John Picacio

John Picacio (born Sep 3, 1969) is an award-winning American artist specializing in science fiction, fantasy and horror illustration.

Biography

John Picacio was born on the 3rd of September, 1969 in San Antonio, Texas. [ [http://www.johnpicacio.com/bio.html Biography at JohnPicacio.com] . Accessed January 30, 2008] [ [http://www.armadillocon.org/d26/participants.htm#Picacio ArmadilloCon Biography] . Accessed January 30, 2008] As of 2007, he still lives and works in San Antonio, together with his fiancée, Traci. [ [http://www.whc2007.org/jp-bio01.htm Biography for the World Horror Convention 2007] . Accessed January 30, 2008] He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1992, and illustrated his first book - "Behold the Man: The Thirtieth Anniversary Edition" by Michael Moorcock (Mojo Press) - in 1996. In May, 2001 he ended his career in architecture to became a full-time illustrator. [ [http://www.armadillocon.org/d26/participants.htm#Picacio ArmadilloCon Biography] . Accessed January 30, 2008]

Work

He advocates his own method of gaining attention - sending physical samples to art directors of books and magazines - since::"Even if an artist has a good website, it's a good idea to send out a physical reminder of their art so that art directors can keep it around." [ [http://www.manzieri.com/blog/2007/02/maurizio-meets-john-picacio.htm The Art of Maurizio Manzieri: "Maurizio meets John Picacio!" Interview] . Accessed January 30, 2008] His early work featured in many annuals and art compendiums, including "Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art", as well as magazines such as "Realms of Fantasy".

Picacio has since produced design work and - particularly - cover art for many notable SF, Fantasy and Horror books printed by many different publishers, from some of the longest-established and largest American SF&F imprints (Random House/Ballantine Books/Del Rey; HarperCollins/Eos; Roc Books; Tor Books), to more recent, independent publishers (Golden Gryphon Press; MonkeyBrain Books; Night Shade Books; Earthling Publication and iBooks).

Picacio cites a "mutual respect" between himself and his art directors, who tend to give him "space to create" his artwork, which he sees as part of an interaction with the reader, "communicating with a smart and sophisticated audience". [ [http://www.manzieri.com/blog/2007/02/maurizio-meets-john-picacio.htm The Art of Maurizio Manzieri: "Maurizio meets John Picacio!" Interview] . Accessed January 30, 2008] He works particularly well with fellow-Texan Roberson (author and MonkeyBrain publisher), and the editorial director of Prometheus Books' science fiction imprint Pyr Lou Anders. He has provided covers for several of Roberson's solo efforts - from one of his earliest self-published titles, the 2002 Clockwork Storybook title "Any Time at All" to his 2007 X-Men novel - as well as providing dozens of covers for almost the entire output of MonkeyBrain Books. [ [http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.html?id=2790&page=2 "A Baker's Dozen With Chris Roberson", interview by Rick Klaw. August, 2005, page 2] . Accessed on the 21st of January, 2008] For Anders, Picacio has provided covers for several anthologies from multiple companies since Wildside Press's 2001 "Outside the Box".

Awards and nominations

Picacio's illustrations have been selected numerous times for Cathy and Arnie Fenner's prestigious Spectrum Annual, the yearly "Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art" showcase for fantasy and sci-fi art, which both honours established artists and provides a resource for art directors and illustrators to refer to. In 2001 and 2006, he was awarded the International Horror Guild Award for Best Artist, and was Artist Guest of Honor at the 2003 ArmadilloCon. [ [http://www.armadillocon.org/d26/participants.htm#Picacio ArmadilloCon Biography] . Accessed January 30, 2008]

In 2005, he won both the World Fantasy Award for Best Artist and the Chesley Award for Best Paperback Cover (for James Tiptree Jr.'s "Her Smoke Rose Up Forever"). In 2006 he won the Chesley Award for Artistic Achievement and in 2007 the Locus Award for Best Artist [ [http://www.locusmag.com/2007/06_LocusWinners.html#2007 Locus Award Winners] . Accessed February 4, 2008] . He has also received Hugo Award nominations for Best Professional Artist in 2005, 2006 and 2007

His work has also appeared on innumerous award-winning and nominated titles, including Jess Nevins's "Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana" and the Chris Roberson-edited anthology "Adventure" Vol. 1, both from MonkeyBrain.

Future work

In February, 2008, Picacio's work will be seen fully-illustrating (and covering) Michael Moorcock's "Elric The Stealer of Souls", as the first in a new series of trade paperback editions of Moorcock's Elric novels published by Ballantine/Del Rey. Picacio's work in the first volume will be followed (in "Elric To Rescue Tanelorn") by that of notable illustrator M. W. Kaluta, placing him in ever-more illustrious company. [ [http://www.manzieri.com/blog/2007/02/maurizio-meets-john-picacio.htm The Art of Maurizio Manzieri: "Maurizio meets John Picacio!" Interview] . Accessed January 30, 2008]

Bibliography

Notable covers

*"Dangerous Visions: 35th Anniversary Edition", by Harlan Ellison (ed.) (iBooks, 2002)
*"The Fantasy Writer's Assistant" by Jeffrey Ford (Golden Gryphon, 2002) "( [http://www.goldengryphon.com/fwa-frame.html Wraparound cover & preliminary sketch] )"
*"Live Without a Net" by Lou Anders (ed.) (Roc, 2004)
*"Gateway" by Frederik Pohl (Ballantine/Del Rey, 2004)
*"Wizardry & Wild Romance" by Michael Moorcock (MonkeyBrain Books, 2004)
*"The Mammoth Book of New Terror" by Stephen Jones (ed.) (Robinson/Carroll & Graf, 2004)
*"Her Smoke Rose up Forever" by James Tiptree, Jr. (Tachyon, 2004)
*"Star of Gypsies" by Robert Silverberg (Pyr, 2005)
*"Bumper Crop" by Joe R. Lansdale (Golden Gryphon, 2005)
*"Ghosts of Columbia" by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. (Tor Books, 2005)
*"The Cat’s Pajamas & Other Stories" by James Morrow (Tachyon, 2005)
*"Adventure, Vol. 1", by Chris Roberson (ed.) (MonkeyBrain Books, 2005)
*"Red Planet" by Robert Heinlein (Ballantine/Del Rey, 2006)
*"Macrolife" by George Zebrowski (Pyr, 2006)
*"The Empire of Ice Cream" by Jeffrey Ford (Golden Gryphon, 2006)
*"A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (HarperCollins/Eos, 2006)
*"H.P. Lovecraft's Book of the Supernatural" by Stephen Jones (ed.) (Pegasus Books, 2006)
*"Fast Forward 1", by Lou Anders (ed.) (Pyr, 2007)
*"X-Men: The Return" by Chris Roberson (Pocket Books, 2007)
*"The Metatemporal Detective" by Michael Moorcock (Pyr, 2007)
*"Elric: The Stealer of Souls" by Michael Moorcock (Ballantine/Del Rey, 2008)

Art collections

* "Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio" (Introduction by Michael Moorcock) (MonkeyBrain Books, 2006)

References

External links

* [http://www.johnpicacio.com/index2.html John Picacio's Homepage]
* [http://www.johnpicacio.com/blog.html "On the Front", Picacio's blog]
* [http://www.monkeybrainbooks.com/titles.html MonkeyBrain Books published titles - most with Picacio covers]
* [http://www.monkeybrainbooks.com/Cover_Story.html "Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio" MonkeyBrain page]
* [http://www.goldengryphon.com/books.html Golden Gryphon Books titles - several with Picacio covers, and sketch artwork]
* [http://www.whc2007.org/jp-bio01.htm Bio at World Fantasy Con 2007]
* [http://www.armadillocon.org/d26/participants.htm#Picacio ArmadilloCon Biography]
* [http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.html?id=3231 Artist interview with Revolution SF magazine]
* [http://www.upagainstthewallmag.com/ISSUE04/JohnPicacio.htm Artist interview with UATW magazine]
* [http://www.manzieri.com/blog/2007/02/maurizio-meets-john-picacio.htm "Maurizio meets John Picacio!" Interview]
* [http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/picacio_interview.html Interviewed] by Jeff VanderMeer for Clarkesworld Magazine