It has been several years since I have had the honor of offering the illustrative works of Darrell K. Sweet - he was among the first artists I represented in sales of original paintings, in the 1990s.  Now, and for the first time since his passing, collectors will have the opportunity to acquire some of his original illustrations, choosing from the selection of paintings to be offered from his estate.

       

 

     Originally from New Jersey, Darrell graduated with a

degree in fine arts from Syracuse University in  1956 and by

1974 had begun a highly successful career in commercial

art, working for Ballantine Books.  Shortly after he moved to

Del Rey Books, the separate imprint of Ballantine Books,

established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester

del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. Between 1975 and

2005, Sweet produced over 3000 images, for books, trading

cards and calendars - most of them signed with his distinctive initials "DKS"

     Among the many commissions he completed over those decades, he was perhaps most famous for providing cover art for the epic fantasy saga "The Wheel of Time," (save for the final book, which postdated Sweet's death). He was also the cover artist for the well-known Xanth series of fantasy novels by Piers Anthony, the Pelbar Cycle by Paul O. Williams, the Saga of Recluce series by L. E. Modesitt, Jr., the Runelords series by David Farland, and Stephen R. Donaldson's series The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. While during the 1970s and through the 1980s he worked primarily for Ballantine/Del Rey, in time he worked for most of the major publishing houses, among them Baen, Bantam, Tor, Random House, Dell, Warner and others.  His believable, realistic and wholly distinctive style of painting was a perfect match to many popular authors of the day.

     Sweet was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1983, and for many years was honored at Science Fiction Conventions in the Northeast, and then, after his move to Cody Wyoming, by conventions in the West.   His collector trading card set was published by FPG in 1994, and his solo art book "Beyond Fantasy: The Art of Darrell K. Sweet" was published by Friedlander Pub, 1996.  

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     Please contact me if you have any questions about the works I have available for sale, or if you have interest in licensing his images; there are many available that are not shown here.  You may contact me at wowart@wow-art.com or (703) 220-6234