books, and advertising. His clients have included Anheuser-Busch, Disney Pictures, Coca-Cola, Jim Henson Studios, Lee Jeans, George Lucas Studios, Milton Bradley, Seven-Up, and Universal Studios.

In 2006, Blackshear’s art was exhibited in Rome in a show sponsored by the Vatican. Known for his best-selling designs for figurines in the Thomas Blackshear’s Ebony Visions collection, he also created the artwork for the “Master Place” collection for DaySpring Cards.

Blackshear’s numerous stamp designs for the U.S. Postal Service® include five stamps in the Black Heritage series, most recently the Dorothy Height stamp (2017). In addition, his artwork has been featured on more than a dozen stamps commemorating Classic Films (1990), Jazz: Legends of American Music series (1995), Classic Movie Monsters (1997), James Baldwin (2004), Mother Teresa (2010), Rosa Parks (2013), and Chief Standing Bear (2023). His most recent stamp project is a portrait of Agwalongdongwas for the 2026 Figures of the American Revolution stamp pane.

Twenty-eight of his depictions of famous Black Americans are featured in the 1992 Black Heritage series commemorative book entitled I Have A Dream. Blackshear has received many awards for his art including a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators. This freelance artist, teacher, and lecturer currently lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Raised in Brooklyn, New York, Alex Bostic attended art classes at Pratt Institute on weekends. Intent on making a career in art, he graduated with a BFA in Illustration from Pratt in 1979 and earned his M.A. in Illustration from Syracuse University in 1994. Before establishing his own studio in 1990, he worked for several design studios and served as an illustrator draftsman for the U.S. Navy.

An experienced teacher of illustration, Bostic was an associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University from 1990 to 2010 and has been an associate professor of art at Mississippi State University since 2010. A wide range of magazines, journals, exhibitions, and books have featured his illustrations and cover art, including a 2010 exhibition interpreting the universe of Star Wars that later became a popular book. His award-winning work is in the collection of numerous museums and private collections.

After 40 years as an illustrator, Bostic turned his focus to becoming a traditional figurative artist. He paints in a natural, realistic style, using oil as his main medium, sometimes employing a variety of techniques in such media as acrylic, colored pencils, and watercolors.

Bostic's stamp projects include the 2022 Edmonia Lewis stamp, as well as portraits of James Armistead and Thomas Paine for the 2026 Figures of the American Revolution stamp pane.

Working primarily in oils and acrylics, Buffalo-based visual artist Julia Bottoms creates portraits that celebrate individuality and challenge the stereotypes often found in popular media. Her art explores how race and identity shape the way people are seen and understood in mainstream culture.

Her paintings have appeared everywhere from EBONY and the New York Times to AfroPunk, Hyperallergic, and HBO’s Insecure. She has collaborated with the Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly the Albright-Knox Art Gallery) in Buffalo, New York, on The Freedom Wall, painted the Mamie Smith Memorial Mural in Cincinnati, and presented solo exhibitions including “A Light Under the Bushel” at the Burchfield Penney Art Center and “Before and After, Again” at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum.

Bottoms’s work is part of the permanent collections of the Burchfield Penney Art Center, the Flint Institute of Art, and the Buffalo AKG Art Museum.

Her first stamp projects were portraits of Abigail Adams and Lemuel Haynes for the 2026 Figures of the American Revolution stamp pane.

Marc Burckhardt is a painter whose work has been commissioned by Gucci, Porsche, Amazon, TIME, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, and Random House. His gallery work has been exhibited internationally.

A former instructor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and Texas State University, Burckhardt was named Texas State Artist by the Texas Legislature and the Commission on the Arts and is a recipient of the prestigious Hamilton King Award. His paintings have earned numerous awards, including Gold and Silver Medals from the Society of Illustrators, a Cannes Lion, and a Grammy Award for Best Limited Edition Box Set Packaging for The Legend: Johnny Cash.

His first stamp projects were portraits of Thaddeus Kosciuszko and Baron von Steuben for the 2026 Figures of the American Revolution stamp pane.

Michael J. Deas, an award-winning illustrator and master realist artist, was raised in suburban New Orleans and Long Island, New York. Although he took art classes as a young man, paying for them by working as an illustrator of novels and children’s books, he considers himself to be essentially self-taught.

For more than 25 years, Deas has created stamp images for the Postal Service™. His 1995 portrait of Marilyn Monroe was one of the top selling commemorative stamps ever. Since then, he has created 20 other portraits for stamps, among them Thomas Wolfe (2000), Audrey Hepburn (2003), Ronald Reagan (2005), Edgar Allan Poe (2009), George H.W. Bush (2019), and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (2023). His most recent stamp projects include portraits of Benjamin Franklin, Bernardo de Gálvez, and Thomas Jefferson for the 2026 Figures of the American Revolution stamp pane.

The Society of Illustrators has recognized his works with five gold medals and two silver. Two of the gold medals were awarded for stamp designs: James Dean (Legends of Hollywood, 1996), and Thornton Wilder (Literary Arts, 1997). In 2004, Deas received the Hamilton King Award, given for the single best illustration of the year.

In 2012–13, 40 of his original paintings, drawings, and illustrations were the subject of a solo exhibition at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. In the late 90s, Deas was one of seven artists whose works were featured in “Visual Solutions — Seven Illustrators and the Creative Process,” at the Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

In addition to his artwork, Deas is a noted authority on Edgar Allan Poe. His 1989 book, The Portraits & Daguerreotypes of Edgar Allan Poe, documents more than 70 historic images of the poet and is now considered a standard reference work.

Over the years, clients have included TIME magazine (six covers), Columbia Pictures (redesign of the well known lady with a torch logo), Reader’s Digest, Random House, HarperCollins, Sports Illustrated, as well as a number of prominent advertising agencies.

Today, Deas works from his studio in the historic district of New Orleans.

Sharon Irla’s creativity spans an extraordinary range of disciplines, including digital art, murals, paintings, photography, and 3D CAD. A self-taught artist, she was nurtured from a young age by her Cherokee mother, who instilled in her a deep appreciation for art and design, a foundation that would shape her career and fuel her creative vision.

Influenced by her mother’s talent in fashion design, Irla became an award-winning classical painter and developed a patented, shape-defining surface design methodology for fashion. Her art has also found a home in children’s books, ensuring her work will inspire future generations.

Through painting workshops and her role as a founding member of the Cherokee Artist’s Association (now the Southeastern Indian Artists Association), Irla has built a lasting legacy of creativity and community impact.

Her first stamp project was a portrait of Deborah Sampson for the 2026 Figures of the American Revolution stamp pane.

Renowned illustrator Gary Kelley has created award-winning images for many of America’s major publications and corporations including Time, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, the National Football League, and Google.

Educated in his native Iowa at the University of Northern Iowa, Kelley received an honorary doctor of humane letters from his alma mater in 1995. His work — honored by the Society of Illustrators as Best in Show as well as with gold and silver medals — has been exhibited throughout the U.S., as well as in Tokyo and Paris. Kelley has illustrated nearly 30 picture books. He has lectured or taught at the Smithsonian Institution, the Chicago Art Institute, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Art Center College of Design, among others. In 2006, Kelley was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame.

In 1998, the U.S. Postal Service issued his designs for four stamps celebrating gospel singers as part of the Legends of American Music series. In 2010, Kelley illustrated the Oscar Micheaux stamp and in 2012, four Great Film Directors stamps. Most recently, Kelly illustrated the stamp art for the 2020 Voices of the Harlem Renaissance issuance and created portraits of John Dickinson and James Madison for the 2026 Figures of the American Revolution stamp pane.

Juliana Kolesova is a Toronto-based illustrator, painter, and photographer with more than 25 years of experience creating art across a variety of media. Her work is driven by a passion for crafting enchanting and captivating imagery that draws on emotional, historical, and cultural perspectives.

Born in Kazakhstan, Kolesova graduated from the Moscow School of Applied Arts and studied art history, historical costumes, and graphic design. After graduating, she launched her career as an artist, with work exhibited and sold at numerous exhibitions throughout Europe. Her move to Toronto launched a new chapter as an illustrator and painter.

Over the years, Kolesova has created more than a thousand book covers and illustrations for publishers in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Her artistic talents have been honored with numerous national and international awards in illustration, design, and photography.

Her first stamp project was a portrait of Mercy Otis Warren for the 2026 Figures of the American Revolution stamp pane.

Kam Mak was born in Hong Kong and grew up in New York City’s Chinatown after his family moved to the United States in 1971. Kam’s involvement with cityArts Workshop, an organization designed to encourage the art interests of inner city youth, inspired his love of painting. He earned his bachelor of fine arts degree in 1984 from New York’s School of Visual Arts where he studied on a full scholarship.

Mak’s richly colored paintings have illustrated the covers of numerous magazines and books including his first offering as both author and illustrator, My Chinatown: One Year in Poems, about a little boy growing up in Chinatown.

For his award-winning illustrations Mak has received the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Book Award for best children’s picture book, the National Parenting Publications Gold Medal, and the Stevan Dohanos Award and both gold and silver Medals from the Society of Illustrators. In addition to My Chinatown, books for which he won acclaim include The Dragon Prince by Laurence Yep, The Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughrean, The Year of the Panda by Miriam Schlein, and The Moon of the Monarch Butterflies by Jean Craighead George.

Mak is a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology. He is currently working on a series of figurative and still-life paintings, using the medium of egg tempera, a process that uses egg yolk to bind pigments. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his family.

Mak was commissioned by the U.S. Postal Service to design the 12-year stamp series Celebrating Lunar New Year that began in 2008 and continued through 2019. His most recent stamp designs include Bruce Lee (2026), as well as portraits of John Adams and Esther De Berdt Reed for the 2026 Figures of the American Revolution stamp pane.

A native of New Haven, Connecticut, Tim O’Brien earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Paier College of Art in Hamden, Connecticut, in 1987. He then embarked on a career in illustration and, today, creates intricately detailed illustrations and portraits from his Brooklyn, New York, studio.

O’Brien’s art has appeared numerous times on the cover of TIME and has been featured in Esquire, GQ, Der Spiegel, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, and Playboy. Other clients include advertising agencies and book publishers, such as HarperCollins, Penguin, Scholastic, and Simon & Schuster.

The 2009 winner of the prestigious Hamilton King Award from the Society of Illustrators, which O’Brien currently serves as president, his work has also been recognized by Communication Arts, Graphis, Print, American Illustration, and the Society of Publication Designers. In 2003, O’Brien, an adjunct professor at Pratt Institute, received an honorary doctorate from Lyme Academy of Fine Art.

Numerous speaking engagements include appearances at the United Nations, the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Society of Illustrators, Syracuse University, the School of Visual Arts, Pratt Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, California College of the Arts, Western Connecticut State University, and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

O’Brien, a former boxer whose new passion is running marathons, lives in the historic Flatbush section of Brooklyn with his wife, Elizabeth Parisi, and son.

O’Brien’s latest projects for the Postal Service include portraits of Cornplanter, Elizabeth Freeman, John Jay, and George Washington for the 2026 Figures of the American Revolution stamp pane. Other stamps include Moss Hart (2004), Hattie McDaniel (2006), Judy Garland (2006), Danny Thomas (2012), Shirley Temple (2016), Father Theodore Hesburgh (2017), and August Wilson (2021).

With work spanning major film projects and the world of fine arts, Puerto Rican artist Karla Ortiz has earned international recognition and numerous awards for her exceptional design sense, realism, and gift for character-driven storytelling.

Ortiz has contributed to a range of high-profile projects, including Jurassic World, World of Warcraft, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Her work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe includes Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Infinity Wars, Loki Seasons 1 and 2, Eternals, and most notably her design of Doctor Strange for Doctor Strange.

Her figurative art has been featured in notable galleries such as Spoke Art and Hashimoto Contemporary in San Francisco; Nucleus Gallery, Thinkspace, and Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Los Angeles; and Galerie Arludik in Paris.

Ortiz currently lives in San Francisco with her cat, Bady. Her first stamp project was a portrait of Nathanael Greene for the 2026 Figures of the American Revolution stamp pane.

Born and raised in suburban North Arlington, New Jersey, Roberto Parada attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Upon his 1991 graduation, he began to accept illustration commissions from high-profile magazines.

Parada soon developed his distinctive style — undeniably modern but grounded in painterly techniques of the old masters, Degas and Rembrandt in particular, as well as modern masters such as Andrew Wyeth. Parada works mainly in oils using methods that would be familiar to those predecessors. He stretches his own canvases with tacks, uses an old-school crank easel, and holds his paints on a wooden palette. He then sends clients digital photographs of his paintings as they dry, enabling quick turnaround on tight editorial deadlines. He favors nontoxic art supplies and advocates for their use.

Parada is particularly known for distinctive editorial portraits that offer his satirical spin on people and events in popular culture. Although akin to editorial cartoons, these works are rendered realistically in a fresh, modern style. He has depicted presidents, actors, athletes, and business leaders with insight and, when the occasion calls for it, great wit. One of his most famous works is a naturalistic imagining of Homer Simpson, commissioned for an Esquire magazine article about how television’s cartoon families often reflect society more honestly than flesh-and-blood sitcoms.

Roberto Parada’s editorial illustrations have appeared in Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated, and numerous other publications. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

His first stamp projects were portraits of Alexander Hamilton and Paul Revere for the 2026 Figures of the American Revolution stamp pane.

Dale Stephanos has been a full-time professional illustrator for more than 30 years. His client list is extensive and includes magazines such as Rolling Stone, TIME, and Sports Illustrated; newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the Village Voice; the U.S. Open; and many others.

Stephanos’s work has been featured in numerous exhibits, and in 2017 he opened his own gallery in Boston. He has been honored by the Society of Illustrators, Illustrators West, American Illustration, Communication Arts, and Lürzer's Archive’s 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide 2016.

When he’s not working on illustration assignments for magazines or painting portraits for private commissions, Stephanos teaches at both Suffolk University in Boston and Lyme Academy College of Fine Art in Connecticut.

Raised in the Boston area, he now resides in the wilds of southeastern Massachusetts with his family and a cat with no name.

In 2025 Stephanos created the artwork for the Betty White and William F. Buckley, Jr., stamps, fulfilling a lifelong dream of a U.S. postage stamp commission. His most recent projects include portraits of Patrick Henry and Marquis de Lafayette for the 2026 Figures of the American Revolution stamp pane.