Barry Kooser is a Denver-based artist and Illustration professor. The Colorado native has been passionate about art his entire life, giving credit to his family and high school teacher for influencing him from the start. His journey began with an internship at Walt Disney Feature Animation as a junior in college while attending the Kansas City Art Institute. After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Illustration, the illustrator returned to Disney in 1992 as a full-time in-between clean-up artist on a Roger Rabbit short (Trail Mix-Up -1993).In 1993, Kooser was promoted to Background Artist (which is responsible for painting the stylized environments). After leaving Disney in 2003, he started Kooser Studios, selling traditional paintings and prints in numerous fine art galleries throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Kooser has worked on several animated films during his career such as The Lion King, Pocahontas, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, Princess and the Frog, and Brother Bear.
Course Credentialing
IL 1200 – Freshman Drawing Portfolio Review for Illustrators, IL 1225 – Fundamentals of Illustration, IL 1510 – Perspective, IL 2560 – Still Life Painting, IL 2571 – Digital Still Life Painting, IL 3000 – Illustration Junior Portfolio Review, IL 3580 – Landscape Painting, IL 3705 – Elements of Concept Art I: Environments (formerly IL 4600 – People, Places + Things: Elements of Concept Art I), IL 3850 – Digital Illustration I, IL 4551 – Digital Illustration II, IL 4620 – People, Places + Things: Elements of Concept Art II, IL 4900 – Illustration Graduation Portfolio I, IL 4995 – Illustration Graduation Portfolio II.
