John Picacio
| John Picacio | |
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John Picacio with copyeditor Deanna Hoak at the 2007 World Fantasy Convention
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| Born |
September 3, 1969 San Antonio, Texas |
| Nationality |
 United States
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| Website | johnpicacio.com |
John Picacio (born September 3, 1969) is an American artist specializing in science fiction, fantasy and horror illustration.
Picacio was born on September 3, 1969, in San Antonio, Texas. 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 in 1992, and illustrated his first book - Behold the Man: The Thirtieth Anniversary Edition by Michael Moorcock (Mojo Press) - in 1996. In May, 2001 he ended his career in architecture to become a full-time illustrator.
He advocates his own method of gaining attention - sending physical samples to art directors of books and magazines - since:
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.
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/Ballantine Books/Del Rey; HarperCollins/Eos; Roc Books; Tor Books), to more recent, independent publishers (Golden Gryphon Press; MonkeyBrain Books; Night Shade Books; Tachyon Publications; Earthling Publication and iBooks).
Picacio cites a "mutual respect" between himself and his art directors, who tend to give him "space to create" his artwork, which he sees as part of an interaction with the reader, "communicating with a smart and sophisticated audience". He works particularly well with fellow-Texan Roberson (author and MonkeyBrain publisher), and the editorial director of Prometheus Books' science fiction imprint Pyr Lou Anders. He has provided covers for several of Roberson's solo efforts - from one of his earliest self-published titles, the 2002 Clockwork Storybook title Any Time at All to his 2007 X-Men novel - as well as providing dozens of covers for almost the entire output of MonkeyBrain Books. For Anders, Picacio has provided covers for several anthologies from multiple companies since Wildside Press's 2001 Outside the Box.
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