Dean Wilhite

Dean Wilhite was born in Olton, Texas. He works in acrylics and watercolors. Light and shadow are Wilhite’s great love. Getting the shadow detail right is the key to a successful painting. And the perfect highlight can be magic.

Wilhite studied graphic design at OSU Okmulgee. He has worked as a graphic designer in studios and ad agencies, doing photo retouching, illustration, production art and logo design. Wilhite has been published in national design journals and books, and worked across a wide range of design disciplines. 

From childhood to life as an adult, he has looked for images that makes him pause and reflect on events from his life. A shadow that crossed the old farm road he traveled down on his¬ granddad’s farm, or the window shade on the house next door casting its long afternoon shadow on the siding boards, reaching the viewer with his memories and taking them on a journey back in time to their own is the goal.

The illustrative work Wilhite produces as the senior art director at Ackerman McQueen Advertising Agency for the award winning BancFirst television campaign, featuring small towns in Oklahoma, are examples of the bold color palette that is ever present in his work.