Keith Birdsong (July 14, 1959 – June 4, 2019) was a Muscogee Creek- Cherokee

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 best for illustrating covers of ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s, which usually depicted the various characters of the ''Star Trek'' television series and movies in a realistic manner.

Life and career

A self-taught artist, Birdsong grew up in

Muskogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the thirteenth-largest city in Oklahoma and the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0 percent decrease ...

, until the age of 15. He subsequently moved to California, and Texas for one year each. He then moved to Missouri, where he finished school, and got married before joining the United States Army, serving in the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

. He completed several illustration projects for the Army during this time. Birdsong worked as a journalist before becoming a professional illustrator. His chosen medium was acrylic paint and colored pencil. He did illustration work for ''

'', books of the cyberpunk

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 ...

'' Shadowrun'', and children's books such as ''The Halloween Hex: Hi-Tech Howard''. In addition to book covers, Birdsong's work has appeared in films, on collectors' plates for the Hamilton Collection and the Bradford Exchange, and on U.S. postage stamps, including an issuance honoring American Indian dance and six "Celebrate the Century" stamps that commemorated the 1960s. Birdsong's family includes Sheila Corley, his sister DeeJay Gaugh, his daughter Candice Jordan, and two granddaughters.

Stroke and death

In June 2018, Keith had a

hemorrhagic stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

and doctors told him he would never walk or talk again, much less paint. However, Birdsong recovered and returned to painting. Birdsong died on June 4, 2019, as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash.

Notable clients

* United States Post Office * Paramount Studios * NASA * Lucas Film * Simon & Schuster * Pocket Books * New American Library * Berkley Books * Bradford Exchange * Random House * Prentice Hall * Harlequin *

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

* De Laurentiis Studios * Penguin * Roc

Notes

1959 births 2019 deaths Native American illustrators Place of death missing Muscogee people American people of Cherokee descent People from Muskogee, Oklahoma Military personnel from Oklahoma Artists from Oklahoma 20th-century American artists 21st-century American artists {{US-illustrator-stub

Life and career

Stroke and death

Notable clients

See also

Notes