Kadir Nelson is a Los Angeles-based award-winning author and illustrator. Plus, he is an incredibly talented painter, best known for his paintings that got featured on the album covers of Michael Jackson and Drake and on the front cover of The New Yorker magazine.
Nelson authored and illustrated more than 30 picture books, where his work focused on African-American culture and history.
Besides winning several prestigious awards as an author and illustrator, he also got much-deserved fame and recognition for his paintings.
On May 15, 1974, Kadir Nelson was born in Washington DC but spent his childhood and adult years in New Jersey (Atlantic City) and California (San Diego).
Since his childhood, he spent most of his time drawing and painting. Seeing his passion for art and painting, his uncle (who was also a high school art teacher) taught him essential art principles and techniques. They showed him how to paint better with oils and honed his skill.
He continued painting and developed an impressive portfolio, which earned him a scholarship at Brooklyn’s famed Pratt Institute. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts and graduated with flying colors in 1996.
His high-scoring degree and portfolio earned him a call from DreamWorks Pictures to create artwork for Hollywood’s legendary director Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated movie, Amistad, in 1997. He worked as a virtual development artist and carried on with his other painting projects.
From there on, it only got better for him and his career.
From his mid-twenties till today, Nelson’s painting and animation work has always been respected and stayed in high demand.
Nelson drew a series of paintings of the Negro Baseball Leagues scenes featured on the Leading Off pages of the Sports Illustrated magazine in August 1999.
After Amistad, Nelson did another project with DreamWorks Pictures in worked in the animation development for the movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.
He also had the honor of designing United States Postal Service’s commemorative postage stamps that featured African-American novelist Richard Wright, African-American Basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain, and Baseball star Joe Dimaggio.
However, Sony Music again contacted Nelson to resume the portrait work for the posthumously released album named Michael. As expected, Nelson did his magic and designed the artwork.
The portrait was then made into a giant 29,070 square-foot poster erected at the Rectory Farm in Middlesex, England. The poster was featured in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest poster in 2010.
Then in 2013, Nelson was approached by Drake to design two covers for his album Nothing Was The Same. The album was a huge hit, and Nelson’s artwork was highly applauded.
Moreover, in 2013, he was commissioned to paint Nelson Mandela’s portrait as his first cover for the New Yorker magazine.
These were followed by the following covers of the New Yorker magazine:
Credit: The New Yorker
Until today, Nelson’s artwork has been highly revered and in-demand throughout his career. Celebrities like Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy, Shaquille O’Neal, and Queen Latifah have purchased his paintings.
He has had exhibitions in museums and galleries all around the United States and outside the country.
One of his most notable portraits was Henrietta Lacks’ (an influential African-American woman in medical research for cancer).
HBO commissioned Lacks’ portrait project and jointly acquired by The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Besides the above, Nelson’s paintings are in the permanent collections of several notable institutions, including:
While working on Steven Spielberg’s project, Amistad, producer, actress, and choreographer Debbie Allen asked Kadir Nelson to illustrate her newly written children’s book. He started working on the project, and in 1999 Nelson’s illustrations were published in Debbie’s super-hit book Brothers Of The Knight.
As for writing his first-ever book, Nelson’s Negro Baseball League paintings led him to write and illustrate a book celebrating Baseball’s black history. The book was titled We Are The Ship: The Story Of Negro Leagues Baseball, and it got published in 2008.
It took him seven years to complete his first authored book, and it was worth the wait. The book was critically acclaimed and bagged several awards, including a Sibert Medal, Illustrator Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Author Award.
Moreover, the book was also released in an audio version by Brilliance Audio in 2009. And, the particular book had to be narrated by someone special. So they hired famed actor Dion Graham to do the job.
Overall, Nelson illustrated more than 30 books, and some of them were written by recognizable names like Will Smith and Spike Lee.
Whether it was painting, animating, illustrating, or writing, Nelson put his heart and soul into his work, and it worked incredibly well for him.
He received many major awards and medals and worked for top clients from different industries.
Here is a list of his awards:
2004 – Coretta Scott King Illustration Award for Ellington Was Not A Street
2007 – Caldecott Honor for Illustrations in Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People To Freedom
2008 – Caldecott Honor for Henry’s Freedom Box
2009 – Coretta Scott King Author Award for We Are The Ship
2009 – Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for We Are The Ship
2012 – Coretta Scott King Award For Writing and Illustrating Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans
2014 – Coretta Scott King Award for his book Nelson Mandela
2020 – Coretta Scott King Award for his illustrations in The Undefeated
2020 – Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in The Undefeated
Besides the above, he won New York Times Best Illustrated Book Awards, several NAACP Image Awards, and an Olympic Art Bronze medal.
His distinguished list of clients includes:
He currently resides in Los Angeles, California, and exhibits his artwork in galleries and museums nationwide and abroad.
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