Tim White Sci-Fi & Fantasy Art

Trading Post, by Tim White, 1976.

Tim White (Timothy Thomas Anthony White) is a British science fiction and fantasy artist, whose main focus is on commissioned artwork, primarily for book covers and magazine illustrations. As one of his generation's most successful fantasy artists, Tim White's paintings have become widely recognizable through their appearance on numerous book covers worldwide.

Born in Kent (1952), Tim White joined the Medway College of Art in 1968, where his unique detailed style was allowed to develop without commercial pressure, and he completed his course there in 1972. Leaving art college, Tim worked in several advertising studios. In 1974 his work was first used commercially on the cover of Arthur C. Clarke's The Other Side of the Sky, and since then, the artist has illustrated the covers of hundreds of books on themes of science fiction and fantasy by many well known authors (including Robert A. Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov, August Derleth, H. P. Lovecraft, Piers Anthony, Bruce Sterling) and has had his works published in many countries throughout the world.

Tim White's work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and anyone with a selection of science fiction works will doubtless have encountered his illustrations. Aside from book covers and magazine illustrations, his work has appeared in and on: computer games and animation, TV adverts, CD covers, video covers, trading cards, postcards, prints and even puzzles. Several anthologies of his work have been published. A list of which can be found below, please see art books.

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says: "Tim White has been celebrated as a representative of a new school of super-realists that began shaping British sf art in the mid-1970s, though Chris Foss and Jim Burns were equally influential, and there is a case for calling him the finest technician in this tradition, as his use of very fine detail imbues his paintings with a luminous clarity sometimes reminiscent of René Magritte (1898-1967) or (rather differently) of Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009). Between 1981 and 1986, he was nominated six consecutive times for the British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Artist, receiving the honour in 1983. While he continued working in the 1990s, though, the results generally seemed less inspired, and he has been relatively inactive since the year 2000."

Art Books:

The Science Fiction and Fantasy World of Tim White

The first collection of work by Tim White published by 'New English Library' in hardcover in 1981 with a co-edition published by 'AMP' in France. This title was re-issued by 'Paper Tiger' in 1988 in both hardcover and soft cover. A4 format, 144 pages.

Chiaroscuro: The Art of Tim White

The second collection of work by Tim White published by 'Paper Tiger' in 1988 in both hardcover and soft cover. The artist presents 105 of his fantasy paintings in Chiaroscuro, showcasing his impressive breadth of style: futuristic land- and spacescapes, urban and pastoral, peopled and unpeopled; humans, aliens and winged, four-footed, scaled and mechanized creatures; scenes of beauty, devastation, horror and, always, wonder. Paintings include the cover from Clive Barker's Weaveworld and Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. A4 format, 144 pages.

Mirror of Dreams

The third collection of work by Tim White published by 'Norma Editorial' (Spanish and English Edition) in 1994. Soft cover. 11.75 x 9.8 inches format, 80 pages.

Art:

Note: All artwork and images copyright © Tim White. Please do not use images without the permission.