Leslie Peck

Leslie Anne Peck is a New York–based oil painter with a professional foundation in illustration and portrait-driven storytelling. A native of Buffalo, she moved to New York City to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology, earning a BFA in Fine Art. She expanded her training in Italy, studying at the Scuola di Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence and later apprenticing in Rome with illustrator Alessandro Biffignandi. That combination of design discipline and classical influence still shows in her work through strong drawing, clear focal points, and controlled lighting.

Peck began a freelance career in 1988 and built a decades-long run painting romance cover art for major publishers, including Random House, Penguin Putnam, Avon Books, New American Library, and Pinnacle Publishing. Alongside publishing, she developed a parallel studio practice in oil portraiture, painting commissioned portraits for private clients and institutions. After relocating to Upstate New York, she expanded her subject matter to include farm animals and rural life, applying her portrait skills to animal subjects with the same emphasis on character, structure, and dramatic light and shadow. ×