The Story Behind TIME’s 2020 Person of the Year Covers
To illustrate the broad range of people featured on the 2020 Person of the Year covers, we commissioned artists and photographers with a variety of backgrounds and styles—from digital art to oil painting; portraitists to a high school freshman.
The image of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the 2020 Person of the Year was painted by Chicago-based artist Jason Seiler.
Seiler, who studied fine art illustration at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and worked as a character designer for movie director Tim Burton, captured the realistic portrait of the incoming pair by painting directly on a 27-inch LCD display.
“My process with the painting phase was all about pulling the light out from the darkness,” said Seiler, who also painted TIME’s 2013 Person of the Year, Pope Francis. “My approach was very similar to how I would paint traditionally with oils, even