Aleta Rafton is an award-winning book cover artist, who has illustrated hundreds of books in the fantasy and romance genre. More of her work can be seen here.
Category Archives: Art
Artist Profile: Jon Paul
Jon Paul is one of the most renowned artist/photographers in the Romance Novel Cover Art industry. The covers of Jon Paul appear regularly on books issued by the leading romance novel publishing houses. I know that I’ve got more than few of them sitting in my bedroom. More of Paul’s work can be seen at his site.
Artist Profile: Raymond Pease (1908 — 1990)
Raymond Pease was a painter and an illustrator. Born in Vermont, Pease attended Grand Central Art School and the National Academy of Design in New York City, and received a B.F.A. degree from the Yale University School of Art. He also studied art in Paris at the Ecoles des Beaux-Arts and Academie Julian. Along with painting portraits, still lifes, and portraits of horses, Pease did illustrations for magazines and book covers for Signet and Pocket Books. Pease lived the latter years of his life in Arizona.
A sampling of his work can be found below.
Artist Profile: J.K. Potter
J.K. Potter is one of the most renowned artists working in the fantasy and horror field but there doesn’t seem to be much personal information available. Even his website, JKPotter.com, is lacking in the biographical details that one would normally expect to find. Fortunately, his images speak for themselves.
Artist Profile: Raymond Bayless (1920 — 2004)
Born in Oakland, California, Raymond Bayless was a self-taught artist who, by the end of his career, had his still-life paintings hanging in the National Air and Space Museum, the State Department, and the Pentagon. He is best known for his fantasy and horror-themed illustrations, many of which writings of H.P. Lovecraft. Bayless also wrote several books on parapsychology.
Artist Profile: Les Edwards (1949– )
Les Edwards is a British artist who has provided horror-related illustrations for a countless number of a book covers, magazines, album covers, and games. Edwards studied at the Hornsby College of Art. He has won the British Fantasy Society award for Best Artist seven times and won the World Fantasy Award in 2008.
Artist Profile: Virgil Finlay (1914 — 1971)
Virgil Finlay is considered to be one of the best artists to work in pulp magazines. From the his first publication in 1935 until his death in 1971, Finlay created more than 2600 works of graphic art. He was acclaimed for the amount of detail that he put into his illustrations.
A small sampling his work can be found below. Click on each picture to enlarge.
Artist Profile: Judson Huss (1942–2008)
Judson Huss was born in North Carolina. After studying art at several different design schools, Huss grew dissatisfied with the “modernist” approach of most American instructors and moved to Europe. Huss lived and worked in Paris. His paintings are in select private collections in France, the Netherlands, and America. After his death, much of his work was collected in the retrospective art book, River of Mirrors.
Artist Profile: Leo and Diane Dillon
The husband-and-wife team Leo (1933 — 2013) and Diane (1933– ) Dillon met while training at Parsons School of Design and married shortly after graduating in 1956. Over the course of 50 years, they collaborated on over 100 magazine and book covers. Among numerous awards, the Dillons won the Caldecott Medal in both 1976 and 1977, the only time that the award has been won consecutively.
Artist Profile: Jerome Rozen (1895 — 1987)
Jerome Rozen was born in Chicago and grew up in Arizona, where he first took art classes from a local teacher. After serving in the army during World War I, Rozen visited the Louvre in Paris and was inspired to pursue a career as an artist. Upon returning home, he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. He was eventually hired as an instructor at the Institute. He also found success painting covers for pulp magazines like The Shadow, Battle Stories, Wu Fang Mysteries, and Western Story. During World War II, Rozen also designed several patriotic posters and magazine advertisements.
A small sampling of his work can be found below.
Through the Shattered Lens