J. P. Targete
Many years ago a young man picked up a comic book and instantly knew what he wanted to become. Mesmerized by the images of heroes, villains, and fantastic worlds, he sought to join them by picking up a pencil and paper and creating his own worlds. With his imagination now set free, he was in a world with no bounds, no rules, and no end. J. P. Targete was born in New York on October 21, 1967, and grew up in Miami, Florida, where he began drawing at the age of five.
From the ages of ten to thirteen he began to discover Fantasy and Sci-fi Art. At the same time, popular films such as the Star Wars trilogies, sci-fi and fantasy novels and comic books also heavily influenced him. During his sophomore year at American High in Miami, Targete was accepted into a new high school program called P.A.V.A.C., a center for gifted children which was the child seed for the now renowned, New World School of the Arts, in Miami. At the age of sixteen, Targete, with the encouragement of his teachers at P.A.V.A.C. and his parents and fueled by his own endeavors, entered a local high school scholarship competition held by Scholastic, Inc. He won a full scholarship to the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City in 1985. There he would learn and endure the discipline he quotes "was born to do". At SVA he would learn about the great masters of old like Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens and many, many more. Using his love of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Art and his knowledge of the old masters, Targete got his first, professional commission from Avon books at age twenty. Though it wasn't sci-fi or fantasy, it opened the door to an ongoing (presently fourteen-years) art career.
Sought after for it's meticulous rendering and dynamic colors, Targete's art can be found on book covers for Avon books, Berkley/Ace Ballantine, Bantam, Tor, and a host of others. He has currently finished a Fantasy collectors’ plate series for the Bradford Exchange. His art has been displayed in the Spectrum annuals, "The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art." In 1999, his painting, "Wrapt in Crystal" by Sharon Shinn, was nominated for a Chesley Award. In 2000, his book cover painting, "Circle at Center" by Douglas Niles, won a Chesley Award for best paperback cover.
Some of his more popular images created for book covers include "Planet of the Apes-The Fall," Gregory Benford's "Foundation’s Fear," Greg Bear's "Foundation and Chaos," David Brin's "Foundation's Triumph;" also the popular selling epic series, "Thieves World" by Lynn Abbey, along with "Circle at Center" and "Worldfall" by Douglas Niles, and the "The Magic Worlds of the Lord of The Rings." Recently he also started doing illustration for RPG companies and concept art for video games and other media. Presently Jean Pierre Targete lives and works as a freelance illustrator in Miami, Florida. His work can be found on your local bookstore shelves, in his first art book "Illumina, The Art of J.P. Targete," published by Paper Tiger.
