I took esmis’ advice and switched out the problem code
background: url(wp-content/uploads/<?php the_author_meta(‘illustration’); ?>);”> </div>
with
background: url(<?php echo home_url(‘/designerlife/’); ?>wp-content/uploads/<?php the_author_meta(‘illustration’); ?>);”> </div>
But am still getting 404 errors. I’ve tried site_url as well and still no luck.