Robert Hunt (born 1952) is an American illustrator and painter. His works have been commissioned by a variety of clients, including Bank of America, CBS Records, Criterion Collection, Dreamworks, Disney, Federal Express, MGM, The New Republic, Paramount, Random House, and Rolling Stone, among others. Early life and education Robert Hunt was born in 1952 in Berkeley, California, and attended High School at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California. Growing up, Hunt frequently visited his grandfather, who, after a stroke, was able to use only one arm. During visits, he often emphasized the importance of appreciating the ability to do things with one's hands. Hunt found early inspiration growing up in the late 1960s, including films by Stanley Kubrick and David Lean. Hunt attended UC Davis, where he initially sought a degree in fine art and film making. With the encouragement of UC Davis professor Wayne Thiebaud, he later switched his undergraduate major to art history. After graduating from UC Davis with a degree in art history in 1976, Hunt briefly taught mathematics at Esparto Middle School in Esparto, California. In 1978, Hunt went on to attend The Academy of Art in San Francisco where he was one of two students in the graduate illustration program. The other student was Kazuhiko Sano, who would go on to illustrate the movie poster for Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The director of the illustration program at the Academy of Art during Hunt's enrollment was Barbara Bradley, one of the first women to pursue and succeed in commercial illustration. Hunt credits her with teaching him to turn off his ego while drawing. Hunt graduated with an MFA from the Academy of Art in 1980. Illustration career Although the majority of work in illustration came from magazines and book publishers based in New York City in the early 1980s, delivering art from Hunt's home in San Francisco became a viable option in 1980. David Grove had forged a successful career in illustration from the West Coast and Hunt, along with Sano decided that they could as well. Hunt's first published work appeared in 1980 for Listen magazine. His first appearance in the Society of Illustrators Annual came in 1983, with a piece titled Hidden Victims for Listen magazine. His first book cover assignment was with Bantam Books in 1984, under the art direction of Jerry Counihan, for the book The