Melvyn "Mel" Grant (born 1944) is an English artist and illustrator. Trained traditionally, he originally worked with

oil paint Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and varn ...

s, but in the late 1990s Grant switched to creating most of his work digitally with a

digitizing tablet A graphics tablet (also known as a digitizer, digital graphic tablet, pen tablet, drawing tablet, external drawing pad or digital art board) is a computer input device that enables a user to hand-draw images, animations and graphics, with a spec ...

and the software

Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the indu ...

and

Corel Painter Corel Painter is a raster-based digital art application created to simulate as accurately as possible the appearance and behavior of traditional media associated with drawing, painting, and printmaking. It is intended to be used in real-time by ...

.Digital Fantasy Painting Workshop
/ref> Mel now lives and works on the coast in the Southeast of England, although the bulk of his work is commissioned internationally. Grant was born in London, England. Always interested in illustrated arts, he attended the Brassey School of Fine Art from the age of twelve before dropping out at the age of eighteen. After studying electronics and working in a variety of short-term jobs, including as a guitarist, Grant travelled throughout Europe to improve his painting style. Upon his return to England, he worked as an illustrator in various media, including animation. Soon he found a niche creating covers for books, mostly

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 ...

work, but also science fiction. He worked in various styles, ranging from cute children's artwork to dark and realistic adult images. Grant has produced illustrations for many books, including the

Fighting Fantasy ''Fighting Fantasy'' is a series of single-player role-playing gamebooks created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The first volume in the series was published in paperback by Puffin in 1982. The series distinguished itself by mixing Choos ...

gamebooks ''FF 3: Deathtrap Dungeon, FF9: Shamutanti Hills, FF 11: Khare Cityport of Traps'', and ''FF13: The Seven Serpents'',

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first nov ...

's ''

Where's My Cow? ''Where's My Cow?'' is a picture book written by Terry Pratchett and illustrated by Melvyn Grant. It is based on a book that features in Pratchett's ''Discworld'' novel '' Thud!'', in which Samuel Vimes reads it to his son. ''Where's My Cow? ...

'', ''

The Demonata ''The Demonata'' is a young adult horror/fantasy series by author Darren Shan. It deals with the world of demons. The series is told by three different protagonists: Grubbs Grady, Kernel Fleck, and Bec MacConn. The series is notable for its e ...

'' series by

Darren Shan Darren O'Shaughnessy (; born 2 July 1972), is an Irish writer and novelist. He is best known for his young adult fiction series '' The Saga of Darren Shan'', ''The Demonata'', and ''Zom-B'', published under the pseudonym Darren Shan. The former ...

and the ''

Bartimaeus Sequence The ''Bartimaeus Sequence'' is a series of young adult novels of alternate history, fantasy and magic. It was written by British writer Jonathan Stroud and consists of a trilogy published from 2003 to 2005 and a prequel novel published in 2010 ...

'' (USA) by

Jonathan Stroud Jonathan Anthony Stroud (born 27 October 1970) is a British writer of fantasy fiction, best known for the ''Bartimaeus'' young adult sequence and '' Lockwood & Co.'' children's series. His books are typically set in an alternate history Londo ...

. He is also known for being one of the artists associated with

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

Eddie Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

. He designed the album covers for Iron Maiden's ''

Fear of the Dark Fear of the dark is a common fear or phobia among children and, to a varying degree, adults. A fear of the dark does not always concern darkness itself; it can also be a fear of possible or imagined dangers concealed by darkness. Some degree of ...

'', ''

Virtual XI ''Virtual XI'' (pronounced "Virtual Eleven") is the eleventh studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 23 March 1998. It is the band's second and final album with Blaze Bayley on vocals. It also marks the first album to ...

'', ''

Death on the Road ''Death on the Road'' is a live album and video released by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden on 29 August 2005 on CD and vinyl, and on 6 February 2006 on DVD. The album was recorded at Westfalenhallen in Dortmund, Germany on 24 November 200 ...

'', ''

The Final Frontier ''The Final Frontier'' is the fifteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released on 13 August 2010 in Germany, Austria and Finland, 17 August in North America, 18 August in Japan, and 16 August worldwide. At 76&nbs ...

'' and '' From Fear to Eternity'', as well as the single "

The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg is a song by Iron Maiden, released as the lead single from their fourteenth studio album, '' A Matter of Life and Death''. The song was released as a single on 14 August 2006, preceding the release of ''A Matte ...

", making him the only artist other than

Derek Riggs Derek Riggs (born 13 February 1958) is a contemporary British artist best known for creating the band Iron Maiden's mascot, " Eddie". Career Born in Portsmouth, England, Riggs is a self-taught artist, both in his traditional painting and in hi ...

and

Mark Wilkinson Mark Wilkinson (born 3 October 1952) is an English illustrator. He is best known for the detailed surrealistic cover art he created for a number of British bands. Wilkinson's breakthrough came through his association with the neo-progressive r ...

to have been used to draw Eddie on more than one Iron Maiden album. Grant designed a number of covers for video games, including ''Baal'' and ''Captain Fizz Meets the Blaster-Trons''.

References

"Fighting Fantasy Artist Biography Melvyn Grant"

official site. Als
on Grant's official site
Retrieved 2 April 2010.

interview for '' Computer Arts Magazine'', Grant's official site. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
MELVYN GRANT INTERVIEW FOR THE IRON MAIDEN ITALIAN FRANZINE 'EDDIE'S'.
Grant's official site. Retrieved 2 April 2010.

official site.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Melvyn 1944 births English illustrators Album-cover and concert-poster artists Artists from London Living people Date of birth missing (living people)