Ed Binkley has worked as a professional illustrator and concept artist for nearly three decades. He has illustrated and designed over forty book jackets and magazine covers, and his work has appeared in various juried publications and exhibits including ten editions of Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, and a Gold Medal Award for the upcoming issue Spectrum 17. His work was juried into Print Magazine’s National Design Annual, and he was invited by the Society of Illustrators to participate in "The Best of Spectrum" exhibit at the Museum of American Illustration in New York. Recently he was invited to join the online gallery at Tor.com, which features today's most prominent fantasy and science fiction artists, and his work was featured in an online interview conducted by Tor/Forge Executive Art Director Irene Gallo. He was invited this year to participate in "Star Wars Visions," a project being developed by George Lucas and LucasFilms, Ltd., and his illustration for the project was selected for the Lucasfilms Ltd. debut poster unveiled at ComicCon International in San Diego. Binkley's work toured North America, Europe, and Japan with “The Book, Jacket, and Journal Show” of the Association of American University Presses, and he was awarded Best Magazine Cover Illustration at the 2000 annual convention of the Milwaukee Press Club.
He holds BFA and MFA degrees in printmaking and drawing, and since 1995 he has been a Professor at Madison College in Madison, Wisconsin, where he is the Program Director for the Animation & Concept Development Program. He lives near Madison, Wisconsin with his wife, two children, and a big dog.
“I have been drawing since I was four years old, and I never seriously considered any other career path. It had always been my natural, intuitive reaction to life's events, and I am fortunate to have made it my profession as well.
“My illustrations are based on simple principles of basic drawing skill and composition. They generally follow a traditional progression from concept-sketches to compositional rough to finished illustration. I work entirely digitally today, but with techniques I practiced for decades in traditional media —
pencil and paper. I believe that careful composition and solid drawing are
fundamental to good illustration.
“My list of artistic heroes changes over the years, but I have favorites: Rembrandt above all, then Albrecht Durer, Hans Holbein, and Jan Van Eyck; the British Victorians J.W. Waterhouse, Lawrence Alma Tadema, and Frederick Leighton; early illustrators Arthur Rackham, N.C. Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish, Franklin Booth, John Bauer, and Alphonse Mucha; and many
contemporary artists including Andrej Dugin, J. B. Monge, Daniel Merriam, Peter Milton, and many currently active concept artists.
“I love multilayered, allegorical literature, and I have a special fondness for Shakespeare, Flannery O'Connor, Cormac McCarthy, Robertson Davies, William Golding, and the miraculous book Little, Big by John Crowley. This book has had a profound effect on my thinking and my life, and I sincerely recommend it to anyone interested in exploring the lore of alternate worlds just beyond the surface of our own. In another life I want to be a movie director and create such gems as Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? by the Coen brothers, The Dead by John Huston, The Iron Giant, and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring.
“I am indebted to the quiet wisdom and work of my wife Lisa. She has provided advice, encouragement, and support for twenty-five years. I have also learned more about being an artist and about teaching than college ever taught me from my friends and colleagues Jeff Dewitt, Chris Gargan, and John Ribble. Their students seldom fully realize what an opportunity it is to study with them.”
