Russ Nicholson

Russ Nicholson
Russ Nicholson
	Fantasy art

Russ Nicholson (died 10 May 2023) was a British illustrator, best known for his black and white fantasy art.

Early life and education

Nicholson was born in Scotland, and studied at

Dundee University

). He moved to England in the 1970s where, save for a brief sojourn in Papua New Guinea, he lived for the rest of his life.

Career

Following graduation, Nicholson became a freelance illustrator, but found "the work was meagre, so I had to find a weekly paying job, this came in the form of an advertising sweatshop (so to speak) in London, with very little money. It was not the best of times." In order to survive, Nicholson took post-graduate training in order to become an art teacher and art college lecturer, which became his full time occupation for much of his life.^[1]

Fantasy artist

Nicholson became an important contributor to early fantasy game-related titles such as

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons,^[2]

including the cover art.

He illustrated the six original published "episodes" of the

Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay,^[2] Warhammer 40,000 and in their house magazine White Dwarf.^[3]

For over forty years Nicholson produced work for a wide range of companies and publishers, including

Hodder and Stoughton, TSR,^[4] Games Workshop, Hoggshead Publishing, DC Thomson, Le Grimoire and Scriptarium [fr]. His work has been reproduced in over twenty countries. In addition, he drew the album cover (False Weavers) for Santa Cruz anarcho-folk punk band, Blackbird Raum

.

From 2011 to 2020, Nicholson regularly published The Gallery: Art of Russ Nicholson, an illustrated blog of his work including explanations of his creative processes.[5]