Boris Vallejo

{{Infobox artist

|name=Boris Vallejo

|image= BorisVallejo.jpg

|caption= Vallejo in April 2005

|birth_date={{birth date and age|1941|1|8}}

|birth_place=Lima, Peru

|spouse=Julie Bell

|website={{URL|borisjulie.com}}

}}

Boris Vallejo (born January 8, 1941) is a Peruvian-American painter who works in the science fiction, fantasy, and erotica genres. His hyper-representational paintings have appeared on the covers of numerous novels in the science fiction, sword and sorcery, and fantasy fiction genres, along with album covers for musical groups in addition to movie posters and other media. His art is also sold through a series of annual calendars.

Early biography

Born in 1941{{cite web|title=Boris Vallejo|website=Illustration History|publisher=Norman Rockwell Museum|date= 2020|accessdate= 8 January 2024|url= https://www.illustrationhistory.org/artists/boris-vallejo}} in Lima, Peru, Vallejo began painting at the age of 13, in 1954, and obtained his first illustration job three years later in 1957 at the age of 16. He attended Escuela Nacional Superior Autónoma de Bellas Artes on a five-year scholarship, and was awarded a prize medal.

Sackmann, Eckart. [https://books.google.com/books?id=GfiTAAAACAAJ Great Masters of Fantasy Art]. Taco Verlagsgesellschaft und Agentur mbH, 1986, Berlin, p.34 {{ISBN|3892680086}}

Career

After emigrating to the United States in 1964, at the age of 23, he quickly garnered a fan following from his illustrations of Tarzan, Conan the Barbarian, Doc Savage, and various other fantasy characters (often done for paperback-fiction works featuring the characters). This led to commissions for movie-poster illustration, advertisement illustration, and artwork for various collectibles, including Franklin Mint paraphernalia, trading cards, and sculpture. Along with his wife Julie Bell, Vallejo presents his artwork in an annual calendar and various books.

Vallejo's preferred artistic medium is oil on board, and he has previously used photographs to combine discrete images to form composite images.Boris Vallejo Fantasy Art Techniques Preparatory works are pencil or ink sketches, which have been displayed in the book Sketchbook. He and Julie Bell have worked on collaborative artworks together, in which they sign the artwork with both names.Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell Fantasy Workshop: A Practical Guide

Vallejo has produced film posters for numerous fantasy and action movies, including Knightriders (1981), Q (1982), and Barbarian Queen (1985). He has also illustrated posters for comedies, notably National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), European Vacation (1985), Nothing but Trouble (1991) and Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (2007), co-created with Bell.{{cite web| title = King of the Mountain - Posterwire.com | date=5 March 2007| url=http://posterwire.com/king-of-the-mountain/}}

He illustrated the 1978 Tarzan calendar.{{cite book |last1=Vallejo |first1=Boris |title=1978 Tarzan calendar: The lord of the jungle magnificently portrayed by the renowned fantasy artist Boris Vallejo |date=1977 |publisher=Ballantine Books |ol=10682851M |url=https://openlibrary.org/books/OL10682851M/1978_Tarzan_calendar}} His sea serpent paintings hang in the queue of Loch Ness Monster, a rollercoaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

His art was also featured in the 1995 card game Hyborian Gates.{{Cite book |last=Krause Publications |url=http://archive.org/details/scryemagazineissue6aprilmay1995 |title=Scrye Magazine Issue 6 April May 1995 |date=April 1995 |language=English}}

Awards

He received the Inkpot Award in 1978.[https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot Inkpot Award] He received the British Fantasy Award for best artist in 1979{{cite web|url=http://www.noosfere.com/icarus/livres/prix.asp?tri=an&numprix=4|title=British Fantasy - Prix littéraire - nooSFere|last=|website=www.noosfere.com}} for his painting The Amazon Princess and her Pet."Julie Bell & Boris Vallejo". Imaginstix.com. Retrieved from {{cite web |url=http://www.imaginistix.com/details.cfm?Id=577 |title=Julie Bell & Boris Vallejo |access-date=2013-03-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715044833/http://www.imaginistix.com/details.cfm?Id=577 |archive-date=2014-07-15 }}. Vallejo also won the 2011 Chesley Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement,{{Cite web|title=Award Category: 2011 Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement (Chesley Award)|url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/award_category_year.cgi?144+2011|access-date=2020-08-20|website=www.isfdb.org}}{{Cite web|last=Gallo|first=Irene|date=2011-08-19|title=Announcing the 2011 Chesley Award Winners|url=https://www.tor.com/2011/08/18/announcing-the-2011-chesley-award-winners/|access-date=2020-08-20|website=Tor.com|language=en-US}} and the 2014 Chesley Award for Best Product Illustration.{{Cite web|last=Gallo|first=Irene|date=2014-08-15|title=Announcing the 2014 Chesley Award Winners|url=https://www.tor.com/2014/08/15/announcing-the-2014-chesley-award-winners/|access-date=2020-08-20|website=Tor.com|language=en-US}}

Publications

Vallejo's published works include:

The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo{{Cite book |title=The fantastic art of Boris Vallejo |date=1979 |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=978-0-345-29027-4 |editor-last=Vallejo |editor-first=Boris |edition=4. print |location=New York, NY |editor-last2=DelRey |editor-first2=Lester}} (1980)
Mirage{{Cite book |last1=Vallejo |first1=Boris |title=Mirage |last2=Vallejo |first2=Doris |date=1996 |publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press |isbn=978-1-56025-139-2 |edition= |location=New York}} (1982, reprinted 1996 and 2001)
Enchantment. Stories By Doris Vallejo, Illustrated by Boris Vallejo (1984)
Fantasy Art Techniques (1985)
Ladies: Retold Tales of Goddesses and Heroines. By Boris and Doris Vallejo (1992)
Bodies: Boris Vallejo: Photographic Art (1998)
Dreams: The Art of Boris Vallejo (1999)
Titans: The Heroic Visions of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell (2000)
Sketchbook (2001)
Twin Visions{{Cite book |last1=Vallejo |first1=Boris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISBN9781560255406 |title=Twin Visions: The Magical Art of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell |last2=Bell |first2=Julie |publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press |year=2003 |isbn=9781560255406}} (2002)
Fantasy Workshop: A Practical Guide (with Julie Bell) (2003)
Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell: The Ultimate Collection{{Cite book |last1=Vallejo |first1=Boris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISBN9780060881023 |title=Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell: the ultimate collection |last2=Bell |first2=Julie |date=2005 |publisher=Collins Design |isbn=978-0-06-088102-3 |edition= |location=New York}} (2005)
The Fabulous Women of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell{{Cite book |last1=Palumbo |first1=Antony |url=https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=isbn:9780061159213 |title=The Fabulous Women of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell |last2=Palumbo |first2=David |publisher=Harper |year=2006 |isbn=9780061159213 |language=English}} (2006)
Imaginistix (2006)

A yearly calendar of 13 paintings by Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell is produced by Workman Publishing.{{Cite book |last1=Vallejo |first1=Boris |title=Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell's Fantasy Wall Calendar 2025: A Year of Classic Images for 2025 |last2=Bell |first2=Julie |last3=Calendars |first3=Workmen |publisher=Workman Publishing Company |year=2024 |isbn=978-1523524594 |publication-date=August 6, 2024}}

References

{{reflist |25em |refs=

Comics Buyer's Guide #1650; February 2009; page 107.

{{cite web |last=Miller |first=John Jackson |author-link=John Jackson Miller |url=http://cbgxtra.com/knowledge-base/for-your-reference/comics-industry-birthdays |title=Comics Industry Birthdays |work=Comics Buyer's Guide |date=June 10, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218031356/http://cbgxtra.com/knowledge-base/for-your-reference/comics-industry-birthdays |archive-date=February 18, 2011 |url-status=dead }}

[http://boingboing.net/2004/11/30/erotokitsch-master-b.html Boing Boing].

}}