William Crook Jr. is a local artist who has been drawing public buildings, private homes, street scenes, landscapes, and advertisements since 1973. He was born on February 1, 1949 in Springfield, Illinois. He graduated from Springfield High School in 1967 and began attending the engineering school at the University of Illinois, but dropped out during his second year. Crook spent a few idle months on the east coast before returning to Champaign and re-enrolling as a graphic design major, but soon after received a draft induction notice for the Vietnam War. He applied to be a conscientious objector with support from his church, and relocated to Portland, Maine to do alternative service at an alternative school there. The school lacked effective management and after six months there Crook drove to Mexico, where he lived for a few months. His interest in art grew greatly during this period and he began drawing with pen and ink.

Crook’s time in Mexico ended when he contracted hepatitis; his parents flew him home from Oklahoma, and he spent a week in a hospital in Springfield. Once his condition stabilized, Crook returned briefly to Maine before moving to Wisconsin for a year, after which he returned to Springfield in 1973.

In Springfield, Crook painted signs and drew posters for a number of businesses in town, including the Spoon River Co-op, Rudolph’s Bean, and King Harvest Food Co-op. Interested in political and social satire comics, Crook made a couple attempts at publishing comics before giving cartoonist work up as too unprofitable. Crook attended a class on printmaking at Sangamon State University in the late 70s, after which he properly enrolled as an art student, graduating with a B.A. in Creative Arts in 1981. During his time as a student at SSU Crook learned the craft of photoengraving, which he used to produce art prints to sell.

Crook began selling commissioned prints of local buildings in the mid to late 70s, with early clients including the First National Bank and the Illinois Times newspaper. He enrolled in a graduate program for printmaking at Illinois State University, but felt unprepared for the technical skills required in the program and changed his emphasis to painting, graduating with an M.S. in 1986. He then taught art at the Jacksonville Correctional Center for eleven years, followed by positions with Lincoln Land Community College and in Taylorville, Beardstown, and Jacksonville.

Crook married Jane Lerner in 1975, and they had their first child a year later and second in 1978. The couple divorced in 1979.