Ed Valigursky

by Arnie Fenner

As we count down to Spectrum Fantastic Art Live I’m swamped with all the details and logistics of getting ready for the show and haven’t the time to compose my normal rambling-style of post this week. Next time, for sure.

One of the things we’ve been posting on the SFAL Facebook page are little reminders to remember the artists in our field who paved the way for the rest of us. It just seems like the right thing to do…and we occasionally do it here on Muddy Colors and that’s what I’m going to do today.

So a salute to Edward Valigursky [1926-2009]. He never won the Hugo (I’m not sure if he was ever nominated) and was never invited as a guest to a convention as far as I know, but he was most certainly one of the most prolific illustrators for our field. Ed painted covers for pulps, magazines (both within genre and without), and paperbacks and even produced trading cards for Topps. Following his retirement from illustration be began a fine arts career specializing in aviation subjects. You can read his bio here, and, of course, enjoy a few examples of his art below.