Chuck Pyle
Director of Illustration

Mr. Pyle was trained as an illustrator at the Academy, and comes from an impressive freelance career. He is an internationally sought-after artist, working with clients from New York to Tokyo.

His past clients have included Microsoft, Pacific Bell, Safeway, Avis, Ask Jeeves, Sun Microsystems, Reader’s Digest, the New York Times, The Boston Globe, Atlantic Monthly, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, McCall’s, Penguin, Bantam, Book of the Month Club, Houghton Mifflin, Seattle Opera, Nisshin Foods, and the Chicago Museum of Science and Technology.

His work has been widely exhibited, and is part of many permanent collections.

Lisa Berrett
Assistant Director Of Illustration

Lisa earned her BFA in Illustration at the Academy of Art University in 1986 and has worked in the field of freelance illustration for the past 19 years. She has illustrated for products ranging from children's books and magazines, games, CD-ROM packaging, advertising, food label art, product design, and educational material for kids. Lisa returned to AAU in 2001 to instruct future illustrators on the principles of clothed figure drawing.

Robert Revels
Midpoint Evaluation Coordinator

Robert has worked as a professional artist since 1994. He has worked on a variety of projects ranging from children's stories to large concert backdrops for artists such as Carlos Santana and U2. Since graduating from the Academy, he has garnered numerous awards. He is the founder of the greeting card company, Rockfish Designs.

Robert has returned to teach at his alma mater to give back to the next generation of artists.

Gordon Silveria
Full-Time Faculty

Gordon Silveria is a San Francisco native. He earned his BFA in Illustration from the Academy of Art University in 1991. He began teaching for the Academy 12 years ago, and created the Academy's first digital art classes for illustrators. He went on to become the Illustration Department Director, a position he held for 7 years. During his tenure, the Illustration department became "The number two illustration department in the United States," according to the New York Society of Illustrators' top ten list.

He currently is on the faculty of the Academy's Illustration department and is the Director of Alumni and Industry Outreach. He illustrated the bestselling childrens book The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns, and has just finished his own book, The Upside Down Book, which should be out soon. He has two dogs, Digby and Rooney.

Craig Marshall
Full-Time Faculty

Craig attended the Academy of Art University in 1971 and received a BFA degree in illustration in 1976. He spent several years as a freelance commercial illustrator before becoming a staff illustrator for a small medical publishing company. In 1986 he was invited to teach head drawing and illustration courses at the Academy of Art Universit,y where he stayed for 11 years while continuing his freelance work. In 1997 he moved to Burbank, CA and taught drawing classes for Walt Disney Feature Animation, Associates in Art, and Woodbury University.

He returned to San Francisco in 1999 and now teaches Heads and Hands for the Academy's School of Illustration and Character Design & Drawing for Cartoons for the School of Animation. His past freelance accounts include Bank of America, Chevron, Del Monte, Fuddrucker's Restaurants, Macy's California, Oracle Corporation, Pacific Gas & Electric, Safeway Stores, The United States Air Force Art Program, and Walt Disney Feature Animation.

Bill Sanchez
Full-Time Faculty

Bill Sanchez was born in 1945 in New York City. He attended the Art Students League from 1963-1965, served in the U.S. Navy from 1965-1969, attended the Academy of Art University from 1969-1970 and 1972-1973, attended the Art Center from 1970-1971. He moved to Madrid, Spain in 1971, and while he was there he began his freelance career.

In 1978, back in the US, he began teaching at the Academy of Art university 1976. He joined Open Studios in 1988.

Stephen Player
Full-Time Faculty

Stephen Player was born in England in 1965. He acquired a first-class honors illustration degree in London in 1985. Since then, Stephen has enjoyed a thriving freelance career. His work has been used in advertising, television, film, promotion, and over one hundred books. These books are mostly in the sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and children's genres, as well as graphic novels. Stephen is a winner of the British Sci-Fi and Fantasy Association Award, received a Substantial Contribution to Children's Literacy Award, and received a Sheffield Children's Book Award. Stephen has been exibited widely across Europe. He has been teaching at the Academy of Art University since 2001.