Don Ivan Punchatz Explained

Don Ivan Punchatz (September 8, 1936 – October 22, 2009) was a science fiction and fantasy artist who drew illustrations for numerous books and publications, including magazines such as Heavy Metal, National Geographic, Playboy, and Time.^[1] He illustrated album covers, and provided the cover art for session guitarist Steve Hunter's debut solo album, Swept Away. Characterized as a "skilled hyperrealist with a penchant for the fantastic and absurd" and "elegantly weird", he produced cover art for books by Harlan Ellison, Isaac Asimov and others.^[2]

Punchatz was born in Arlington, Texas. In 1970, he started the SketchPad Studio there, where he trained dozens of apprentices (known as "the elves") and came to be known as the "Godfather of Dallas Illustration."^[2] During 1993, id Software hired him to create the Doom video game package art and logo. The result was named the second best video game box art of all time by GameSpy.^[3] His son, Gregor Punchatz, has worked on special effects for several films, and also created monster sculptures for Doom.^[1]

Punchatz suffered a cardiac arrest on October 11, 2009^[4] and died in an Arlington hospital on October 22, 2009.^{[5] [6]}

Partial cover art bibliography

• A Barnstormer in Oz
• Dayworld
• Dayworld Rebel
• Foundation and Empire
• Gods of Riverworld
• Second Foundation
• Worlds of the Federation

Video game cover art

• Doom (1993)

External links

• A high-resolution scan of The Ultimate Doom poster
  • New York Times obituary
• Spectrum's article on Punchatz

Notes and References

1. News: Wilonsky, Robert. Robert Wilonsky. Dallas Observer. From National Lampoon to National Portrait Gallery, Paying Tribute to Don Ivan Punchatz. October 27, 2009. June 16, 2018. November 30, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20091130171235/http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/10/from_national_lampoon_to_natio.php. dead.
2. News: Don Ivan Punchatz, Fantasy Illustrator, Dies at 73. subscription . Heller, Steven. The New York Times. November 2, 2009. September 16, 2019.
3. News: Turner, Benjamin. GameSpy. Top 10 Best Box Arts. July 27, 2004. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121128095456/http://www.gamespy.com/articles/533/533968p10.html. November 28, 2012.
4. Web site: DON IVAN PUNCHATZ (1936-2009). Spectrum Fantastic Art. October 25, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20091031220006/http://www.spectrumfantasticart.com/full_content.php?article_id=1070&full=yes. October 31, 2009.
5. News: Spangler, Anthony. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. TCU teacher left his mark in the art world . October 24, 2009. October 25, 2009.
6. News: Don Ivan Punchatz, Doom Box Artist, Dies at 73. Kotaku. Good, owen. November 1, 2009. June 16, 2018.