Glen Orbik (1963 – May 11, 2015) was an American

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

known for his fully painted

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

and

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

covers, often executed in a noir style. In the 1970s, Orbik and his mother moved to

Douglas County, Nevada Douglas County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of th2020 Census the population was 49,488. Its county seat is Minden. Douglas County comprises the Gardnerville Ranchos, NV Micropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...

. He is a 1981 graduate of Douglas High School in

Minden, Nevada Minden is a census-designated place (CDP) in Douglas County, Nevada, United States. The population was 3,001 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Douglas County and is adjacent to the town of Gardnerville. The Douglas campus of the Wes ...

. He studied art at the California Art Institute then located in Encino, later Calabasas, California, and now located in Westlake Village. He studied under the school's founder, retired movie and advertisement illustrator Fred Fixler. Orbik eventually took over the classes when Fixler retired from teaching and taught figure drawing after returning from an extended hiatus. His work has been compared to

Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which he collaborated wi ...

and

Robert McGinnis Robert Edward McGinnis (born February 3, 1926) is an American artist and illustrator. McGinnis is known for his illustrations of more than 1,200 paperback book covers,BiographyMcGinnis, Robert - Cavalier Galleries and over 40 movie posters, i ...

, and he was a popular teacher among fine art, comic, and video game artists. He most recently worked on a series of paperback covers for the

Hard Case Crime Hard Case Crime is an American imprint of hardboiled crime novels founded in 2004 by Charles Ardai (also the founder of the Internet service Juno Online Services) and Max Phillips. The series recreates, in editorial form and content, the flavor o ...

series of novels. Orbik resided in

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, t ...

, California. He died on May 11, 2015, of cancer.

Works

;Covers: *'' The Swimmer'' DVD/Blu-ray (digital restoration) release *

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

novella ''

Blockade Billy ''Blockade Billy'' is a 2010 novella by Stephen King. It tells the story of William "Blockade Billy" Blakely, a fictional baseball catcher who briefly played for the New Jersey Titans during the 1957 season. The novella took King two weeks to w ...

'' *

Barbara Hambly Barbara Hambly (born August 28, 1951) is an American novelist and screenwriter within the genres of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and historical fiction. She is the author of the bestselling Benjamin January mystery series featuring a free ...

novel ''Annie Steelyard and the Garden Of Emptiness: An Honorary Man'' *Cover to Stephen King novels, ''

The Colorado Kid ''The Colorado Kid'' is a mystery novel by American writer Stephen King, published by the Hard Case Crime imprint in 2005. The book was initially issued in one paperback-only edition by the specialty crime and mystery publishing house. King's ...

'' and '' Joyland'' *25th anniversary edition of Stephen King novel '' It'' * Joe R. Lansdale

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

'' Hyenas: a Hap and Leonard Novella'' *Joe R. Lansdale novella '' Dead Aim'' *

George Axelrod George Axelrod (June 9, 1922 – June 21, 2003) was an American screenwriter, producer, playwright and film director, best known for his play ''The Seven Year Itch'' (1952), which was adapted into a film of the same name starring Marilyn Mon ...

novel ''Blackmailer'' ;Other: *"The Inspirations of Oz Fine Art Collection" (participant)

References

External links

''The Artwork of Glen Orbik'', official website
bio, and gallery of Orbik and companion, Laurel Blechman's work
''Hard Case Crime''
series of reprinted and original pulp fiction novels, some illustrated by Orbik * 1963 births 2015 deaths American comics artists American illustrators American speculative fiction artists People from Los Angeles People from Minden, Nevada Role-playing game artists {{US-comics-artist-stub