Mark Zug (born 1959) is an American artist and illustrator, who worked with the Septimus Heap series and Harlan Ellison's adaptation of I, Robot. Zug has illustrated many collectible card games, including Magic: The Gathering and Dune, books, and magazines. He lives in Pennsylvania.https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/mark-zug
Biography Early life Zug began drawing as a child. As a teenager, he was influenced by authors such as Frank Herbert and J. R. R. Tolkien. He later worked as a class-A machinist at a factory while exploring a musical career.
Rise to prominence Inspired by Frank Frazetta and the illustrators of the Brandywine School, Zug returned to art in 1985. He attended the Pennsylvania School of Art and Design, but did not graduate. He capped his tutorial by ghost-painting covers for Western novels and doing penciling work on historical comic strips. His first big break came in 1992 illustrating Harlan Ellison's I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay, for which he also did 160 pages of fully painted comics. He fulfilled a long-held dream of illustrating Frank Herbert's Dune universe in the form of Last Unicorn's collectible card game of the same title, which proved a springboard into game illustration.
Present Zug's works have appeared on the covers of novels by authors such as Tanith Lee, Diana Wynne Jones, and Hilari Bell, as well as series like Dragonlance. His work can also be found on the covers of Star Wars comics and the magazines Popular Science, Dragon, Dungeon, Duelist, Inquest, Star Wars Gamer, and Amazing Stories. He is associated with many fantasy game products and brands, such as Shadowrun, Battletech, Dune, and Magic: The Gathering.http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&artist=+%5B%22Mark%20Zug%22%5D His work is included in the book Masters of Dragonlance Art.D'Ammassa, Don (January 2003). "Masters of Dragonlance Art". Chronicle 25 (1): 30.
Zug's first work with children's novels was illustrating the cover art and the inside pictures for the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage. Zug has illustrated all seven released novels.
Critical acclaim Zug has received a number of awards for his artwork. His work for the Nancy Yi Fan novel Swordbird was acclaimed, saying that "Mark Zug's black-and-white drawings repeat strategically, offering a visual underpinning to the characters and storyline."Swordbird by Nancy Yi Fan - Mark Zug illustration He was nominated for a Chesley and received the Jack Gaughan Award for Best Emerging Artist in 2001.
Bibliography Novels"Bibliography for Mark Zug"
2005: Septimus Heap, Book One: Magyk 2006: Septimus Heap, Book Two: Flyte 2007: Septimus Heap, Book Three: Physik 2008: Septimus Heap, Book Four: Queste 2009: Septimus Heap, Book Five: Syren 2011: Septimus Heap, Book Six: Darke 2013: Septimus Heap, Book Seven: Fyre
Interior art
1995: Illustrations (I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay) 1999: A Whisper of Caladan Seas 2000: "High Jump" by Ben Bova in Amazing Stories
Cover art
1995: I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay 1996: Gold Unicorn 1997: Red Unicorn 1998: Amazing Stories, Fall 1998 2003: The Alabaster Staff 2003: The Best of The Realms 2003: Wild Robert 2005: The Shattered Land 2005: Septimus Heap, Magyk 2006: Septimus Heap, Flyte 2007: Septimus Heap, Physik 2008: Septimus Heap, Queste 2009: Septimus Heap, Syren 2011: Septimus Heap, Darke 2013: Septimus Heap, Fyre
Dungeons & Dragons 2001: Lords of Darkness (cover) 2007: Rules Compendium
Awards Mark Zug has won the following awards for his outstanding works:
2001: Jack Gaughan Award for Best Emerging Artist 2005: Chesley Award for Best Gaming Related Illustration (2005)"Chesley Awards", Chronicle (October 2005) 27 (9): 10–11. 2010: Illie Award for "Helium" presented at IlluXCon
References
External links Official Mark Zug website
Mark Zug bibliography