David O'Connor
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David O’Connor studied illustration at Brighton beginning in 1975 and began working as a full-time illustrator in 1978. Over the years, he produced numerous book covers, as well as illustrations for magazines and advertising campaigns. In the mid-1990s, he contributed artwork to Magic: The Gathering. Around that time, the illustration industry shifted dramatically with the rise of digital tools, and David’s traditional style fell out of fashion. He transitioned into graphic design, producing brochures, books, websites, and museum graphics for many years.
More recently, a wave of private commissions from TCG fans brought David back to painting. He now happily balances illustration and graphic design work.
He’s thrilled to be contributing new illustrations to Sorcery: Contested Realm and hopes to continue painting for as long as there is a demand for his work.
Preferred Mediums
David: I have worked in oils for as long as I can remember. I find the flexibility of the medium to be perfect for what I do. It enables me to produce detailed work as well as vibrant and controllable color. I have produced several paintings of birds which captures the detail and expression that I like to engage with.
Notable Achievements
David: As a young artist and still at college, I produced many drawings for the Radio Times. At the time this had a readership of about 13 million. This was a fantastic start for an illustrator and a wonderful experience.
I then worked on a book project for about a year producing 17 large color paintings for a book on Egyptian mythology for the publisher Peter Lowe. I then joined the Artist Partners agency and produced many book covers for many different genres with most of the major London publishers.
The changing fashion in illustration style put many of my contemporaries out of work in the mid 1990s, but this gave me an opportunity to switch to graphic design. This was a wholly different way of working, but I took to it enthusiastically and worked for many arts organizations in the South of England. I also wrestled with web design which was pretty challenging at the time, but has now become much more manageable. I have also worked for many well known museums in the area.
Coming back to painting and combining both areas of work has been really exciting.
Find more of David's work @ https://davidoconnorstudio.com/
