In the 23 years since then, he met his goal … and more.

His work has appeared in American humor magazines MAD Magazine and Cracked Magazine, as well as The Boston Globe.

Additionally, it’s appeared in “Saturday Night Live,” many children’s books including the “Rube Goldberg” series, and a multitude of advertising campaigns including large brands such as Charmin, Mucinex, Burger King, Canon, General Mills and Hasbro. He’s created illustrations for CD covers and off-Broadway shows.

And he received the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Distinguished Alumni Award for Professional Achievement on Saturday.

Sam Viviano, who worked as art director of MAD Magazine from 1999 to 2017, joked that working with Steckley was “total hell.”

Viviano gave Steckley his first assignment at the magazine and nominated Steckley for the UW-Whitewater award. Viviano presented Steckley the award at a ceremony Saturday.

“When the opportunity came to nominate him for this award, it was a no-brainer, because I didn’t know any other alumni from UW-Whitewater,” he joked. “From my point of view, he was extremely distinguished.”

Viviano met Steckley in 1999, and they became very good friends.

Viviano described him as “a terrific caricaturist.”

“I was very intrigued by his work,” Viviano said. “His work was quirky, whimsical, and it was well-crafted.”

A very busy illustrator

The award-winning fulltime freelance illustrator grew up in Racine and graduated from Park High School in 1991.

He was inducted into the Park High School Hall of Fame in 2014.

Steckley attended UW-Whitewater from 1991-95 and dropped out to work — as artists frequently aren’t asked for a degree. Either they have the talent or they don’t, Steckley said.

But he only had one semester of credits left to earn a bachelor’s degree, and he was the only person in his family who didn’t have one, so he decided to go back to his former university.

Steckley earned a bachelor’s of arts degree in graphic design and a minor in art history through remote independent study in 2018.

“There’s a cemetery in Kenosha that’s a little bit more quiet now, because grandma stopped rolling over in her grave having a grandson who didn’t graduate,” Steckley, 49, joked.

Viviano also noted that no one in the art industry ever asks to see a diploma.

“It’s the work that counts, not the resume,” Viviano said. “But it was his unfinished business. That’s another impressive thing. I think that the university should be proud of the fact that he cared enough to go back 20 some years later and said, ‘I’m going to complete the work.’”

Viviano, who grew up in Detroit, Michigan, but lives in New York City, said he was “very happy” to have the opportunity to come back to the Midwest and be part of the award presentation.

“I watched him grow as an artist, as a businessman and as a person,” Viviano said. “I watched him start to develop skills as an illustrator. He became a very, very, very busy artist, and I got to witness this from the sidelines.”

He has participated in many Comic-Cons.

Steckley has lived in St. Louis and New York City, the latter until last year. He moved back last year to the Racine area, specifically to Mount Pleasant, to be closer to his mother.

“I just got to the point where I don’t need to be in the big city anymore,” he said. “I get work now.”

He added he appreciates the lower cost of living in Wisconsin and increased square footage.

In the last year being back in the Racine area, he’s spent his days getting his feet off the ground and participating in two Racine Theater Guild shows.

“People are supposed to hate where they grew up. That’s why they move away,” Steckley said. “But since I’ve been back, this is great. It’s quiet. I love it.”

Putting his spin on things

Steckley described his work process in simple terms: people call him — and he draws.

“People call me because of the spin I put on things,” he said.

Steckley drew live theme park caricatures for 20 years — so it’s no surprise his favorite thing to draw is caricatures. He worked at theme parks in Minneapolis, St. Louis, Massachusetts and Gurnee, Illinois.

He grew up reading MAD Magazine, so being featured in it was his biggest honor, he said.

While the type of freelance work he does fluctuates, he estimated that about half of his work is advertising, which he said pays the bills, and the other half is books and magazines.

He said it typically takes five months to illustrate a book.

Steckley often adds in gags, or small humorous images within his pictures, such as a fictional dragon’s foot inside a tunnel or a toaster hidden within a city skyline.

He never draws the bottom of a man’s shoe without a hole in it.

“Working on all these things, I give him all the credit in the world,” Viviano said. “I’m very proud of the guy.”