| John Schoenherr | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 5, 1935 New York City |
| Died | April 8, 2010 Easton, Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Illustrator |
| Spouse | Judith Grey |
| Children | Ian, Jenny |
John Schoenherr (July 5, 1935 - April 8, 2010) was an American illustrator.
Schoenherr may be best known as the original illustrator for Dune by Frank Herbert, creating the canonical images for elements such as sandworms. However, he is also very well known as a wildlife artist and children's book illustrator, with over forty books to his credit. Most of his black-and-white illustration work used the scratchboard technique, and he was long known as the only commercial artist who specialized in it. His paintings were often egg tempera, another unusual medium.
Among the books he illustrated are The Wolfling and Rascal by Sterling North (the latter of which received a Newbery Honor) and The Illustrated Dune by Frank Herbert. This last grew out of his work for Analog magazine, especially under John W. Campbell, Jr. and Ben Bova. He illustrated the original magazine serializations of Dune for them, as well as the covers for Anne McCaffrey's "Weyr Search" and "Dragonrider," which were later revised into the novel Dragonflight. His July 1975 Cover for Analog has been cited as influential in the designs for the Star Wars character Chewbacca.[1] He also worked for paperback and hardcover SF publishers like Ace Books and Doubleday.
His knowledge of zoology was very useful in creating alien creatures. He was a member of the American Society of Mammologists, Society of Animal Artists, and the Society of Illustrators NY.
Born in New York City, Schoenherr graduated from Stuyvesant High School,[2] and studied art at The Art Students League of New York with Will Barnet and at Pratt Institute. Schoenherr was a resident of Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey.[3] On April 8, 2010, he died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Easton, Pennsylvania.[4]