Illustrator and fine artist Alexander Bostic brought his talent and teaching skills to Mississippi State University. With 49 years of experience as an artist, Bostic worked at Kansas City Art Institute, Woodburry University, Pratt Institute and Virginia Commonwealth University. Bostic, after one and half years at MSU, now teaches Drawing I, Advanced Drawing, Illustration and a new course called Scientific Illustration at MSU.
“It’s a course that’s developed to teach students to look at objects and things in the scientific world and render those things to be transferred to print, video or television,” Bostic said. ‘‘Right now, they are getting their eye-hand coordinating skills together as well as rendering skills. They can’t be expressive drawings. They have to be rendered drawing.”
He said students are his favorite part of his job. He teaches by answering any and all of the students’ questions. By watching them closely, he can pinpoint their problem and help them to solve it.
“The only reason I get up and work at a university is students,” Bostic said. ‘‘They’re energetic. They work really hard. In a lot of cases, you don’t have to tell them. They just want to do the work.”
Before coming to MSU, Bostic gained many artistic achievements through his illustrations and figurative painting through a style he called representational painting. In his free time, Bostic works in his studio working in several mediums, including oil paints. Bostic, inspired by the idea of learning something new every day, takes 10 minutes each day to draw.
“If I can draw 10 minutes a day, I’m happy,” he said.
Bostic also handles many different clients, including the United States Navy. He is painting a series of five paintings for the Navy Art Museum that will eventually be displayed in the Smithsonian. His experience in the Navy made him a practical candidate for the job.
Bostic has also worked for NASA. He created a series of educational posters displayed in classrooms for educators to convince students to be involved in math and science. His experience with this project led him all over the world to education fairs where he signed his posters.
The United States Air Force Program appointed Bostic as their Co-Southeast regional director of the Air Force Art Program. The program has been in existence for over 75 years. Bostic and his peers travel with the Air Force around the United States to create paintings for the Air Force art collection. The paintings are displayed along the walls of the Pentagon and different air stations around the world.
Among his awards, Bostic has received the Gold and Silver medal from the Society of Illustrators in Los Angeles, Calif. The Missouri Art Commissions gave Bostic a grant so he could continue to do research work on figurative works of inner city girls.
Bostic said he got to where he is today because of his tenacious outlook on life.
 ”I try my best to believe that if I try my best at something, I’ll succeed,” he said. ‘‘If I don’t know something, I’ll figure it out.”
To art students out there who fear an unstable market, Bostic said create your own work.
“If you can write a good proposal, you can create your own work. But you got to have ideas,” he said.
Bostic also gave advice to aspiring artists.
“Hardwork never kills you. To be successful is just to work hard at it. If you have any doubt, just wake up and start working. Start making marks. Things will happen for you,” he said. ‘‘Explore. Don’t look in your own backyard. Your classmate is not your competition. The world is.”