Kinuko Y. Craft (born 1940) is a Japanese-born American contemporary painter, illustrator and fantasy artist.
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Craft came to the United States in 1964 where she continues to live and work today. Her art has included paintings for the book covers of many well known fantasy authors such as Patricia A. McKillip, Juliet Marillier, Tanith Lee and many others. She has also designed opera posters, fairy tale books and painted cover art for many national magazines such as Time, Newsweek and The National Geographic.
Craft illustrated the cover art for the older editions of Shakespeare's work for the Folger Library. She has a passionate love of fine art and draws on a deep knowledge of art history in creating her work. She is most inspired by the works of Leonardo Da Vinci, the Pre-Raphaelites and Symbolist painters. Her paintings are done with a combination of artist oils and watercolor on clayboard gesso panels.
Craft is a graduate (BFA 1964) of the Kanazawa College of Art (Kanazawa Bijutsu Kōgei Daigaku). She later studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she continued her studies in design and illustration. A majority of her earlier work was for the editorial and advertising market. Since the mid-1990s, she has concentrated her efforts on art for fantasy book jackets, opera posters and has illustrated eight picture books (fairy tale and classic mythology)designed for children and young readers. She has collaborated with many authors and worked with her husband, Mahlon F. Craft and her daughter, Marie Charlotte Craft. Her original paintings, drawings and limited edition prints are represented exclusively by Borsini-Burr Gallery in Montara, CA.
Her art has been licensed on calendars, posters, greeting cards and other consumer goods. Her fairy tale books are currently distributed in the USA, other English language countries, Europe, Greece, China and Korea. She has received numerous awards for her work, including several gold and silver medals from The Society of Illustrators, New York City, NY. Ms. Craft’s work can be found in the collections of National Portrait Gallery (United States), The Museum of American Illustration in New York City, The National Geographic Society, and other corporate collections.
She has been nominated 5 times since 2001 as a Best Artist for the World Fantasy Awards.[1]
Craft has also lectured and given workshops at numerous art schools, universities and organizations, including Art Center College of Art and Design, San Jose State University, Rhode Island School of Design, etc. [2]