Terese Nielsen

Last updated
Terese Nielsen
Born (1966-03-11) March 11, 1966 (age 58)
Aurora, Nebraska, U.S.
Education Art Center College of Design
OccupationArtist

Terese Nielsen (born March 11, 1966) [1] is an American freelance fantasy artist and illustrator.

Contents

Early life, education, and family

Nielsen was born in Aurora, Nebraska, in 1966. [1] Nielsen's brother, Ron Spencer, is also an artist. [2]

In 1984 Nielsen followed her brother and relocated to Rexburg, Idaho, where they studied art at Ricks College. [2] Upon completing her studies there, she studied at the Art Center College of Design (ACCD) in Pasadena, California, graduating with "great distinction" in 1991. [2] [3] [4]

She married Cliff Nielsen, another ACCD graduate, and they illustrated Ruins (1995); they have since divorced. [1] She has four children and resides in Temple City, California, with her wife. [2] [5]

Career

Landmark Entertainment hired Nielsen to help design its themed amusement parks, and DC and Marvel Comics hired her to illustrate several superhero trading cards. [3] She illustrated Marvel graphic novels, one of which was Ruins , which she did with her then-husband, Cliff Nielsen. [2] For Topps, she painted several Xena covers, as well as Star Wars covers for Dark Horse. [3]

Nielsen illustrated the graphic novella that was included as part of the 1993 video game Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers . In a favorable review, Scott A. May wrote, "Nielsen's dark, disturbing visions carry over to many of the game's hand painted back-drops, drawn from a gloomy palette of deep red, blue, and black." [6] In the video game genre, her influence can be seen in Sierra's Gabriel Knight series, and in her work for 3DO's Meridian 59 , and she worked with Mythic Entertainment creating the look for the advertising campaign promoting the interactive internet game Dark Age of Camelot . [3]

She began working for Wizards of the Coast in 1996. [3] Nielsen has gained a fan following mainly because of her illustrations for the trading card game Magic: The Gathering . [7] Nielsen has produced art for both Magic and Wizards of the Coast's other products since 1996, in addition to her work as an illustrator of book covers & interiors and movie posters. She has served as a juror for the Spectrum Awards. [8] She created several images for the Harry Potter Trading Card Game, released in 2001. [3]

In reviewing her work "Savant" in the Wildstorm Gallery collection released in 1996, critic Joseph Szadkowski wrote, "Imagine British artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti tickled into a mood by a Sex Pistols album to fully appreciate the Nielsen style." [9] Szadkowski also praised Nielsen's work in the Marvel Comics Code of Honor series (1997). [10]

She created the look for the Sembia series of Forgotten Realms novels, and for Greg Keyes' Age of Unreason series published by Del Rey. [3] Endorsed by Lucas, she was involved in several Star Wars pieces for The New Jedi Order, also published by Del Rey. [3] Nielsen did the cover artwork for the Dungeons & Dragons settings Jakandor, Land of Legend and Jakandor, Isle of Destiny in 1998 and illustrated the covers of three issues of Dragon .[ citation needed ]

In 1999 the Alderac Entertainment Group published the Gamemasters' guide for the 7th Sea role-playing game, with all art covers since then (main guides and supplements) primarily painted by Nielsen. Also in 1999, she received a nomination for a Chesley Award for Best Gaming-Related Illustration for her illustration of the Magic: The Gathering card "Ertai, Wizard Adept". [11]

Nielsen was a Gen Con artist guest of honor in 2014. [12]

Nielsen has contributed art to the digital collectible card game Hearthstone .[ citation needed ]

Controversy

On June 18, 2020, during the "Weekly MTG" Twitch stream, Wizards of the Coast revealed that they had ended their relationship with Nielsen and that "the last product that will have any reprint art" by her would be released in the coming fall. [13]

This action by Wizards coincided with some fan concerns over Nielsen's alleged views, notably regarding transgender people, her liking or retweeting alt-right activists and conspiracy theorists. Nielsen also gifted and signed some of her art to QAnon and conspiracy-focused YouTube channel Edge of Wonder. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David A. Cherry</span> American artist

David Cherry is an American artist, author, and illustrator of science fiction and fantasy and has also done substantial work as a marketing artist, concept artist, and 3D modeler in the game production industry. Cherry served as Lecturer and Head of the Art Department as well as Head of the master's degree Program for artists at The Guildhall at SMU, a graduate college dedicated to studies for people who want to work in the game production industry. Cherry was also an attorney, as well as a past president of the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists (1988–1990). He has been nominated eleven times for Hugo Awards, and 18 times for Chesley Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Guay</span> American painter

Rebecca Guay is an artist known early in her career as an illustrator, commissioned for work on role-playing games, collectible card games, comic books, as well as work on children's literature. Guay subsequently turned primarily toward gallery work, opening her first solo exhibition in 2013 at the R.Michelson Gallery.

Ron Spencer is an American illustrator whose most famous work has been for the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering.

The Chesley Awards are the "pinnacle award" for art in the science fiction and fantasy genre. Established in 1985 by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, the awards recognize individual artistic works and achievements during a given year. The Chesleys were initially called the ASFA Awards, but were later renamed to honor famed astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell following his death in 1986. The awards are presented annually, typically at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Bell</span> American artist (born 1958)

Julie Bell 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 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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randy Post</span> American illustrator

Randy "rk" Post is an illustrator of fantasy publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Lockwood</span> American fantasy and science fiction artist (born 1957)

Todd Wills Lockwood is an American artist specializing in fantasy and science fiction illustration. He is best known for his work on the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, and for his covers for the books of R. A. Salvatore. His art has also appeared in books from Tor Books, DAW Books, and on magazine covers, including Satellite Orbit magazine in 1984–1985, Asimov's Science Fiction, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact, Realms of Fantasy, Dragon Magazine, and Dungeon Magazine.

Jody A. Lee is a professional fantasy artist from San Francisco known best for her book cover illustrations.

Susan Van Camp is a fantasy artist, best known for her work on various role playing games.

Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, known as the Brothers Hildebrandt, are American twin brothers who worked collaboratively as fantasy and science fiction artists for many years. They produced illustrations for comic books, movie posters, children's books, posters, novels, calendars, advertisements, and trading cards. Tim Hildebrandt died on June 11, 2006.

Cliff Nielsen is an American book illustrator and comic book artist. The Internet Speculative Fiction Database credits him with cover art for about 500 book and magazine covers published since 1994 Nielsen is best known for his work on projects such as Star Wars, The X-Files, Chronicles of Narnia among many projects including advertising campaigns, designs, and magazines. His illustrations have been recognized for their excellence by the Society of Illustrators, Print, and Spectrum among others. Feature articles focusing on his work appear in design publications and fanzine magazines. Nielsen has been an international speaker on digital art and has served as a judge for the Society of Illustrators and a variety of professional illustration award programs. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robh Ruppel</span> American artist

Robh Ruppel is an American artist best known for his work on role-playing game products. Critic Joseph Szadkowski of The Washington Times has referred to him as a "horror genius".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debbie Hughes</span> American artist

Debbie Hughes is an American artist specializing in science fiction and fantasy illustration. Her work has appeared in over 150 publications.

Elizabeth T. Danforth is an illustrator, editor, writer, and scenario designer for role-playing games and video games. She has worked in the game industry continuously since the mid 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Fields</span> American artist

Fred Fields is an American artist whose work has appeared largely in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game from TSR.

Stephen A. Daniele is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.

Mark A. Nelson is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games and comic books. Nelson's style has been described as "carefully articulated".

Michael Komarck is a fantasy artist. His work has been featured in many roleplaying games, board games, book covers, and collectible cards. Komarck produced the official art and calendars for George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.

Magali Villeneuve is a French illustrator, freelance fantasy artist, and fantasy author. Her art has been used for official games and products set in many large fantasy universes and franchises, including Magic: The Gathering, A Song of Ice and Fire, Star Wars, Warhammer, The Lord of the Rings, and Call of Cthulhu.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gary Westfahl. "Nielsen, Terese". Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Bio". tnielsen.com. Hidden Kingdom. November 3, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Author/Artist Bios: Terese Nielsen". wizards.com. Wizards of the Coast. 2009. Archived from the original on February 24, 2009.
  4. ↑ Felt, Kevin (November 17, 2007). "Painter of 'Magic' cards inspiring random acts of kindness". San Gabriel Valley Tribune .
  5. ↑ Nielsen, Terese (December 1, 2016). "An Interview With Artist Terese Nielsen". krcu.org (Interview). Interviewed by Jason Brown. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  6. ↑ May, Scott A. (1994). "Entertainment choice—Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers". Compute! . 16 (6): 88–9.
  7. ↑ Ednalino, Percy (September 4, 2000). "And tattoos, too: 'New school' artists versatile", The Denver Post , p. G1.
  8. ↑ "9th Spectrum Art Awards". Science Fiction Chronicle. 23 (5): 6–7. May 2002.
  9. ↑ Szadkowski, Joseph (April 27, 1996). "Artistry at a low price: Masterfully drawn 90-card collection leads the pack", The Washington Times , p. B4.
  10. ↑ Szadkowski, Joseph (April 19, 1997). "Nazis, Daemonites and X-Men", The Washington Times , p. B4.
  11. ↑ "Chesley Award nominations". Science Fiction Chronicle. 20 (5): 5. April–May 1999.
  12. ↑ "Artist Guest of Honor". gencon.com. Gen Con LLC. 2014. Archived from the original on June 25, 2014.
  13. 1 2 "Wizards Ends Their Relationship with Terese Nielsen". Hipsters of the Coast. June 19, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.