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ARTIST G.O.H - DARRELL K. SWEETIf you’ve read much ScienceFiction or Fantasy in the last fortyfive years, you’ve almost certainlyhad a book with a Darrell K. Sweetcover in your hands.Since beginning his career as aprofessional illustrator in 1960,Darrell K. Sweet has had over 2000pieces of art published, includingthe covers of over 75 books fromthe New York Times Bestseller List.His style is instantly recognizable,full of craggy-faced wizards andg n o m e sw i t hb u s h yeyebrows,v i v i d l ycolored dragons, armoredknights on enormous highsteppingsteeds, and lonelylooking space travelers onbarren landscapes.Darrell attended SyracuseUniversity on a scholarshipand earned a Bachelor ofFine Arts degree. Aftergraduating Darrell did his military service, going onto become the head of the training aids section ofthe 1ST Training Regiment before being dischargedin 1959.Once he began his life as an artist for hire, Darrellquickly gained popularity and has since done workfor every major publishing house in the US andEurope. He’s illustrated entire series of novels, mostnotably Robert Jordon’s Wheel of Time novels andPiers Anthony’s Xanth novels. Along the way he’spainted book covers for all of the best known authorsof the field including Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov,Poul Anderson, Jack Chalker and many others –including, of course, our Guest of Honor BarbaraHambly.A collection of his work entitled Beyond Fantasy:The Art of Darrell K. Sweet was published byFriedlander in 1996 in both hardcover and softcover.The book is currently out of print, and copies sell fordouble or more of the cover price in the collectors’market.His work hasn’t been limited tobook covers. His art has beenused for calendars, trading cards,role playing games, the RomanticCastles of Europe collectors plateseries, advertising, the WyomingFish and Game department, theNew Jersey bicentennial, and onand on. Likewise, he hasn’t limitedhimself to Science Fiction andFantasy and he’s currently workingon a series of western paintings forthe openings of the “MountainTrails” galleries in Wyoming andNew Mexico. To his knowledge,his original paintings are includedin private collections in thirty fivestates and in five European countries.In addition to his many Artist Guest of Honor andother convention appearances, his awards andnominations, his exhibitions and “one man shows” inplaces like New York,Philadelphia, Seattle,Nashville, Austin andAtlanta, Darrell’stalents have beenrecognized throughinvitations to teach.He’s given lectures atTrenton State Collegeand SyracuseUniversity (his almamater), where hetaught the Summer Art Program. Recently he’sbeen teaching close to home by giving a course inacrylic painting for the Art League in Cody, Wyomingwhere he lives with his wife Janet and son Darrell R.Sweet, an artist and sculptor.You can see some of the work of the Sweet familyat their official web site www.sweetartwork.com.We’re sure you’ll enjoy meeting our Artist Guest ofHonor Darrell K. Sweet, seeing some of his originalworks in person and having the opportunity to hearhim speak about his amazing career as aprofessional illustrator of the fantastic.Photo and art courtesy: Darrell Sweet15