Favorite Classic Illustrators

[clovis-man]

There was a time, well before I started reading SF, that stories in the many pulp magazines not only displayed compelling cover art for the featured tale, but also included one or more ink (i.e., black & white) illustrations. I would often buy the mag or read the story just because the illustrations intrigued me so much. Do you have some favorite illustrators from the days of yore?

One of my favorites was John Schoenherr, who illustrated the original Analog serialization of Dune. He went on later to do much in the way of nature art, but I found his SF pics to quite captivating. Here is one of Stilgar breaking into an Atreides council:

Another favorite of mine was the well known Kelly Freas.

From way back is Virgil Finlay. He did covers and art for magazines my father read (I've still got most of them). His favored topics seemed to be the stories written by A. (Abraham) Merritt. Everything from The Moon Pool to The Ship of Ishtar. Great stuff

Web links:

http://www.bpib.com/illustra2/schoenherr.html
http://www.kellyfreas.com/frameset_default.htm
http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/finlay.htm

Regards,

Jim

 

[HardScienceFan]

and who says i don't already have a s***load of John's paintings?

i rate john very highly

KF was outrageously commercial sometimes

my faves

the ones he did for Clement's Star Light

 

[BAYLOR]

There was a time, well before I started reading SF, that stories in the many pulp magazines not only displayed compelling cover art for the featured tale, but also included one or more ink (i.e., black & white) illustrations. I would often buy the mag or read the story just because the illustrations intrigued me so much. Do you have some favorite illustrators from the days of yore?

One of my favorites was John Schoenherr, who illustrated the original Analog serialization of Dune. He went on later to do much in the way of nature art, but I found his SF pics to quite captivating. Here is one of Stilgar breaking into an Atreides council:

Another favorite of mine was the well known Kelly Freas.

From way back is Virgil Finlay. He did covers and art for magazines my father read (I've still got most of them). His favored topics seemed to be the stories written by A. (Abraham) Merritt. Everything from The Moon Pool to The Ship of Ishtar. Great stuff

Web links:

http://www.bpib.com/illustra2/schoenherr.html
http://www.kellyfreas.com/frameset_default.htm
http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/finlay.htm

Regards,

Jim

Beautiful covers art.

 

[BigBadBob141]

Hans Bok, I just truly love his style, it's just so unique, there is just no one else like him!

 

[Laura R Hepworth]

Arthur Rackham was another excellent illustrator! I loved the artwork that Tolkien himself did as well. Brian Froud's work is also amazing.

 

[Mike J Nagle]

My favorite was Kelly Freas. Back in the 1960s, when most of the other cover illustrators in SF were going to abstract art for covers, his art was always realistic and very memorable.

In the 1960s and 1970s, honorable mentions for Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo.

 

[CupofJoe]

Pauline Baynes and her work for CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien takes be straight back to childhood.

 

[Toby Frost]

Arthur Rackham was another excellent illustrator! I loved the artwork that Tolkien himself did as well. Brian Froud's work is also amazing.

Definitely. I think Froud owes a lot to Rackham. After Tolkien, I think Alan Lee does a very good job of depicting Middle Earth.

And of course Mervyn Peake, who illustrated his own Gormenghast novels.

I'd also have to mention Chris Foss, whose work was on the covers of a lot of Asimov books when I was young. I love the stripey spaceships. John Blanche and Ian Miller are both very distinctive, but their work isn't quite to my tastes. Does Moebius count?

 

[Laura R Hepworth]

He's a newer illustrator, but Tony DiTerlizzi's work is also fantastic. He admits to being heavily inspired by both Rackham and Froud.