The Borisography: H

The painting is undated but was apparently produced in 1978,.

The 2007 campaign was based around six online videos which parodied the TV series Knightrider. The painting was used to advertise the videos rather than the car itself.

This piece is listed by the old Imaginistix website as being by Julie Bell and images from there, and the CD, do indeed bear her signature but the game's box clearly proclaims that the artwork was by Boris, it carries his signature thereon and it advertises the optional poster "… By Boris Vallejo." Since the box and poster versions are signed in different places I surmise that the original artwork is probably unsigned. I had noticed that other artwork featured on the website also carried signatures where none had existed before so my conclusion is that the error originated with Imaginistix and has not subsequently been corrected.

The Julie Bell version is dated 1991 whilst the Boris one is undated. That year is consistent with the game's release.

Judging by the size of the stadium I would expect Magpies to refer to Newcastle United but I know of no team known as the Hares, so perhaps this is nothing to do with UK football at all.

Boris posed himself for the two male figures.

The painting is undated but was probably painted in 1976.

This artwork appears in the 2019 Fantasy Calendar and may have been painted for that purpose.

The trading card also gives the title as Hawaii 3-O. Assuming this to be a play on the name of the TV series Hawaii 5-0, I've assumed the last character to be zero rather than the capital letter O. (I'm aware that the name of the revived TV series did use a capital O but this wasn't until many years after (2010) both the painting and trading card were produced.)

This character first appeared in 1964 as a villain but quickly, eight months later, became a member of the Avengers.

The painting is undated but would have been done in 1973.

In The Ultimate Illustrations Boris explains that his model, Danielle Anjou, was not actually wearing the headdress – it existed solely in his mind.

FABV shows several stages of the designing and painting of this artwork.

Julie Bell painted the cover for issue #1.

This was also produced as a 24" x 36" poster.

MicroVisions is a charity run by the Society of Illustrators to provide scholarships for students. Every year 12 participating artists are each invited to produce, and donate, a 5" x 7" painting. The resulting artworks are ultimately sold at auction with all proceeds going to the charity.

Boris was one of the chosen few for 2010 and this was his contribution.

Greek mythology: Hercules defeats the Thracian boar.

Greek Mythology: The twelfth labour of Hercules called for him to descend into Hades. There he was to abduct the fierce three-headed dog Cerberus, who guarded the entrance to the land of the dead, and bring him back to King Eurystheus. The king had set Hercules this task in order to be rid of the man for good. But Hercules, the strongest of men, subdued the terrible Cerberus with his bare hands.

It is probable that the painting was completed in 2016 because the album was first released in mid-February of the following year.

The models were Boris and Danielle Anjou.

The book was originally published in 1975 with a different cover, probably a UK edition since the author was a Scot.

I assume the artwork was painted in 1975.

Greek Mythology: Ladon was the hundred-headed serpent, one of the monstrous offspring of Typhon and Echidna; the Hesperides were the daughters of Atlas by Pleione or possibly Hesperis, or maybe it was Nix and Erebus (sorry, the legends are inconsistent.) Together they guarded the tree of the Golden Apples given by Gaia to Hera as a wedding present.

The painting is neither signed nor dated but Dreamland tells us that the artist was Boris.

I bought a copy of this book in the early '90s and although I have read it I cannot recall much of the tale or, indeed, my reaction to it. Having read several synopses of the story prior to writing this, I found that I recognised very little of the plot too. This may however be because, as I read elsewhere, it is apparently intended for younger, female readers.

For those that don't know, the donkey and elephant are the symbols of the american Democrat and Republican political parties respectively. If you haven't worked it out: Bill Clinton is a Democrat hence the unconscious/dead elephant.

In Greek mythology, the Hippocampus (more correctly Hippocampoi) was a marine, fish-tailed horse. Boris' version illustrated here is no doubt based upon the belief that they were the adult form of seahorses.

The female figure was modelled by Julie Bell.

The character was originally called Nemesis but after almost being killed he was fitted with near-indestructible armour and assumed the current name.

When returned by the publisher, this painting was not properly packed and was folded in half, damage which is clearly visible on the trading card version - the version illustrated here was taken from the book cover so doesn't exhibit the damage.

The player illustrated here is Philip Campion who also uses the moniker Hot Sauce.

Julie Bell painted the cover for issue #1.

This was also produced as a 24" x 36" poster.

This second painting of The Hulk shows the character in an unusually relaxed mood.

The Human Torch first appeared in 1939 in Marvel Comics #1. The original character was misnamed in so far as he was an android but, after a hiatus of many years, he was reinvented as a human mutant in 1961.

Greek Mythology: One of the monstrous offspring of the Titan Typhon and Echidna, this was a water-serpent with the body of a hound and heads numbering five to a hundred in various tales. Killing it was the second of Herakles' Twelve Tasks.
Painted 1991.