Biography of William McAusland

      I am a traditional media-using artist; ink, pencil, acrylics and sometimes oils. I have spent the past half decade producing financial and product illustrations, stock images, annual report covers, maps for golf courses and ski hills, cookie packages and software box covers, just to list a few categories. All my art owes it's existence to both Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels and Role Playing Games. Out of a deep appreciation for the speculative genres, I produced a body of work for the express purpose of promoting myself as a fantasy artist. This web site is the result. Of all categories of art, this is the one area I have always sought to work in, and the one I have neglected to approach sooner . I have been working in the role playing game industry for quite awhile, and have a sister site online for that market, but have now finally taken the time to submit my book cover site to you, the publisher.

Among my artistic influences are Kiff Holland, NC Wyeth, T.R. McPhee, The Group of Seven, Larry Macko, Frazetta, Howard Pyle, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Tom Lovell, James Gurney, Brom, Bill Willingham, Robert Genn, Bill Frymire, The Brothers Hildebrandt, plus all the TSR masters.

I work out of my fabulous home in the hills on the outskirts of Kamloops, with my wife, Brooke and two children, Jakob and Sabine. Kamloops is an ideal location for freelance illustration as it is large enough to offer all the services of a large city, yet also has the wilderness close at hand for reference and inspiration. This past fall we have had quite an invasion of black bears in our yard.

My education consists of a diploma of graphic design and illustration from Western Canada's top design school (Capilano College), as well as three years of one to one apprenticeship with Thomas R. McPhee, a world renowned gem carver. Self directed studies, however, have produced the greatest gains in my artistic development, and shall continue to foster my creative evolution in coming decades.

While I am a traditional artist as far as my product goes, I am a trained graphic designer, and have a fully equipped digital studio, working in both Mac and PC formats, with high speed web access and vast experience working with clients in both Canada and the United States. As with all my clients, it is helpful to consider me on the other side of your monitor or phone line, not an hour across the border.

I welcome plenty of feedback, so send me an email and tell me how you found this site, what you'd like to see in the future, where you're from, if you are a fan of Science fiction and Fantasy fiction or not, or any resources I should be aware of. Furthermore, I am going to be producing a 'Recent Works' email newsletter whenever I have a new work completed. If you would like to be on my mailing list for this newsletter, please let me know.

email William McAusland

Sincerely,
William McAusland
Illustrator
(250)374-2453