Wayne Douglas Barlowe is an American science fiction and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

writer, painter, and

concept art Concept art is a form of visual art used to convey an idea for use in films, video games, animation, comic books, or other media before it is put into the final product. Concept art usually refers to world-building artwork used to inspire th ...

ist. Barlowe's work focuses on esoteric landscapes and creatures such as citizens of

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

and alien worlds. He has painted over 300 book and magazine covers and illustrations for many major book publishers, as well as ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...

'' magazine, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine, and ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

''. His 1979 book '' Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials'' was nominated in 1980 for the

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier ...

for Best Related Non-Fiction Book, the first year that award category was awarded. It also won the 1980

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the p ...

for Best Art or Illustrated Book. His 1991

speculative evolution Speculative evolution is a genre of speculative fiction and an artistic movement focused on hypothetical scenarios in the evolution of life, and a significant form of fictional biology. It is also known as speculative biology and it is referred ...

book ''Expedition'' was nominated for the 1991

Chesley Award 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 re ...

for Artistic Achievement. Barlowe has worked as a concept artist for movies such as ''

Galaxy Quest ''Galaxy Quest'' is a 1999 American science fiction comedy film directed by Dean Parisot and written by David Howard and Robert Gordon. A parody of and homage to science-fiction films and series, especially ''Star Trek'' and its fandom, the f ...

'' (1999), ''Avatar'' (2009), and ''

Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in '' More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). The character is a pastiche of Namor. Initially a ...

'' (2018), among others. He is known to work closely with

Guillermo Del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and '' The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for ...

, serving as a creature designer for the ''

Hellboy Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossover ...

'' film series and the head creature designer for ''Pacific Rim'' (2013). His work on ''Hellboy'' (2004) awarding him a nomination for the 2005 Chesley Award for Product Illustration. Barlowe was the creator and

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...

of ''

Alien Planet ''Alien Planet'' is a 2005 docufiction TV special created for the Discovery Channel. Based on the 1990 book '' Expedition'' by the artist and writer Wayne Barlowe, ''Alien Planet'' explores the imagined extraterrestrial life of the fictional plan ...

,'' a documentary adaptation of ''Expedition'' produced by

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...

in 2005. He has written two fantasy novels: ''God’s Demon'' (

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scienc ...

, 2007) and its sequel ''The Heart of Hell'' (2019).

References

External links

* * *
Alien Planet at DiscoveryChannel.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barlowe, Wayne Douglas Living people 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists American male novelists American science fiction writers American speculative fiction artists Science fiction artists Fantasy artists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American male artists