Descended from Irish immigrants on his father’s side and Dutch farmers on his mother’s, he was born in Waverly, a small town by the bend of a river in north-central Missouri.

Riley was a self-taught drummer, and gained some success touring with Eddie Lain and His Orchestra. But art turned out to be his true career and he pursued it to the Kansas City Art Institute, where he studied drawing with Thomas Hart Benton for a year, developing his skill in interlocking shapes and rhythmic patterns. He was also influenced by teacher Harvey Dunn, who studied with Howard Pyle.

World War II found Coast Guard Specialist Second Class Kenneth Riley on duty as one of the conflict’s most honored combat artists. Following the war, Riley found fame as an illustrator, starting with The Saturday Evening Post and later working with Life and National Geographic. After he was chosen to paint Teton and Yellowstone National Parks as part of the Society of Illustrators’ Artists in the Parks program and was invited to teach at Brigham Young University in Utah, Riley decided to move West to pursue a fine art career.