Epic Character Designs And Traditional Illustrations That Prove Hand-Painted Art Is Timeless

Barry E. Jackson is a renowned American production designer, commercial artist, and writer with a career spanning several decades in illustration and film. He shares his extensive portfolio of traditional oil paintings, portrait studies, and career retrospectives with over 37,000 followers on Instagram, where he also teaches popular online Zoom art classes.

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Jackson began his illustrious career as a commercial artist and album cover designer. He is credited with creating iconic album artwork for legendary musicians such as Neil Young, The Grateful Dead, The Band, and ZZ Top. Furthermore, he painted highly recognizable theatrical release posters for cult classic films like Escape from New York, Street Trash, and Alligator, as well as the original box art for the famous Wasteland video game.

Transitioning into the film and animation industry, Jackson made significant contributions as a production designer, starting with Ralph Bakshi’s animated feature Cool World. He famously worked as one of the key production designers on DreamWorks’ original Shrek and was later nominated for an Annie Award for his work on Firebreather. Today, his Instagram serves as a vibrant gallery where he showcases a mix of his classic animation character designs, recent figurative oil paintings, and personal gallery shows.