Ron Walotsky (21 August 1943 – July 29, 2002) was an American science fiction and fantasy artist who studied at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

. Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, he began a long and prolific career painting book and magazine covers starting with the May 1967 issue of ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...

''. His first book cover was for ''Living Way Out'' by

Wyman Guin Wyman Woods Guin (pseudonym: Norman Menasco; March 1, 1915 – February 19, 1989) was an American pharmacologist and advertising executive best known for writing science fiction. Born in Wanette, Oklahoma, he started publishing during 1950, a ...

. He would go on to do covers for Stephen King,

Anne Rice Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien; October 4, 1941 – December 11, 2021) was an American author of gothic fiction, erotic literature, and Christian literature. She was best known for her series of novels '' The Vampire Chronicles''. ...

, Bruce Sterling,

Roger Zelazny Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...

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 Gr ...

, John Varley and many others. He was also nominated for the

Chesley Awards 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 r ...

twelve times.Locus Index to SF Awards
Some of his art is collected in ''Inner Visions: The Art of Ron Walotsky'' (2000). Walotsky has illustrated cards for the ''

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

'' collectible card game. Ron Walotsky also did an oil painting to be used as a poster for

Dorothy Dietrich Dorothy Dietrich (born October 31, 1969) is an American stage magician and escapologist, best known for performing the bullet catch in her mouth (although Adelaide Herrmann reputedly did this earlier) and the first woman to perform a straitjack ...

, a well known magician and curator of The

Houdini Museum The Houdini Museum is located at Scranton, Pennsylvania. Harry Houdini appeared in Scranton and did several special challenges there. His brother, Hardeen, also appeared in Scranton and in its sister city, Wilkes-Barre. The longest engagement ...

In Scranton, Pa.

References

External links

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Ron Walotsky
at SF Encyclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Walotsky, Ron 1943 births 2002 deaths American speculative fiction artists Fantasy artists Game artists People from Brooklyn School of Visual Arts alumni Science fiction artists