Jeff Preston
Digital Design, Pencil & Graphite, Ink
Jeff Preston graduated from CCAD in 1985 receiving his BFA in Illustration with honors. It's a rich legacy that he is aware of every time he sits before his easel.
With clients ranging from Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, The United Methodist Publishing House, Miller/Coors, Dark Horse Comics, and Cintas, his almost three decades of work has been as diverse as his clientele.
Jeff Preston treats each assignment as if it were his last. More than technique and professional polish, the one word that best sums up his illustration is passion - something that can’t be put on with a brush or rendered in with a pencil. It connects with the viewer, the heart that goes into the illustration. It's there or it isn't, and there's no middle ground, so Jeff works diligently to produce it in each and every piece he creates.
Awards and accolades are not sought but still a welcomed acknowledgement that the path he has chosen is the right one. The earliest came in 1964, when the PTA of Gallatin, Tennessee had a yearly carnival and an art show for grades 1, 2 and 3. A blue ribbon for first place was awarded for an illustration he did depicting a caveman waving good bye to the dinosaur he had just killed. He was just five years old.
His work has appeared in the Spectrum Art Books, the annual global competition that selects the years best in contemporary fantastic art. In 2012 he was awarded the prestigious Rhondo Award for the "Best Cover of the Year" for Little Shoppe of Horrors #29: "The Definitive Dr. Phibes."
In 2006 he was inducted into the New York Society of Illustrators, where he also serves on the membership committee.