After graduating from a Houston art college in 1992, Charlie had a15-year career as a package designer in a Houston design company. While working on packaging for Minute Maid, Imperial Sugar and Hi-C, Charlie free-lanced as a rock poster artist on the side. After an illness in 2003 left him legally blind in 2007 and corporate downsizing in 2008 left him without a job, Charlie fell back on his love for creating rock posters as a way to earn a living. Now working out of his home studio, Charlie enjoys the time he dedicates to producing posters and exploring other areas of art including painting and print making.

Charlie’s work has been published in the following books:
The Art of Classic Rock , Paul Grushkin author
The Art of Modern Rock, Paul Grushkin author
Swag, Poster Art of the 90’s, Spenser Drate author

SPIN MAGAZINE
October 2008

"When big guns like U2, Metallica, and Red Hot Chili Peppers come to town, Uncle Charile (Charlie Hardwick) gets the call to design one of his horror-movie—and Pop Art—inspired posters. A one time member of the local hardcore legends Dresden 45, Charlie cut his teeth doing artwork for bygone punk clubs the Axiom and Unicorn. He's now working on a book-length collection of his finest posters."


ART REFLECTS ROCK'S EVOLUTION.
by ANDREW DANSBY
NOV. 4th 2009 © Houston Chronicle

A year ago local artist Charlie Hardwick had a show in town, with dozens of the rock concert posters he'd designed over the years. Despite severe vision problems, Hardwick has remained busy in the time since, turning out dozens more, which he'll put on display and sell starting this weekend.

Hardwick, 40, has a foot firmly rooted in tradition with some psychedelic design touches. But he also has an affinity for the modern absurd and the odd, often incorporating clowns, spaceships, aircraft and such for his designs. Last year legendary poster maker Frank Kozic called him “a ‘real' poster artist with deep ties to the community and music.”

So he's made posters for modern bands such as Spoon, some from his youth like the Butthole Surfers and the Pogues, as well as favored classic rock acts such as Roky Erickson and the Who.

According to Hardwick some of his Who designs will be included in Paul Grushkin's The Art of Classic Rock, a lavish coffee table book to be published in the U.S. next year but is available now in the UK.