Sci-Fi Artists and illustrators list, freelance artists for hire, Sci-Fi Art

Sci-Fi Artists and illustrators

Australia:

Mark Salwowski (1953- ) is a freelance Sci-Fi and Fantasy illustrator who specializes in airbrush work for nearly thirty years. Although he also works digitally, airbrush is his favorite medium. His artwork is meticulously rendered, vividly colored, and a touch surreal at times. On his website you can buy original art, second-rights use, wallpapers, and prints.

Greg Bridges is an Australian illustrator who creates artwork for magazines, book covers, and motion pictures around the world. He specializes in fantasy, futuristic, and surreal artwork. Bridges uses traditional and digital art tools in his production which now spans over 30 years.

Wayne Haag is a Sci-Fi artist from Sydney, Australia. Most of his work has been predominantly for the film industry. He was a matte painter on The Fifth Element, Lord of the Rings, and a concept artist on Superman Returns, and The Wolverine. Recently painting interiors for Interzone magazine and painting his own scifi work.

Patrick J. Jones is an art teacher, author, and an artist who has produced artwork for many major SF and Fantasy publishers. He also did concept work for movies like Peter Pan and The Great Raid. He lives in Brisbane, Australia. Originals, prints, art books, and videos are available on his website.

Europe:

Tim White (1952- ) decided to be an artist before the age of five, and is now one of the most influential SF illustrators in Britain. Since 1974 he has illustrated the covers of hundreds of books on themes of science fiction and fantasy by many well known authors. He also produced artwork for computer games, record album covers, magazines, postcards, trading cards, and even jigsaw puzzles. His artwork is colorful, imaginative, and finely rendered with great attention to detail. He painted many memorable alien landscapes and spaceships.

Peter Andrew Jones (1951- ) is a British artist and SF/Fantasy illustrator well known for his individual style and book cover art from the 1970s and 1980s. His artwork is smoothly painted with excellent composition and effective use of dynamic motion. Many of his early paintings are simply signed PAJ. Jones enjoys ballet, theatre, Ritmeester half corona cigars and alien beings. Prints, image rights, and art books are available on his website.

Peter Elson (1947-1998) was an English science fiction illustrator whose work appeared on the covers of numerous paperback novels in the 1970s and 1980s. He started specializing in this field after winning a Science Fiction Monthly art competition in 1975. He is particularly known for detailed and colorful spacecraft illustrations.

Dawid Michalczyk is a freelance illustrator and concept artist who creates sci-fi, space art, and surreal images. He specializes in doing artwork for video games and book covers. He worked on various video games, including Unreal 2, Dungeons & Dragons Online, and The Longest Journey. On his website he regularly posts finished artwork, sketches, and articles.

Vicente Segrelles (1940- ) is a Spanish illustrator known for The Mercenary graphic novel series that was mostly painted in oils and has been published in 14 countries. He has been painting illustrations since the 1960s - mostly for the SF and Fantasy market but he also did western, horror, war, children's illustrations, and detective stories. Since 1998 he has been painting digitally as well. His site contains free advice and hints on painting, and image rights for sale.

Jim Burns (1948- ) is a British illustrator well known for his distinct and imaginative style that can include surreal designs. He has won many awards and is probably the most well known SF artist in the UK today. Most of his work has been done for the publishing industry, but he also did pre-production work for film. Burns worked with Ridley Scott on the Blade Runner movie.

Fred Gambino (1956- ) has been working in the science fiction genre since the early 1980s, and started using computers in his work already in the mid 1990s. Besides illustration work he also creates concept and production art for the film and TV industry. See quotes.

John Harris (1948- ) is a British illustrator and artist known for his loose painting style and depictions of spaceships, massive scale environments, and gigantic structures full of mood and atmosphere. His pastel sketches are also highly valued by the fans. Besides producing artwork for the SF market, Harris also painted images for NASA, Shell, and Philips Electronics. Originals and reproductions are available on his website. See quotes.

Chris Moore (1947- ) is among the most well known UK artists working in the SF field. His work is characterised by precise rendering, attention to detail, and strong composition. He has done covers for many major science fiction writers and worked with most publishers in the UK and USA. Moore has also produced many covers for the Omni magazine, as well as Analog and Asimov's. Prints available for sale. See quotes.

Paul Youll (1965- ) is the twin brother of Stephen Youll who is also a British book cover illustrator mostly known for his science fiction and fantasy work. Paul produced cover art for many of the best-selling authors (Isaac Asimov, Robert Silverberg, Connie Willis, Ian McDonald, Charles Sheffiled and others) and for all the major publishers on both sides of the Atlantic. He lives in a little village north of England with his wife and their two cats, Fluffy and Smidgen.

Chris Foss (1946- ) was especially popular in the 70s and 80s for his Sci-Fi book covers, but he also worked on concepts and visualizations for movie projects. Foss is best known for his colorful spaceships, enormous and bulky robots, and vast constructions. He is considered the originator of the huge, riveted spaceship. This UK illustrator inspired a whole generation of SF artists. See quotes.

Gary Tonge is a UK artist and illustrator that specializes in space and science fiction art and concept design for games.

Les Edwards (1949- ) is a British illustrator for over 40 years who is known for his book- jacket art. He has worked in many fields and areas but especially in the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres. He also painted movie posters for films, including John Carpenter's The Thing and Clive Barker's Nightbreed. On his website you will find image rights and original art for sale.

Melvyn Grant (1944- ) has been painting illustrations for publishers in the UK, Europe and the USA since the 1970s. His artwork can be found on the covers of Fantasy, SF, Horror, Romance, and Children's books. He is living and working on the coast in the Southeast of England. Prints and wallpapers are available on his website. See quotes.

Franco Brambilla is an Italian illustrator devoted to science fiction. Since 1999 he has been illustrating the Urania and Urania Mondadori book collection. In 2007 he started Invading the Vintage art project.

Bruce Pennington (1944- ) is probably best known for his unique style and book covers from the 1960s and 1970s. His covers for the New English Library and Corgi Books in the 1960s established him as a cult figure among Sci-Fi fans. He did covers for many well known writers like Isaac Asimov, A.E van Vogt, Clark Ashton Smith and Robert A. Heinlein. Original sketches, drawings and paintings are availabel on his site. See quotes.

Zoltan Boros and Gabor Szikszai (1965- ) (1965- ) is a Hungarian duo that has been producing SF and Fantasy illustration since the late 1980s. Their work is the synthesis of two individual visions. They use both traditional and digital mediums.

Pascal Blanche is a French 3D artist, art director and freelancer. His career started in 1993 and is based in the video games industry where he contributed to many games including Myst IV revelation, and Naruto: rise of a ninja. Pascal specializes in creating artwork with alien characters using unusual color palette. Instructional DVD for sale is available on his website.

Philippe Bouchet (1956- ) also known as Manchu, is a French illustrator who started painting SF artwork in 1984. Manchu is also producing astronomical illustration for magazines and space agencies. On his blog he regularly posts work-in-progress shots, color comps, recently finished artwork, and sketches done in markers and inks.

Marek Okon is a Polish freelance concept artist and illustrator. His main focus is on creating concept art and illustration for promotion and advertising of video games. His client list also includes movie studios like Warner Bros, Marvel, DC, Thunder Road Pictures and 20th Century Fox.

Dominic Harman is a book and CD cover illustrator who works in the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror genres. He created artwork for many acclaimed authors such as Clive Barker, Stephen King, Arthur C. Clarke and others. He lives in the UK.

Arthur Haas (1969- ) is a freelance artist from the Netherlands who specializes in sci-fi concept art, environment design and illustration. He uses traditional and digital media for his artwork: photoshop, gouache, oils and acrylics. His paintings are rich in imaginative landscapes that are very organic and alien looking. Haas also paints traditional landscapes which he exhibits online and in galleries. On his website you will find posters and original paintings and drawings for sale. He resides in Amsterdam.

North America:

Richard Hescox is a SF/Fantasy illustrator and fine art artist particularly fond of and influenced by victorian fantasy paintings. He has created motion picture production designs, film advertising, computer game design, and well over 100 book covers for the works of such authors as Edgar Rice Burruoghs, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Roger Zelazny. He lives in Nevada. See quotes.

Barclay Shaw (1949- ) - his work covers a broad range of subject matter and use of materials, ranging from traditional to digital arts and sculpture, and is notable for its surrealistic overtones, and diverse and colorful style.

Don Maitz is a multi-award winning American science fiction, fantasy, and commercial artist. He paints in oils and acrylics in a distinct style that is rich in color and often with a touch of sly humor. He created the Captain Morgan Spiced Rum pirate character - his most widely known creation. Among his clients are: The National Geographic Society, Bantam Doubleday Dell, Warner books, Random House Publishing, and Penguin USA. He resides in Florida.

Stephen Hickman has painted over 350 science fiction and fantasy book covers since 1976. He works in two distinct styles of expression. His sci-fi style is smooth, clean, and with bright colors. His fantasy style is more painterly, graceful and sensuous - inspired by Golden Age illustrators, Pre-Raphaelites and Art Nouveau. He favors oils, but has used acrylics and watercolors in the past. Hickman's work has earned him critical acclaim, including a Hugo Award and 5 Chesley Awards.

Matt Stawicki is an American artist who has created many images for a wide range of products and clients including video game covers, collectible card images, book covers, collectors plates and fantasy pocket knives.

Stephen Youll is a British illustrator who lives in New Jersey and is the twin brother of Paul Youll. He painted illustrations for almost all major SF publishers: Tor, Bantam, Avon Books, DAW, Warner, Ballantine, Penguin, and DC Comics. One of his assignments was to repackage Isaac Asimov's entire Foundation series, the Robot series and the Empire novels. He paints in acrylics and oils but also works digitally.

Michael Whelan (1950- ) is a highly influential, multi-award winning American illustrator. Known for producing evocative, inventive, and precisely painted artwork. For over 30 years Whelan worked as an illustrator specializing in science fiction and fantasy cover art. He now focuses primarily on personal fine art. Art books, prints, and original art is available on his website. See quotes.

Donato Giancola (1967- ) is an award winning American artist who specializes in science fiction and fantasy illustration. Giancola describes himself as a "classical-abstract-realist". He paints in a style inspired by figurative realism of the European masters like Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Ribera, Diego Velázquez, Valentine de Bologne and others. Giancola works in oils and his paintings can vary greatly in size. Besides producing artwork for the commercial market he also accepts private commissions and paints portraits. On his website you will find instructional DVDs, prints, original paintings and drawings for sale.

Romas Kukalis - signs only with his first name and is best known for his work as a cover artist for works of speculative fiction, including the Animorphs Chronicles.

Bob Eggleton (1960- ) has been painting illustrations for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror book covers since 1984. He works in acrylics, oils, and frequently employs the use of an airbrush. Bob is especially fond of painting monsters, including the Japanese Godzilla, and often posts original artwork for sale on his blog. See quotes.

Frank Kelly Freas (1922-2005) was called the "Dean of Science Fiction Artists" and recognized as one of the most prolific and popular SF artist worldwide - and the first artist to win ten Hugo Awards. He was the top artist at Analog and painted most of the magazine's covers from mid 1960s to 1971. Freas was also a NASA artist and produced posters for the agency. He was allergic to oils and painted primarily in acrylics. See quotes.

John Berkey (1932-2008) was an influential and innovative Sci-Fi artist, perhaps best known for his unique painterly style and majestic spaceships of enormous scale soaring through outer space. Besides painting book and magazine covers Berkey produced illustration for calendars, movie posters, advertising, stamps, and did personal works. Original paintings, licensing, and sketches for sale.

Vincent Di Fate (1945- ) has been producing Sci-Fi paintings for paperback covers, dust jackets, magazines, gallery and museum exhibitions. Influenced by pulp magazines and cinema, Di Fate has produced some 3,500 illustrations and covers since the mid-1960s. He is also the author of Infinite Worlds art book - a comprehensive collection of science fiction art. See quotes.

Marc Gabbana - a freelance Illustrator and a concept artist from San Francisco. Worked on the Matrix sequels, the Star Wars prequels and many other movies.

David B. Mattingly - David has produced over 500 covers for most major publishers of science fiction and fantasy. After 20 years of traditional painting most of his work today combines digital painting, and elements created in 3D programs. He lives in New Jersey.

Stephan Martiniere (1962- ) a freelance illustrator and concept artist who worked on feature films (Star Wars 2, Star Trek, Tron Legacy and others), video games, animations, and has done over 100 book covers. He resides in Texas.

Alan Gutierrez (1958- ) has been producing illustrations since the early 1980s for book covers, game trading cards, Anime fanart, and covers for Popular Mechanics. He lives in Arizona. See quotes.

Scott Grimando - specializes in illustration, conceptual imaging, and graphic design. Since 1994 Grimando has been creating fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and advertising illustrations. He also offers photography and photo retouching services.

Dave Seeley - a Boston based illustrator whose work can be seen in games, movies, and on book and magazine covers. His approach is to paint over a photo-collage printed out on archival media. Originals and prints for sale.

John Zeleznik - has produced paintings for book covers and illustrations for many role-playing games including Shadowrun, Rifts, and GURPS. He lives in California.

Alan Pollack (1964- ) a Sci-Fi and Fantasy illustrator who has painted artwork for many RPG companies, including Wizards of the Coast and T.S.R, and has produced covers for most of the leading book publishers in USA. Prints and card set proofs for sale.

Kevin Ward is an artist from Nashville, Tennessee, who specializes in sci-fi art, but also does fantasy and horror illustration. He paints in acrylics and uses Second Life as a 3D sketching tool for design ideas.

John Schoenherr (1935-2010) was among the best SF magazine illustrators of the 1960s in the USA. Known for strong composition and believable alien creature designs, and for his illustrations of the Dune World stories written by Frank Herbert that first appeared in Analog and later would be known as the Dune novel. His son, Ian Schoenherr, writes an interesting blog devoted to his father's life and work. See quotes.

Paul Lehr (1930-1998) dominated the science fiction paperbacks from the mid-1960s through the early 1970s. His work is often brilliantly colored, surreal, with otherworldly feel and mood. He was the winner of the 1980 Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist. Lehr also did illustration work for magazines like Time, Life, Business Week, Fortune, Playboy, The Reader's Digest, and was active until his death in 1998. See quotes.

James Beveridge - a freelance illustrator and an artist with experience in video games industry, publishing, comics, and mural painting. He has been producing artwork professionally since 1972, and lives in Alberta, Canada. Art books for sale.

Paul Alexander (1937- ) is an illustrator well known for his massive spaceships soaring through outer space or earthly skies. He started painting SF illustrations in 1977 after working for architectural firms and advertising agencies. His impressive paintings landed him many assignments from magazines and publishers like Ace, Fawcett, Del Rey, Ballantine, and Baen.

David Schleinkofer (1951- ) has been doing fine art and illustration work since the mid 1970s. He is especially known for his sci-fi book covers done in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His commercial work has been used by advertising agencies, book and magazine publishers, and video game companies. He currently focuses on fine arts and paper back covers. Schleinkofer lives in Pennsylvania.

Darrel K. Sweet (1934- ) started painting SF illustrations in 1975. He brought with him a realistic and tight style, and became very popular with the fans. A prolific artist, Sweet often works on two or three paintings at the same time and has produced over 3000 images. Posters for sale.

James Warhola (1955- ) has illustrated over 300 book covers for many popular writers, including William Gibson's first cyberpunk classic Neuromancer, and Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. He is a nephew of the late pop-art icon Andy Warhol.

Jerome Podwil (1938- ) is an American illustrator known in the SF field for his paperback covers from the mid 1960s to the late 1970s. Some of his more memorable artwork communicates a sense of surreal mystery. He worked for all top paperback publishers and did covers for books by Arthur C. Clarke.

David Palumbo (1982- ) is a freelance illustrator who works mainly in the fantasy and science fiction genres. He has painted artwork for everything from book covers and advertisements to collectible card games and concept designs. He lives in Philadelphia.

Duane Myers (1970- ) is a Sci-Fi and Fantasy illustrator who produces work for book publishers, video game studios and advertising agencies. Although he paints digitally his artwork looks very traditional. He lives in Pennsylvania.

Bruce Jensen (1962- ) has been creating artwork for science fiction novels since 1984. His unique illustrations are on the covers of books by Neal Stephenson, Philip K. Dick, Robert Silverberg and many others. He currently works as a designer and animator at CBS.

Ron Walotsky (1943-2002) is known for his unique style that is colorful, imaginative and usually quite surreal. He did his first cover in 1967 for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and was active in the fine arts as well.

Boris Vallejo (1941- ) is especially known for his Fantasy artwork, but has done a good share of Sci-Fi illustration as well, starting with the cover of the July 1971 issue of the Eerie magazine. Besides magazine and paperback covers, Vallejo painted artwork for comics, album covers, video box art, and movie advertisements. He lives with his artist wife Julie Bell in Pennsylvania.

Patrick Turner (1958 - ) has produced about 100 science fiction and fantasy covers for publishers Baen, Bantam and ACE as well as working in the software game publishing and entertainment IP areas in SF/F. He also produces feature work in the "hard science" areas of aviation and aerospace art. The website contains short gallery samplings of his work in those areas, as well as second rights artwork.

Duncan Long - is a freelance illustrator who has created artwork for HarperCollins, Pocket Books, Asimov's Science Fiction, Amazing Stories, Muse, and many other presses and self-publishing authors.

Julie Dillon - is a freelance scifi and fantasy artist from Northern California. She has done art for trading cards, book covers, magazine illustrations, and perfume labels. The site offers prints, art books and instructional material for sale.

Eric Wilkerson - is a freelance illustrator and a concept artist who specializes in character design. His work has been featured in the Spectrum Fantastic Art books and Imagine FX magazine. Posters for sale in the store.

Henry Richard van Dongen (1920-2010) was among the great Sci-Fi illustrators of the late Golden Age. He was one of the main cover artists for Astounding Science Fiction magazine during the early 1950s. Van Dongen was active in the SF field until the early 1960s and later in the 1970s and 1980s when he painted several terrific cover illustrations for Analog. His artwork was colorful and frequently more symbolic in style and the figures often had elongated bodies.

Hubert Rogers (1898-1982) was a Canadian artist well known for his work during the pulp era. He painted every cover for the Astounding magazine from April 1940 to August 1942, and was among the best SF artists during the 1940s and 1950s. Rogers was a talented figure painter who introduced class and style to the SF pulp covers which were often garish at the time. In 2006, an exhibition of his original sci-fi artwork was held at the University of Massachusetts.