Luis Royo Biography

From 1972 to 1976, Royo took part in a series of collective painting exhibitions on a national level. In 1977 he created large-format paintings, using mixed techniques, which were exhibited in several cities.

In 1978 he started drawing comics for different fanzines, and in 1980 his works were exhibited in the Angoulême Fair.

Between 1981 and 1982, his comics were published in both the Comix International and Rambla magazines, and also, occasionally, in El Víbora and Heavy Metal.

1983 marked the beginning of his career as an illustrator with NORMA Editorial, and his works were often published worldwide. He worked in the USA, England, Sweden, etc., creating commissioned covers for books for publishers such as Tor Books, Berkley Books, Avon, Warner Books, Bantam Books, etc. He also created covers for American magazines, including Heavy Metal and National Lampoon, and also European ones, such as Cimoc, Comic Art, Ere Comprimée, Total Metal and others; he also made a few video and video game sleeves.

In 1985, while he continued to work as an illustrator both in the States and Europe, the Colección Rambla published a comic drawn by him. In 1986 Ikusager Ediciones S.A. published Desfase, an experimental comic album.

From 1990 on, he increased the amount of free works, while continuing with his commissioned works.

In 1992 in Spain, NORMA Editorial published the book Women, which was composed of selections from the illustrations he had drawn during the last eight years. Soleil Productions published the French edition, and Edition Comic Forum the German one. He also had a small exhibition showing his originals.

In 1993 Comic Images published a trading card collection called From Fantasy to Reality which included some of Royo's illustrations.

In 1994 in Spain, NORMA Editorial published a new art-book, Malefic, which was also published by Soleil in France, Hazard in Italy and Konemann in other countries. Women was also reprinted, and Penthouse USA devoted an article to the book.

From 1995 on, his commissioned works for book covers from American companies such as Tor, Berkley or Avon were extended to others, including Ballantine, Nal, Daw, Doubleday, Harper Paperbacks, Zebra, Fasa Corporation, Pocket Books for the Star Trek series, works for Penthouse Comix, Marvel’s Fleer Ultra X-Men, etc. These same illustrations and other original creations were used as book and magazine covers both in Europe and Eastern countries. His illustrations were, at this time, begining to appear in different formats: calendars, posters, t-shirts, CD covers, mouse pads, etc., as well as trading card collections, such as The Art of Heavy Metal. His third exclusive trading card collection, The Best of Royo, was also published in 1995.

In 1996 one of his drawings was used as the Penthouse cover in its American and German editions, which also included an article focusing on Royo. Another article devoted to his illustrations appeared in the Italian Stampa weekly magazine, and also in the American and German Airbrush-Action and Penthouse Comix. He won the Silver Award SPECTRUM III: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, and published his third art book with NORMA Editorial: Secrets. NBM printed it for American-speaking countries. In collaboration with Heavy Metal, NORMA Editorial also printed his portfolio Warm Winds.

In 1997, Heavy Metal, the magazine that usually published his works on covers and calendars, dedicated its Gallery to him, and commissioned him to create the cover for the magazine’s twentieth anniversary, as well as a series of illustrations focused on the F.A.K.K.2 character (Julie Strain), created by Kevin Eastman. Comic Images launched two trading card collections, Royo Secret Desires (Royo’s fourth series) and Artists Choice (together with other authors). Women and Malefic were published in the U.S., and the latter was reprinted by NORMA Editorial.

In 1998 he created his next art-book, III Millennium. In this book, he expressed his personal view on the end of the century. The so-called Black Tarot was also published, as well as the 1999 calendar for Heavy Metal and his fifth trading card collection, also called III Millennium.

In 1999 his new art-book, Dreams, was published and presented in the Barcelona Comic Fair. It is a collection of all the commissioned illustrations created by Royo over the last ten years. Also in 1999, Inteleg launched a vinyl sculpture based on the cover of Malefic, the production of which was personally supervised by Royo.

In the latter part of 1999, a new art-book, Prohibited Book, was published. It was a book with a completely different mood from the rest of his works; it was more erotic and explicit than ever. The tome, published in a deluxe format smaller than usual, included many illustrations revealing a startling sensuality never before seen by Royo’s fans.

Boris Vallejo Biography

Vallejo was born in Lima, Peru. His father was a wealthy lawyer. Vallejo got interested in arts at an early age, although, at first, he wanted to pursue a career in another field. He studied the violin for seven years with thoughts of becoming a famous performer one day.

However, he turned his back on the arts and participated in an introductory course for medical school for two years. Later he would make good use of his anatomy studies.

His friends saw how well he could draw and encouraged him to enroll in applied graphics at the National School of Fine Arts, Peru. It was at the beginning of his career when he was awarded a prize for being the best graduate student, and he was given an offer to study in Florence, Italy.

Vallejo, however, refused to go to Europe; he was attracted by New York. So, in 1964 he arrived in America with 80 dollars, unable to speak English, like one of Balzac's heroes, to conquer the city with his knowledge and talent.

Fortune favored him. He met some of his fellow-countrymen, who had immigrated to the States before him, and they helped him to find cheap accommodation and a job in the advertising Department of a large company. After working at the New York headquarters of the company for about six months, he met his future wife Doris.

It took him two years before he turned his back on the office and became a free-lancing graphic artist. For eight years, he accepted every task he was offered, whilst learning the iron laws of publishers and the press.

It taught him a lot, and he learned how to vary styles rapidly, deliver on time and work quickly. In fact, working without thinking became a necessity when he could not afford the time to wait for inspiration that may be days or even weeks away.

It was the publisher Marvel Comics that took notice of his placards and greeting cards first. A year later he was working for the even more famous "Ballantines Books," where he made a name for himself.

The genre he represented met with widespread recognition, and Vallejo became one of the most famous and popular science fiction/fantasy artists.

He has since done a great volume of work for the Fantasy field, having worked for virtually every major publishing house with a science fiction/fantasy line. Boris has also illustrated for album covers, video box art and motion picture advertising.

His mastery of oil painting is immediately and abundantly clear to anyone who looks at his work, and his classic sense is as much an homage to the old masters as it is to his contemporaries working in the Fantasy genre.

Vallejo is the uncrowned king of this genre.

Vallejo, and 'Vallejoism,' is a real invention. It works well just as it is, since its fans, of which there are quite a few, like it just as it is.

Hajime Sorayama Biography

According to Sorayama: "Unlike art, illustration is not a matter of emotion or hatreds, but an experience that comes naturally through logical thinking." In 1978 he started drawing robots, and a year later, these female figures began to surface publicly. While Sorayama's finely tuned technique is superbly suitable for a wide range of subjects, his favorite remains the erotically charged form of a naked woman.

1983 Book-Sexy Robot, Genko-Sha.

1984 Book-Pin-up, Graphic-Sha.

1985 Book-Venus Odyssey, Tokuma Communications. Video: Illustration video, Fuji Television.

1988 Book-Sexy Robot, Taco, Berlin.

1989 Book-Hajime Sorayama, Taco, Berlin. Hyper Illustrations and Hyper Illustrations 2, Bijutsu Shuppan-Sha.

1993 Book-The Gynoids, Treveille Co., Ltd., Trading cards. Hajime Sorayama collector cards, Comic Images.

1994 Limited Editions Graphic by Robert Bane Editions in USA. First major one man show at Tamara Bane Gallery in Los Angeles.

1995 Designed a Mechanical Warrior in a science fiction movie Space Trucker, Sorayama's erotic art starts appearing in Penthouse magazine monthly. Limited Editions Graphic by Robert Bane Editions. Created a sexy robot for HBO cable TV series T&A 2000.

1996 Limited Editions Graphic by Robert Bane Editions, Trading cards. Sorayama Silver & Satin, Comic Images. Sorayama CD-Rom Vol.1.

1997 Book-Naga, Sakuhin-Sha, Naga Deluxe (Special Limited Edition book with lithographs), Sakuhin-Sha. Post Card Book, Sorayama Call in Beauties, Bijutsu Shuppan-Sha, HBO S/F TV series and Star Trek Borg Romulan magazine cover. Sorayama CD-ROM Volume II. Spawn the Movie concept artist. Book-Naga, Sakuhin-Sha.

1998 Book-Torquere, Sakuhin-Sha. One Man Show at Tamara Bane Gallery in Beverly Hills, CA, USA. One-man show at ECR, Cologne, Germany. Lithograph-Sorayama Limited Editions, Robert Bane Editions.

1999 Book-Sorayama 1964-1999, Sakuhin-Sha.

2000 Book-Moira, Edition Kunst der Comics published in Germany and Sorayamart, Soleils published in France. Book Gynoids-Reborn Edition Treville. Book-The Gynoids Genetically Manipulated Edition Treville. Received Grand prize of Best Design Awards in Japan for Sony Entertainment Dog Robot "AIBO."

2001 One man show at Tamara Banee Gallery. Sorayama Sony Aibo Entertaiment pet robot becomes permanent collection of MOMA and Smithsonian Museum. Book-Metallicon Sakuhin-Sha. Aerosmith Album Cover Design/Artwork Just Push Play.

2002 One man show at BAPE Gallery in Tokyo, Japan.

Sorayama resides with his wife and two daughters in Tokyo, Japan.