{{Short description|American artist (born 1958)}} {{Distinguish|Julia Bell}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox artist | name = Julie Bell | image = JulieBell.jpg | caption = Bell in April 2005 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|10|21}} | birth_place = Beaumont, Texas, U.S.<ref name=SFE/> | website = {{URL|borisjulie.com}} | spouse = Boris Vallejo }}
'''Julie Bell''' (born October 21, 1958) is an American fine artist, illustrator, photographer, bodybuilder and wildlife painter. Bell is also a fantasy artist and a representative of the heroic fantasy and fantastic realism genres. Bell has won Chesley Awards<ref>{{cite web| title = Chesley Awards & Nominations, Julie Bell| url = http://www.artcyclopedia.com/awards/julie-bell-chesley.html| website = artcyclopedia.com| date = 2009–2014 | access-date = April 24, 2023}}</ref> and was the designer of the Dragons of Destiny series. She also won first place awards in the Art Renewal Center International Salon, which bestowed on her the title "ARC Living Master".<ref>{{cite web| title = Julie Bell, ARC Living Master| url = http://www.artrenewal.org/artists/julie-bell/7499| website = Art Renewal Center| access-date = April 24, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/natashagural/2019/04/18/earthly-otherworldly-themes-collide-captivate-in-lush-paintings-of-artist-who-awed-marvel-comics/?sh=187acaa8322a|title=Earthly, Otherworldly Themes Collide, Captivate In Lush Paintings Of Artist Who Awed Marvel Comics|website=Forbes|access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref>
== Early life == Bell was born on October 21, 1958, in Beaumont, Texas. She attended five different high schools, studying painting and drawing.<ref name="Whitmore">{{cite web| title = Biography, Julie Bell| url = https://rehs.com/eng/default-artist-bio-page/?fl_builder&artist_no=536&sold=1| website = Rehs Contemporary Galleries| last= Whitmore |first= Janet, Ph.D. | access-date = April 24, 2023}}</ref>
In her youth, she was fond of bodybuilding. She took part in various competitions and received national recognition, which later influenced her to portray beautiful and muscular women.<ref name="Whitmore"/> In 1978, Bell married writer and academic Donald E. Palumbo.<ref>{{cite web| title = Julie Bell paints animal images alive with the rhythms of the natural world| url = https://www.southwestart.com/featured/bell-j-nov2017| website = Southwest Art| last= Kolpas |first= Norman | date = 16 October 2017| access-date = April 26, 2023}}</ref> During their eleven-year marriage, she gave birth to two sons, Anthony and David Palumbo, who subsequently also became professional artists. In 1989, she met Boris Vallejo, whom she later married.
==Career== Bell has painted the cover illustrations of more than 100 fantasy and science fiction books and magazines since 1990.<ref name="isfdb" />
In the early 1990s, she illustrated painted covers for video games as well as best-selling trading cards for the superheroes of Marvel and DC. A cover art image from the Sega Game Gear video game ''Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe'' would depict the semi-barbaric world that the game took place in; thus being entitled ''Savage Land'' by Bell herself.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe for Game Gear (1991) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/game-gear/ax-battler-a-legend-of-golden-axe |access-date=6 February 2019 |website=MobyGames.com}}</ref> She designed the Dragons of Destiny sculpture series, Mistress of the Dragon's Realm dagger series, as well as the Temptation Rides sculpture series produced by The Franklin Mint.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} Her art was also featured in the 1995 card game Hyborian Gates.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Krause Publications |url=http://archive.org/details/scryemagazineissue6aprilmay1995 |title=Scrye Magazine Issue 6 April May 1995 |date=April 1995 |language=English}}</ref>
She designed the cover art for Meat Loaf's 2006 album ''Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose'' as well as its first single "It's All Coming Back to Me Now".<ref>{{cite web |date=25 January 2022 |title=In Praise of Meat Loaf's Ridiculously Awesome 'Bat Out of Hell' Album Covers (Yes, All 3 of Them) |url=https://www.printmag.com/graphic-design/in-praise-of-meat-loafs-ridiculously-awesome-bat-out-of-hell-album-covers-yes-all-3-of-them/ |access-date=April 28, 2023 |website=printmag.com}}</ref>
In 2007, Bell and Vallejo illustrated the poster for ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters''.<ref>{{cite web |date=5 March 2007 |title=King of the Mountain |url=http://posterwire.com/king-of-the-mountain/ |access-date=6 February 2019 |website=Posterwire.com}}</ref>
In the 2012-2013 Art Renewal Center (ARC) International Salon, Bell won "the most awards in any one competition ARC has ever held", including First Place in the Imaginative Realist Category, First and Third Place in the Animal Category, Best Portrait Runner Up, two purchase awards, and two additional honorable mentions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artrenewal.org/Salon2012/Home/Index |title=9th Annual ARC Salon|website=Art Renewal Center|language=en-US|access-date=2023-04-26}}</ref> It was in 2013 that Bell was awarded the aforementioned "Living Master" title by ARC, that organization's highest artist designation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artrenewal.org/Blog/Month/201307 |title=New ARC Living Master|website=Art Renewal Center|language=en-US|access-date=2023-04-28}}</ref>
In November 2015, she was awarded the Mountain Oyster Club's Denise McCalla Memorial Top Choice Award.
Bell shares her studio in Pennsylvania with her husband, renowned fantasy artist Boris Vallejo.
==Honors== * Art Renewal Center, multiple 1st place awards and honorable mentions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.artrenewal.org/13thARCSalon/Artwork/ByCategory/27766|title=Speak Softly by Julie Bell|website=Artrenewalcenter.org|access-date=6 February 2019}}</ref>
==Books== * ''The Julie Bell Portfolio'' (1994) * ''Hard Curves: The Fantasy Art of Julie Bell'' (1995), with Hank Rose and Nigel Suckling * ''Soft As Steel: The Art of Julie Bell'' (1999), with Brian Aldiss and Suckling * ''Titans: The Heroic Visions of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell'' (2000), with Suckling, Bell, and Vallejo; also issued 2000 with main title ''Superheroes'' * ''Sketchbook'' (2001), with Suckling, Bell, and Vallejo * ''Twin Visions'' (2002), with Bell and Vallejo * ''Fantasy Workshop: A Practical Guide: The Painting Techniques of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell'' (2003), with Bell and Vallejo * ''Boris Vallejo/Julie Bell: The Ultimate Collection'' (2005), with Suckling, Bell, and Vallejo * ''The Fantasy of Flowers'' (2006), with Bell and Vallejo * ''The Fabulous Women of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell'' (2006), with David Palumbo, Anthony Palumbo, Bell, and Vallejo * ''Imaginistix: The Art of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell'' (2007), with Palumbo, Palumbo, Bell, and Vallejo * ''Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell: The Ultimate illustrations'' (2009), with Bell and Vallejo * ''Dreamland: The Fantastic Worlds of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell'' (2014), with Bell and Vallejo
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=isfdb> {{ISFDB name|21139}} (ISFDB). Retrieved 2014-12-19.</ref> <ref name=SFE> [http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/bell_julie "Bell, Julie"]. Revised October 22, 2014. ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (sf-encyclopedia.com). Retrieved 2014-12-19. Entry by 'GW', Gary Westfahl.</ref> }}
==External links== * {{official website}} * [http://borisjulie.com BorisJulie.com] * [https://rehs.com/eng/default-artist-page/?fl_builder&artist_no=536&sold=0 rehscgi.com] (biography)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Julie}} Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American women painters Category:20th-century American painters Category:21st-century American women painters Category:21st-century American painters Category:American artists' models Category:American female bodybuilders Category:American women illustrators Category:American fantasy artists Category:People from Beaumont, Texas Category:Painters from Texas Category:Pin-up artists Category:20th-century American sportswomen Category:21st-century American illustrators Category:20th-century American illustrators