John Picacio (born September 3, 1969) is an American artist specializing in

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

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), 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 ...

and horror illustration.

Biography

Picacio was born on September 3, 1969, in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

.ArmadilloCon Biography
Accessed January 30, 2008 As of 2007, he still lives and works in San Antonio, together with his wife and daughter. He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in 1992, and illustrated his first book – '' Behold the Man: The Thirtieth Anniversary Edition'' by

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has work ...

(

Mojo Press Mojo Press is a now-defunct small press which primarily published science fiction, horror, and western books and graphic novels between 1994 and 1999. History Mojo Press was founded in 1994 by publisher Ben Ostrander and managing editor Richa ...

) – in 1996. In May, 2001 he ended his career in architecture to become a full-time illustrator.

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."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 ''Realms of Fantasy'' was a professional bimonthly fantasy speculative fiction magazine published by Sovereign Media, then Tir Na Nog Press, and Damnation Books, which specialized in fantasy fiction (including some horror), related nonfiction (wit ...

''. 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 Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

/ Del Rey; HarperCollins/Eos;

Roc Books Roc Books is a fantasy imprint of Penguin Group, as part of its New American Library. It was launched in April 1990 after Penguin Chairman Peter Mayer asked John Silbersack, the editor in chief of New American Library's science fiction (SF) prog ...

;

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

), to more recent, independent publishers (

Golden Gryphon Press Golden Gryphon Press was an independent publishing company, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy and cross-genre novels. It was founded in 1996 by Jim Turner, former editor at Arkham House, and was operated by his brother Gary a ...

;

MonkeyBrain Books MonkeyBrain Books (MonkeyBrain, Inc.) is an independent American publishing house based in Austin, Texas, specialising in books comprising both new content and reprinting online, international, or out-of-print content, which show "an academic ...

;

Night Shade Books Night Shade Books is an American, San Francisco–based imprint, formerly an independent publishing company, that specializes in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Among its publications have been the U.S. edition of Iain M. Banks' novel ''T ...

; Tachyon Publications; Earthling Publication and

iBooks iBooks may refer to: * iBooks, the former name of Apple Books. * ibooks Inc., a book and comics publishing company founded by Byron Preiss Byron Preiss (April 11, 1953 – July 9, 2005) He works particularly well with fellow-Texan Roberson (author and

MonkeyBrain MonkeyBrain Books (MonkeyBrain, Inc.) is an independent American publishing house based in Austin, Texas, specialising in books comprising both new content and reprinting online, international, or out-of-print content, which show "an academic ...

publisher), and the editorial director of Prometheus Books' science fiction imprint Pyr

Lou Anders Lou Anders is the author of the ''Thrones & Bones'' series of middle grade fantasy novels. Anders is a Hugo Award-winning American editor, a Chesley Award-winning art director, an author and a journalist. Early life Lou Anders is originally f ...

. He has provided covers for several of Roberson's solo efforts – from one of his earliest self-published titles, the 2002

Clockwork Storybook Clockwork Storybook (CWSB) was a writer's collective and independent book publisher based in Austin, Texas. It specialized in the fantasy, horror and adventure genres. History Clockwork Storybook was formed in the late 1990s by fellow Austin-b ...

title ''Any Time at All'' to his 2007

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

novel – as well as providing dozens of covers for almost the entire output of

. For Anders, Picacio has provided covers for several anthologies from multiple companies since

Wildside Press Wildside Press is an independent publishing company in Cabin John, Maryland, United States. It was founded in 1989 by John Betancourt and Kim Betancourt. While the press was originally conceived as a publisher of speculative fiction in both trade ...

'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 science fiction 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 The International Horror Guild Award (also known as the IHG Award) was an accolade recognizing excellence in the field of Horror fiction, horror/dark fantasy, presented by the International Horror Guild (IHG) from 1995 to 2008. The IHG Awards wer ...

for Best Artist, and was Artist Guest of Honor at the 2003 ArmadilloCon. In 2005, he won both the

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...

for Best Artist and the

Chesley Award The Chesley Awards were established in 1985 by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists to recognize individual artistic works and achievements during a given year. The Chesleys were initially called the ASFA Awards, but were later re ...

for Best Paperback Cover (for James Tiptree Jr.'s ''Her Smoke Rose Up Forever''). In 2006 he won the

for Artistic Achievement and in 2007 the

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...

for Best Artist. He has also received

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

nominations for Best Professional Artist in 2005 though 2010, and won in 2012. He has received 5 World Fantasy Award nominations since 2002. His work has also appeared on innumerous award-winning and nominated titles, including

Jess Nevins Jess Nevins (born 1966) is an American author. Nevins is the author of the ''Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana'' and other works on Victoriana and pulp fiction. He is employed as a reference librarian at Lone Star College-Tomball. Comic book ...

's ''Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana'' and the Chris Roberson-edited anthology ''Adventure'' Vol. 1, both from

. In February 2008, Picacio's was seen fully illustrating (and covering)

'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. In 2014, Picacio was awarded the

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual c ...

.Inkpot Award
/ref>

Bibliography

Notable covers

*'' Dangerous Visions: 35th Anniversary Edition'', by

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...

(ed.) (iBooks, 2002) *''The Fantasy Writer's Assistant'' by

Jeffrey Ford Jeffrey Ford (born November 8, 1955) is an American writer in the fantastic genre tradition, although his works have spanned genres including fantasy, science fiction and mystery. His work is characterized by a sweeping imaginative power, humo ...

( Golden Gryphon, 2002) '
Wraparound cover & preliminary sketch
'' *'' Live Without a Net'' by

(ed.) ( Roc, 2004) *'' Gateway'' by

Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American science-fiction writer, editor, and fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first published work, the 1937 poem "Elegy to a Dead Satelli ...

( Ballantine/ Del Rey, 2004) *''Wizardry & Wild Romance'' by

(

, 2004) *''The Mammoth Book of New Terror'' by Stephen Jones (ed.) (Robinson/Carroll & Graf, 2004) *''Her Smoke Rose up Forever'' by

James Tiptree, Jr. Alice Bradley Sheldon (born Alice Hastings Bradley; August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author better known as James Tiptree, Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death. It was not publicly known ...

(Tachyon, 2004) *''Star of Gypsies'' by

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand ...

( Pyr, 2005) *''Bumper Crop'' by Joe R. Lansdale ( Golden Gryphon, 2005) *''Ghosts of Columbia'' by

L. E. Modesitt, Jr. L. E. (Leland Exton) Modesitt Jr. (; born 1943) is an American science fiction and fantasy author who has written over 75 novels. He is best known for the fantasy series ''The Saga of Recluce''. By 2015 the 18 novels in the ''Recluce'' series ha ...

(

, 2005) *''The Cat’s Pajamas & Other Stories'' by

James Morrow James Morrow (born March 17, 1947) is an American novelist and short-story writer known for filtering large philosophical and theological questions through his satiric sensibility. Most of Morrow's oeuvre has been published as science fiction ...

(Tachyon, 2005) *''Adventure, Vol. 1'', by Chris Roberson (ed.) (

, 2005) *'' Red Planet'' by

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

( Ballantine/ Del Rey, 2006) *''Macrolife'' by

George Zebrowski George Zebrowski (born December 28, 1945) is an American science fiction writer and editor who has written and edited a number of books, and is a former editor of The Bulletin of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He lives with author Pamela ...

( Pyr, 2006) *''The Empire of Ice Cream'' by

( Golden Gryphon, 2006) *''

A Canticle for Leibowitz ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' is a post-apocalyptic social science fiction novel by American writer Walter M. Miller Jr., first published in 1959. Set in a Catholic monastery in the desert of the southwestern United States after a devastating n ...

'' by

Walter M. Miller, Jr. Walter Michael Miller Jr. (January 23, 1923 – January 9, 1996) was an American science fiction writer. His fix-up novel, ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' (1959), the only novel published in his lifetime, won the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel. Pr ...

(

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

Eos In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Eos (; Ionic and Homeric Greek ''Ēṓs'', Attic ''Héōs'', "dawn", or ; Aeolic ''Aúōs'', Doric ''Āṓs'') is the goddess and personification of the dawn, who rose each morning from her home at ...

, 2006) *'' H.P. Lovecraft's Book of the Supernatural'' by Stephen Jones (ed.) (Pegasus Books, 2006) *''Fast Forward 1'', by

(ed.) ( Pyr, 2007) *''

: The Return'' by Chris Roberson (

Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing in ...

, 2007) *'' The Metatemporal Detective'' by

( Pyr, 2007) *'' Elric: The Stealer of Souls'' by

( Ballantine/ Del Rey, 2008)

Art collections

* ''Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio'' (Introduction by

) (

, 2006)

References

External links

*
"On the Front", Picacio's blog
* ttp://www.monkeybrainbooks.com/Cover_Story.html "Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio" MonkeyBrain pagebr>Golden Gryphon Books titles – several with Picacio covers, and sketch artwork
{{DEFAULTSORT:Picacio, John 1969 births American speculative fiction artists Living people People from San Antonio Science fiction artists Fantasy artists Artists from Texas World Fantasy Award-winning artists Hugo Award-winning artists Horror artists American illustrators Inkpot Award winners