VIRGIL FINLAY ART FOLIO

I hold Virgil Finlay's art in very high regard. His imaginative, ethereal illustrations and stunningly meticulous technique is rarely matched.

While his work spanned numerous genres in many different books and magazines, along with Lee Brown Coye and Margaret Brundage, I find his contributions WEIRD TALES to be among his finest.

This fanzine, published about two years after Finlay's death by Trek Publications of Texas showcases fine examples from across his subjects. Hard to see from this scan is the slick paper wrap-around cover and the interior pages printed on heavy card stock.

See more about Virgil Finlay HERE.

THE HALLUNCINATORY ART OF J.K. POTTER

"I've spent far too many years spending time taking pictures in graveyards to pass for normal. For me, there is no turning back."

-J.K. Potter

Admittedly a "sick and twisted human being", photographer Jeff Potter got himself immersed in horror, fantasy and other unsavory and outré subjects as a teenager, citing Ray Bradbury's The October Country as a life-changer.

Fresh out of high school he worked for Warren's CREEPY and EERIE doing paste-ups and color separations. It wasn't long before he realized that New York "proved to be more frightening even for me" and he moved back to his native Louisiana, the land of murky swamps and folklore.

After a friend gifted him a camera and showed him how to use it, he quickly adapted it to his own weird artistic expression. While working for a photo retouching company, he learned many tricks and techniques that would assist him in realizing his vision.

Heavy Metal (October 1979). Art by J.K. Potter.

His first professional cover illustration was sold to HEAVY METAL for their "Special H.P. Lovecraft Issue" (October 1979). Over the years, he has provided hundreds of his unique photo illustrations for numerous publishers, including Arkham House.

This feature from ART? ALTERNATIVES #4 (February 1994) showcases his weird work.

BAMA'S FAVORITE ILLUSTRATION MODEL

Like many illustrators, James Bama drew from live models, and his favorite was a man by the name of Steve Holland. Mr. Holland had the rugged good looks and physique that was perfect for the male-oriented themes that were widely popular on the cover of paperbacks and other media.

Holland's career spanned decades, and he is probably best known as being the model for James Bama's Doc Savage paintings. Bama called him, "the world's greatest model". This article is from ILLUSTRATION magazine (#73, 2021).

UPDATE: Per the comment, here's the LINK to the Steve Holland website. Some very interesting posts there, as well as a store where you can purchase not one, but three books on the great artist's model.