George Edward Barr (born January 30, 1937) is an American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, t ...

Career

Barr's work shows influences from

Arthur Rackham Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...

Hannes Bok Hannes Bok, pseudonym for Wayne Francis Woodard (, ; July 2, 1914 – April 11, 1964), was an American artist and illustrator, as well as an amateur astrologer and writer of fantasy fiction and poetry. He painted nearly 150 covers for various s ...

and Virgil Finlay. ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, contin ...

'' describes him as one of the least appreciated SF/fantasy artists. His work is often romantic and whimsical. His technique involves overlaying pen and ink line work with pastel

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

s. Barr began his art career in 1960 by contributing artwork to various high-profile science fiction fanzines in

fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significan ...

and for many years displaying and selling his artwork in the art shows of both regional science fiction conventions and at the annual

World Science Fiction Convention Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...

. A collection of his professional fantasy and science fiction paintings, ''

Upon the Winds of Yesterday and Other Explorations ''Upon the Winds of Yesterday and Other Explorations'' is a collection of paintings by George Barr. It was published in 1976 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in an edition of 2,500 copies. The book was released in commemoration of Barr being ...

'', was published by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in 1976. The volume debuted at MidAmeriCon, the 34th World Science Fiction Convention, where Barr was the convention's Fan Guest of Honor, along with Robert A. Heinlein, who was the convention's professional writer Guest of Honor. Barr provided the full color wrap around

dust jacket The dust jacket (sometimes book jacket, dust wrapper or dust cover) of a book is the detachable outer cover, usually made of paper and printed with text and illustrations. This outer cover has folded flaps that hold it to the front and back boo ...

for the convention's hardcover program book. Since then Barr has provided numerous black and white interior illustrations and dozens of full color covers for various professional science fiction magazines and for dozens of science fiction and fantasy book covers. He has also illustrated ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (T ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

supplements, including 1987's ''

Dragonlance Adventures ''Dragonlance Adventures'' is a 128-page hardcover book for the Dragonlance campaign setting for the first edition of the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Contents ''Dragonlance Adventures'' is a supplement which details ...

'', the ''

Dungeon Master's Design Kit ''Dungeon Master's Design Kit'' is an accessory for the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Contents ''Dungeon Master's Design Kit'' is an aid for Dungeon Masters (DMs), with advice and tables for creating different kinds ...

'', and several books in the ''

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Gamebooks ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Gamebook'' is a series of 18 gamebooks published from 1985 to 1988. The series was initially titled ''Super Endless Quest Adventure Gamebook'' as the books added a more complex game system to stories which ...

'' line.

Personal life

George Barr was born in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive ...

, grew up in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, and later moved to

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

.Dannenfelser, Randy (summer 2001). "Science fiction and fantasy markets", '' Bulletin – Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America'' 35 (1): 61–63.

General reference for article

Notes

External links

The Enchanted Thingamajig - official siteGeorge Barr
on

DeviantArt DeviantArt (historically stylized as deviantART) is an American online art community that features artwork, videography and photography, launched on August 7, 2000 by Angelo Sotira, Scott Jarkoff, and Matthew Stephens among others. DeviantArt ...

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, George 1937 births American speculative fiction artists Artists from Salt Lake City Artists from Tucson, Arizona Fantasy artists Hugo Award-winning artists Living people Role-playing game artists Science fiction artists