The Illustrator's Studio

For more than thirty years this self-taught artist has delighting children and adults with his imaginary creatures and landscapes, juxtaposing the familiar with the fantastic to clarify this world and create new and lasting universes. Delessert has illustrated more than eighty books, with millions of copies sold worldwide. From his groundbreaking picture book The Endless Party, to his more recent award-winning A Long Long Song, The Seven Dwarfs, Who Killed Cock Robin?, Humpty Dumpty, Big and Bad, Full Color, Moon Theater and Spartacus the Spider, Delessert is considered as one of the fathers of modern children's picture books. 

His illustrations have appeared in leading magazines and newspapers such as The Atlantic Monthly, Le Monde, and the New York Times, and he is the recipient of thirteen gold and fourteen silver medals from the Society of Illustrators.

Since 2008, Patrick Wilshire has organized an annual conference devoted to imaginative realism. IlluXCon now hosts more than 200 artists of science fiction and fantasy themes during the event, along with classes, lectures, and art demonstrations. In 2012, Patrick curated a major exhibition of fantasy art, At the Edge: Art of the Fantastic, hosted by the Allentown Art Museum. Patrick and his wife Jeannie, who also oversees the IlluXcon gathering, have written two books on the subjects of imaginative realism: Visions of Never: The Collection of Fantasy Art (2009) and The Art of the Dragon: The Definitive Collection of Contemporary Dragon Paintings.

Best known for his World War II anti-Nazi political art and his beloved Passover Haggadah, 20th century artist Arthur Szyk single-handedly revived the medieval tradition of illumination.

A master of miniature painting and calligraphy, Szyk brought his unmistakable style to subjects as diverse as biblical stories, literary classics, and political caricature and cartoon. Many of his works were published as limited edition fine art books and as editorials in periodicals such as Collier’s, Esquire, TIME, and The New York Post. Other popular works, such as his celebrated Declaration of Independence of the United States, were reproduced and widely distributed as fine art prints.

A self-described “soldier in art,” Szyk was a committed activist-artist, advocating for religious tolerance and racial equality for minorities, especially for Jews and black Americans. Today, collectors around the globe prize Szyk’s art for its vibrant imagery and messages, which remain as stunning and timely as ever.

Over the years, many artists have referred to Silverman as a grandfather Figure of sorts, a guiding presence who either through his artwork or teaching — the artist has been hosting classes in his Manhattan studio since 1971, while also teaching at the Art Students League of New York and the School of Visual Arts, — has been an example and inspiration for those wanting to learn how to create convincing portraits while also learning from Silverman’s many decades of accomplishment. Considering that the artist has seen almost 80-years worth of action and reaction in the New York art world and has worked with, observed, and corresponded with important figures from many different camps, Silverman is a veritable storehouse of information and historical perspective.

This podcast was recorded in July 2017 at Comic Con Internation in San Diego, California. Peek inside the craniums of worldbuilding artists Frank Miller (300, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns) and Tony DiTerlizzi (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Star Wars: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight) as they participate in a lively conversation moderated by Borys Kit (senior film writer, The Hollywood Reporter) about the heroes and anti-heroes that inhabit their works, their creative and artistic heroes, the responsibility they feel to inspire a new generation of artists, and their recent visit to the Norman Rockwell Museum.

One of the established superstars of “weird fantasy” artwork, Eggleton has illustrated and written numerous science fiction and fantasy books, and between 1994 and 2004 won the prestigious Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist eight times. The 1995 book Alien Horizons: The Fantastic Art of Bob Eggleton and the 2000 volume Greetings from Earth: The Art of Bob Eggleton showcased his award-winning work, In 1995, Eggleton painted the cover for the Lovecraft-inspired Cthulhu 2000: A Lovecraftian Anthology, a collection of stories by eighteen horror and fantasy authors. He continues to illustrate monsters and aliens, and recently created a horrifying painting of Cthulhu especially for our Summer 2021 Enchanted exhibition.

One of the established superstars of “weird fantasy” artwork, Eggleton has illustrated and written numerous science fiction and fantasy books, and between 1994 and 2004 won the prestigious Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist eight times. The 1995 book Alien Horizons: The Fantastic Art of Bob Eggleton and the 2000 volume Greetings from Earth: The Art of Bob Eggleton showcased his award-winning work, In 1995, Eggleton painted the cover for the Lovecraft-inspired Cthulhu 2000: A Lovecraftian Anthology, a collection of stories by eighteen horror and fantasy authors. He continues to illustrate monsters and aliens, and recently created a horrifying painting of Cthulhu especially for our Summer 2021 Enchanted exhibition.

Alessandra Pisano is rapidly becoming a big name in the world of fantasy illustration. The winner of the Spectrum Rising Star award in 2016, Pisano often paints images containing elements of mythology and magic. Her oil paintings provide a glimpse into a world where solitary women live and hunt in the wilderness alongside animal companions. With a style distinctly her own, Pisano’s work has appeared in the last four volumes of the annual Spectrum fantasy art awards. In addition, she has created artwork for Sideshow Collectibles, Fantasy Flight Games, Upper Deck, and most recently, Magic: The Gathering.

The influence of Howard Pyle, Willy Pogany, Arthur Rackham, and Alphonse Mucha is evident in the fairy tale and fantasy art of Charles Vess. After illustrating superheroes for mainstream comic publishers for several years, in 1990 Vess began collaborating with author Neil Gaiman on several projects, including the acclaimed comic book series The Sandman. Their partnership continued with the books Stardust (1998) and Blueberry Girl (2009). Vess recently contributed fifty-six illustrations to Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition (2018). Vess is the winner of three Eisner Awards, two Hugo Awards, and four World Fantasy Awards, among others.

Ruth Sanderson has been a professional illustrator since 1975, with over eighty published children’s books, in addition to illustrated book covers, fantasy art, collector’s plates, animation concept art, and product design. She began a career creating art for textbooks and book covers, including the Black Stallion and Nancy Drew series. She went on to illustrate Heidi (1984), The Secret Garden (1988), The Twelve Dancing Princesses (1990), and The Snow Princess (2004).