Illustrator Robert Childress (1915–1983) is known for his work in the classic Dick and Jane

Dick and Jane

Dick and Jane were the main characters in popular basal readers written by William S. Gray and Zerna Sharp and published by Scott Foresman, that were used to teach children to read from the 1930s through to the 1970s in the United States...

 books for children. He used his wife and children as models for some of the characters.

He studied architecture at Clemson University

Clemson University

Clemson University is an American public, coeducational, land-grant, sea-grant, research university located in Clemson, South Carolina, United States....

, graduating in 1936. In the 1940s, he painted ads for clients such as Duncan Hines

Duncan Hines

Duncan Hines was an American pioneer of restaurant ratings for travelers. He is best known today for the brand of food products that bears his name.-History:...

, Campbell Soups, Wonder Bread

Wonder Bread

Wonder Bread is the name of three North American brands of white bread: One produced by George Weston Bakeries in Canada, another by Hostess Brands in the United States, and the third by Grupo Bimbo in Mexico.- United States :...

, Bird's Eye, and GLF (Grange League Federation) which later became Agway. His works graced the covers of the nation's leading periodicals. He was commissioned to paint the portraits of such notables as several Deans at Cornell University, Duncan Hines, and U.S. Justice of the Supreme Court James Byrnes.

In the 1970s, he painted campus scenes of over thirty colleges and universities.