Research 13 - 17

17. Julie Bell was born in Beaumont, TX, in 1958. Despite frequent moving during her childhood, Bell kept working on her interest in art. She took classes at six different colleges, and it certainly paid off. She has done work for many major companies, like Coke, Nike, and Ford. She has also worked for DC, Image, and was the first woman to do a Conan cover for Marvel Comics. Perhaps her most famous idea is her "metal flesh" painting, which broke ground on the cover of Heavy Metal. She took up body building, and she is happily married to Boris Vallejo.


16. Boris Vallejo spent his early years in his hometown of Lima, Peru. At first he desired a career as a concert violinist, but after seven years of lessons he changed his mind, and switched over to medicine. His new interest only lasted for 2 years before he decided that his real calling was art. He received a 5 year scholarship at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes where he won a gold medal for his art. With only a few dollars to his name and not knowing English, Vallejo left for the United States. His first job was illustrating for a department store, but 8 years later he decided to become a freelance artist. From the 1970s Vallejo has illustrated over 300 covers, not limited to Tarzan, Conan, Heavy Metal, and cards for Marvel.


15. Kris Verwimp is from Belgium, where he paints a great deal of epic battle-type pictures, which become album covers and illustrations for a host of metal bands. His first album cover was commissioned in 1993 for Ancient Rites's album "The Diabolic Serenades." Verwimp shies away from computer-generated pictures, preferring to work in acrylics on paper or cardboard. As a boy, he went to see the movie Conan, and he was also influenced by Frank Frazetta and X-Men comics, plus many other comics.


14. "Don" Ed Hardy spent his childhood in Southern California, where he was born in 1945. He studied tattooing under a man named Sailor Jerry, but Hardy is known for his need to experiment with tattoo designs. He kept inking tattoos for a total of forty years, and he is now known as the godfather of contemporary tattoos. His designs incorporate Japanese, American, Cholo, surf, and hotrod cultural images. However, Hardy currently pursues other forms of art, having retired from inking. He enjoys printmaking, painting, and of course, drawing. He participated in many exhibitions to date, and even curated a show called, "Pierced Hearts and True Love" in New York at The Drawing Center.


13. Rob Sato was born and raised in Sacramento, CA. He graduated from California College of Arts and Crafts with a B.F.A. His work has been shown in numerous shows in California, to name just a few: Game Over, Printed Matter, Dirty Paper Machines, Sacred & Profane, You Only Exist Because of Us, Unofficial Masters, Just Say No, and From the Collection of a Swiss Lady. Sato received a grant in 2004 for "Burying Sandwiches" from Xeric Foundation of Self Publishing.