Nicholas Bly Pope

Bly Pope serves as Adjunct Professor at Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) and University of Minnesota. At MCAD, he teaches Foundation: 2D and The Interactive Visual Novel after ten years of instruction. At University of Minnesota, he has taught Drawing, Graphic Novel Illustration, and Artistic Interpretation from Vintage Cinema for over fourteen years.

His academic credentials include:

• Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from University of Minnesota
• Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Stanford University

Pope specializes in photorealism with emphasis on portrait drawing, treating ordinary subjects as worthy of "scrutiny, reverence, and gratitude." His practice spans narrative figure drawings, nature studies, photorealistic paintings, and digital works. He employs meticulous pencil techniques involving layered value spectrums and precision erasing to achieve lifelike detail, viewing portraiture as "emotional release, exploration, and remembrance" of the human condition.

Collaborating with twin brother Rowan Pope as the "Pope Brothers," they create commissioned works sold to institutions including Minneapolis Institute of Art (which acquired his portrait "Maryanna" for permanent collection) and Cafesjian Museum of Fine Art. Their studio practice emphasizes "presenting the mundane as miraculous" through photorealistic traditions.