Julie Bell

 

 

Julie Bell [born October 21, 1958] is an American painter. A fantasy artist and wildlife artist, she is a former bodybuilder and fantasy model for her second husband, painter Boris Vallejo.

Bell was born in Beaumont, Texas. She married Donald E. Palumbo, an academic and "future science fiction scholar" with whom she moved many times. They had two sons, Anthony and David Palumbo, who are both artists. "Her life changed forever when she met Vallejo in 1989 and successively became his model, art student, and wife following her divorce from Palumbo.

Julie Bell has painted the cover illustrations of approximately 100 fantasy and science fiction books and magazines since 1990, including more than 90 in the 20 years to 2009. In the early 1990s, she illustrated painted covers for video games as well as best-selling trading cards for the superheroes of Marvel and DC. A cover art image from the Sega Game Gear video game Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe would depict the semi-barbaric world that the game took place in; thus being entitled Savage Land by Bell herself. She designed the award-winning Dragons of Destiny sculpture series, Mistress of the Dragon's Realm dagger series, as well as the Temptation Rides sculpture series produced by The Franklin Mint.

Julie and her second husband, Boris Vallejo, have done many paintings for advertising campaigns such as Nike, Inc., Coca-Cola and Toyota. She has painted the covers for two albums by musician, Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose and Hang Cool Teddy Bear.

Julie was the winner of the Chesley Award for Artistic Achievement in 2008. She also came first in animal category in the Art Renewal Center's 2011-2012 International Salon with the painting "Order of Wolves".

She also designed the cover art for Meat Loaf's albums Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose and its first single "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and the album Hang Cool Teddy Bear.

In 2007, Bell and Vallejo illustrated the poster for Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters.

A yearly calendar of 13 paintings by Bell and Vallejo is produced by Workman Publishing.

Bell and Vallejo reside in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She has two sons, Anthony Palumbo and David Palumbo, both of whom are also professional painters.

Bell is a former nationally ranked competitive bodybuilder.

source: wikipedia

Boris Vallejo

Boris Vallejo [born January 8, 1941] is a Peruvian-born American painter. He emigrated to the United States in 1964, and he currently resides in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He frequently works with Julie Bell, his wife, painter, and model.

Vallejo works almost exclusively in the fantasy and erotica genres. His hyper-representational paintings have graced the covers of dozens of science fiction paperbacks and are featured in a series of best-selling glossy calendars. Subjects of his paintings are typically gods, monsters, and well-muscled male and female barbarians engaged in battle. Some of his male figures were modeled by Vallejo himself, and many of his later female characters were modeled by his wife. His latest works still retain heavy fantasy elements, but lean more towards the erotic rather than pure fantasy themes.

Vallejo has been named as the artist guest of honor at Renovation, the 69th World Science Fiction Convention.

Vallejo commenced painting at the age of thirteen and had his first illustration job at the age of sixteen. After emigrating to the United States in 1964, he quickly garnered a fan following from his illustrations of Tarzan, Conan The Barbarian, Doc Savage and various other fantasy characters [often done for paperback fiction works featuring the characters]. This led to commissions for movie poster illustration, advertisement illustration, and artwork for various collectibles - including Franklin Mint paraphernalia, trading cards and sculpture. Along with Bell, Vallejo presents his artwork in an annual calendar and various books. Vallejo's work is often compared to the work of Frank Frazetta, not only because it is similar stylistically but also since Frazetta painted covers for paperbacks of some of the same characters.

Vallejo's preferred artistic medium is oil paint on board, and has previously used digital media to combine discrete images to form composite images. Preparatory works are pencil or ink sketches, which have been displayed in the book Sketchbook. He and Julie Bell have worked on collaborative artworks together, in which they sign the artwork "Boris and Julie" or "Julie and Boris".

Vallejo has created film posters for numerous fantasy and action productions, including Barbarella [1968], Knightriders [1981], Q [1982], and Barbarian Queen [1985]. He has also illustrated posters for comedies, notably National Lampoon's Vacation [1983], European Vacation [1985], and Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters [2007], co-created with Bell.

[source: wikipedia]