Charles Harrington began his career as an artist in an unusual way. This Quitman, Ark., native has three degrees in architecture, two from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. “I would go across the hall [during my undergraduate classes] and take a course in art, and then I’d go back to my architecture classes,” Harrington said. He practiced architecture for 15 years and during that time he also created architectural illustrations. He explained these as “using the blue prints of a building to create a perspective.” Harrington created numerous illustrations — many of which you’ve driven by and visited. “My first illustration was of the Dillard’s headquarters in Little Rock. I did that in 48 hours,” he said. He created more than 100 renderings for Dillard’s stores across the United States. Harrington later earned a master’s degree in architecture from Oklahoma State University and began his career as an instructor teaching architecture and art classes at the School of Art and Architecture at Louisiana Tech University. He taught for more than two decades and five years ago left academia to become a full-time artist. Harrington has created works in watercolor and is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, an organization that was founded in 1866. However, he uses acrylic almost exclusively now. (Please see the August 2008 issue of AY to read the article in its entirety)