The Borisography: P

The Page of Pentacles
Page of Pentacles, Boris Vallejo Tarot This painting from the Tarot series was published in the March 2010 edition of Heavy Metal magazine.

No signature or date is visible in my copy of the image. I fear we must blame the magazine's Picture Editor for the loss of this information – most of these paintings are signed close to the edge so I'm guessing that it was outside the area that was actually published.

Pamati (1995)
Pamati, Boris Vallejo BJ.28
FPG.03
1996-May
Painted for the 1996 Fantasy Calendar.
Pandora (1989)
Pandora (1989), Boris Vallejo B2.03
CD1
1990-Oct
Painted for the 1990 Mythology Calendar.

Greek Mythology: As a divine jest, Pandora was given a box which she was told not to open. Pandora indeed opened the box, and out rushed all the woes of mankind. When she snapped the lid shut, all that was left was Hope.
Painted 1989.

Pandora (1990)
Pandora (1990), Boris Vallejo B3.14
BJ.32
Ladies
The story of Pandora is told above. The book Ladies also has a pencil drawing of Pandora.
Panty Raid (1991)
Panty Raid, Boris Vallejo B4.H5 Cover for the October 1991 edition of National Lampoon magazine.

Panty Raid - detail, Boris VallejoThe girl is aiming a gun; the youth has a bullet-hole under his left hand. The youths were modelled by brothers Anthony and David Palumbo, the sons of Julie Bell, Boris' second wife.

The other girl, with the rifle, is apparently a later addition to the painting - the door-frame is visible through her.

Paradise Alley
Paradise Alley, Boris Vallejo B4.13 This was painted as a poster for Sylvester Stallone's 1978 movie of the same name. As far as I can establish, the painting was only used on Spanish language movie posters (under the title La Taberna del Infierno.)
Parley (2005)
Trading, Boris Vallejo 2007-Oct A painting from the 2007 Fantasy Calendar.
Parting of the Sea / Parting Seas
Parting of the Sea, Boris Vallejo BJ.08 This was the first of a four-painting advertising campaign with a Biblical theme - presumably for NTE Electronics Inc (an electronic components supplier) if the logo on the box is anything to go by.

I can't tell if the painting is dated - as you can see this is a scan of the trading card but unfortunately the image is cropped partway through the signature. I would guess that it was painted in 1994 (on the basis that there are two other religiously themed paintings for that year.)

The image Felsa: Kala's Tale was produced by digitally combining this painting with a specially painted overlay.

Parting of the Seas / Parting the Seas overlay
Parting the Seas - overlay, Boris Vallejo CD2
TwinV.095
This is one of the artworks used to (digitally) convert Parting of the Sea to Felsa: Kala's Tale. Examination of the images show that other alterations (more overlays?) were also needed to produce the final result.

The above title was also wrongly used, in Twin Visions, for another overlay The Void which was also used in the same calendar.

A Parting of Ways (2009)
Out for a Walk, Boris Vallejo 2011-Nov A painting from the 2011 Fantasy Calendar,.

Passion Flower
Passion Flower, Boris Vallejo 2017-Centre This image from the 2017 Fantasy Calendar is a modified version of Flower Touch.
Passionate Battle (BJ)
Passionate Battle, Boris & Julie 2018-Aug Although it is featured in the 2018 Fantasy Calendar several things about the painting make me think that it was a private commission.
The Pattern Unravels (2002) (BJ)
Lost City, Boris & Julie 2004-Apr Apparently painted for the 2004 Fantasy Calendar. I say apparently because in recent years there has been a tendency to reuse paintings for the calendars so that, increasingly, it is difficult to tell whether or not they were originally produced for that purpose.
Peace
Peace, Boris Vallejo This charming drawing was found on Boris' and Julies's website in 2013 where it was offered for sale. It also appeared on their FaceBook page but no additional information was given unfortunately.
Peace and War (BJ)
Nueva Vida, Boris & Julie 2017-Apr Cover art for Curtis Oddo's self published 2015 album Nueva Vida (which translates as 'New Life'.) The painting was also used in the 2017 Fantasy Calendar.
Pedrum (1993)
Pedrum, Boris Vallejo B4.33
1994-Jan
Painted for the 1994 Mythology Calendar.

Celtic mythology describes Pedrum as an evil spirit of the mountains who lived in the heart of rocks. He would emerge on rainy days and capture unsuspecting travellers, sucking them into the rock and crushing their bones. The souls of the victims added to his strength. Pedrum was eventually defeated by a gorgeous woman warrior named Maline, who was armed with an enchanted hammer. At the moment of his death, the surrounding rocks changed back into the people he had slain.

Pegasus (1991)
Pegasus, Boris Vallejo 1992=Apr Painted for the 1992 Mythology Calendar.

Greek Myth: Pegasus was the winged horse who sprang from the "wise blood" of the Gorgon (moon goddess?) Medusa when she was slain by Perseus. When Perseus was flying home on the back of Pegasus, he rescued his future wife, Andromeda, from being sacrificed to a sea serpent. Pegasus is considered to be symbolic of a Hero's journey to heaven.

Pegasus at Dawn
Pegasus at Dawn, Boris Vallejo 2022.Nov This a a composite image created for the 2022 Fantasy Calendar. It is made up of two paintings from borisjulie.com, Flight of the Pegasus and Waiting for Pegasus, plus a few additional painted, foreground, rocks.
Penguin
Penguin, Boris Vallejo A cartoon used to illustrate a Julie Bell blog post, on 30 January 2010, under the title Food for a Cold Night. This related to an exremely cold day when it was 14°F (-10°C) and nobody felt like going shopping. The article gave the recipe for their meal made using available ingredients.

I assume this was drawn in 2010, immediately before Julie's post.

Perdition (2015)
Perdition, Boris Vallejo One of two paintings produced for the Gunslinger range of cigars from the Outlaw Cigar Co of Kansas. This was used as box art for their Perdition tobacco blend.

See Black Powder for the other artwork.

These paintings generated a brief interview in the trade magazine Cigar Press (vol VIII, issue I.) As well as providing the cover for this particular edition, it was also featured in the relevant article together with several other Boris paintings. See the book pages for more information.

Perfect Instants (1979)
Perfect Instants, Boris Vallejo BJ.63
CD1
Mirage
Painted for Mirage.

Can one possibly detect a bit of phallic symbolism there?.

Perit (1990)
Perit, Boris Vallejo 1991-Nov Painted for the 1991 Mythology Calendar.
Perra (2006)
Perra, Boris Vallejo Ult_Ill.015 One of several tattoo designs produced for a tattoo art company.
Persephone (1991)
Persephone, Boris Vallejo B3.55
BJ.87
Ladies
Main illustration for the story of Persephone in Ladies.

Greek Mythology: Persephone's beauty so bewitched Hades that he stole her away. Hera interceded on her behalf, so that she spends half her time with Hades and half her time in the world above ground; while she is above ground, Hera mourns and the world turns wintry; when she returns above ground, flowers bloom and plants grow.

See below for one of the pencil drawings from the story.

Persephone - drawing (1991)
Persephone 01, Boris Vallejo BJ.88
Ladies
One of the pencil drawings that accompanied the story of Persephone in Ladies.

See above for the painting.

Perseus Defeats Medusa (1988)
Perseus Defeats Medusa, Boris Vallejo B3.67
BoB.43
1989-Feb
Painted for the 1989 Mythology Calendar.

Greek Mythology: Perseus had been sent to destroy the terrible Medusa, a once-beautiful woman whose hair had been transformed into snakes by Athene. To aid Perseus in this quest, Athene gave him a highly polished shield to use as a mirror. Thus, in the fateful confrontation, he could avoid looking directly at the Medusa herself.

Pet Dragon (2003)
Messenger of Peace, Boris Vallejo Ult_Ill.100 Preliminary artwork for a Franklin Mint project that failed to get any further.
Pet Dragon (2007) (BJ)
Ladylove, Boris & Julie Ult_Ill.018 Unfortunately neither the book, nor web site, provide any additional information about this drawing.
Peter's Lady (2006) (BJ)
Peter's Lady, Boris & Julie Dland.095 A private commission by Boris and Julie. See Window of the Soul for a later portrait, of the same sitter, by Boris.
Phantasy Star IV (1994)
Phantasy Star IV, Boris Vallejo BoB.80
CD2
This painting was commissioned for the video game Phantasy Star IV (Sega, 1995.) The publication date is that for the USA - the game was originally released in Japan in 1993, the year before the painting was executed.
Phantom of the Sea
Conan of the Isles, Boris Vallejo B1.56
CD1
Boris2
1982-Apr
Cover for Conan of the Isles by Robert E Howard & L Sprague de Camp.

Painting is undated.

Phaser Fight
Star Trek: Phaser Fight, book cover Cover art for the Star Trek book Star Trek: Phaser Fight by Scott & Barbara Siegel (Pocket Books, 1986.)

Intended for the younger reader, this book differs from the usual novel in that it is a text adventure. The reader is presented with a series of narratives which end with them having to choose between a few courses of action (eg 'Run', 'Fight' or 'Do nothing.') The story resumes at a new page dictated by the particular choice. In this way a variety of different outcomes to the story are possible, not all of them being successful ones however.

Philip Campion (BJ)
Hot Sauce, Boris & Julie One of the promotional paintings produced for a Mountain DewAO gives more information.

The player illustrated here is Philip Campion who also uses the moniker Hot Sauce.

The Phoenix
The Phoenix, Boris Vallejo CD2 Poster art for the chinese film Wu zi tian shi featuring, amongst others, Richard Kiel (better known as Jaws in two James Bond movies.) The film was completed in 1978 but, according to IMDB, was not released until 1983 due to the lack of a distributor.

The English version of the film was entitled The Phoenix and, as can be seen from the thumbnail, the artwork was used to promote both the original and English versions of the movie.

Boris produced a second painting for this movie which can be seen at War of the Wizards.

I originally assumed that this had been painted 1982 or 1983 but I have since seen a magazine ad from 1979 which features this painting.

Phoenix - prelim (1981)
The Apprentice (1981) - preliminary art, Boris Vallejo Contrary to appearances, this was intended for a private commission rather than a book cover. Boris says that the client wanted something based on previous paintings but, after 42 years, he can't recall why things never progressed beyond the preliminary stage.

The title Phoenix is that provided, at Boris' behest, by the original purchaser of the artwork – presumably based on similarities to the 1991 calendar painting of the same name. I think however that The Apprentice is a more appropriate title.

The Phoenix (1991)
Phoenix (1991), Boris Vallejo B3.C2
CD1
1992-Centre
Painted for the 1992 Mythology Calendar.

Greek Mythology: The Phoenix is an immortal bird which is periodically consumed by fire and reborn from the flames.

Phoenix the Warrior (1988)
Phoenix the Warrior, advertisement Box art for the 1988 straight-to-video movie Phoenix the Warrior which is set in a post apocalyptic future where women battle to save the last surviving man! It starred Persis Khambatta, Kathleen Kinmont and Peggy McIntaggart. By all accounts the movie was so bad that it was good, with lots of unintended comedy.

The video was also released under the title She-Wolves of the Wasteland with very similar artwork by a different artist.

Piranha (1999)
Underwater, Boris Vallejo Imagix.056 I have no information regarding this painting but a modified version was used in the 2001 Fantasy Calendar under the title A Reunion.
Pisces, the Fishes (1987)
Pisces, the Fishes, Boris Vallejo B2.56
CD1
1988-Mar
A painting for the 1988 Zodiac Calendar.
A Place Beyond Man
A Place Beyond Man, Boris Vallejo B4.88
CD1
Cover art for A Place Beyond Man by Cary Neeper (Ballantine Books, 1977.)

One of Boris' first ten book-cover paintings. In his early days as an illustrator he often used himself as a model, and modelled all the figures here.

Playboy_Barbarian (1983)
Corkscrew, Boris Vallejo BJ.52
FAT 122
FPG.10
Verk
This Conan painting was commissioned by Playboy magazine as an illustration for an article by the author D Keith Mano. Entitled The Manly Arts,and published in the March 1984 edition, the article was a satyrical attempt to improve women's perception of the usefulness of men. I wouldn't like to comment on whether the attempt was successful.
Pluribus (1979)
Pluribus, Boris Vallejo Book cover for the distopian novel Pluribus by Michael Kurland (Ace Books, 1980.)
Poisoned Memories (1993)
Poisoned Memories, Boris Vallejo B4.15 Boris himself posed for this painting which was used as the cover for Poisoned Memories (Penguin/Roc, 1994) by Christopher Kubasik.

Painted 1993.

Poker Face (BJ)
Poker Face, Boris & Julie Dland.127 No information is held for this painting but the proportions suggest an advertisement or illustration.

The design of the figure is, apart from the hat, remarkably similar to Boris' two paintings for the Outlaw Cigar Co box art (Black Powder and Perdition) but it predates those by at least seven years.

Ponies (2007) (BJ)
Ponies, Boris & Julie Dland.185 This was a promotional piece for Doritos tortilla chips.
The Poochie-Oochies (1985)
The Poochie-Oochies, Boris Vallejo B4.27 The Poochie Oochies - detail, Boris VallejoOne of the advertisements for the Chess King clothing series.

Detail of a quite adorable Poochie-Oochie:

Porthole (1993)
D.R.T., Boris Vallejo BJ17 Cover for Battletech: D.R.T. by James Long (Penguin/Roc, 1994.)

The model for the main figure is Ron Coleman, once Mr Olympia, a personal trainer at Boris' gym and frequently a subject in his paintings.

Power (1987)
Power (1987), Boris Vallejo BJ.80 One of a series of ads for Joe Wieder.
Power (1988)
Power (1988), Boris Vallejo B4.80 Although featured in the Boris 4 trading card set the card provides no information about the paining.
Power Armadillo (2003) (BJ)
Toolbox, Boris & Julie FW.112 Toolbox - trademarkThis is presumably a promotional piece but I am unable to ascertain exactly who it was for.

Currently, a slightly modified, monochrome, version is the registered trademark for the Texan company Kirkland Audio LLC, under their brandname Probox. Though the company was created in 2013 it is possible that their predecessor was Boris and Julie's original client but I have been unable to establish whether this is actually the case.

Power Drink (1987)
Power Drink, Boris Vallejo Another of Boris' paintings promoting Joe Weider's range of fitness supplements.
Power of the Flower (2005)
Power of the Flower, Boris Vallejo 2006-Dec This painting was used in the 2006 Fantasy Calendar.
Power Struggle (2008)
Power Struggle, Boris Vallejo 2009-Sep Painted for the 2009 Fantasy Calendar.
Powerful Protector
Powerful Protector, Boris Vallejo 2019-Mar Originally painted as cover art for the 2016 Italian language book Stolti Mortali!. To obtain the required square format the image was modified by stretching the lefthand side and both stretching and duplicating the righthand side.
Predators (1990)
Hebat, Boris Vallejo B2.09
BoB.T2
1991-Mar
Painted for the 1991 Mythology Calendar.
Prelude to Foundation (1987)
Prelude to Foundation, Boris Vallejo Wrap-around cover for Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Doubleday, 1988.) Doubleday also produced a limited edition of 500 copies of the book which were signed by the author. These editions didn't have a dust-jacket but instead had a frontispiece showing the front cover art.
Prem the Warrior (2008) (BJ)
Prem the Warrior, Boris & Julie Ult_Ill.061 A private commission for a gentleman who was in the position of having to raise his grandson.
The Price of Glory (1992)
The Price of Glory, Boris Vallejo B4.52 Cover art for Battletech: The Price of Glory by William Keith Jr (Penguin/Roc, 1993.)
Priest-Kings of Gor
Priest-Kings of Gor, Boris Vallejo Cover art for Priest-Kings of Gor by John Norman (Ballantine Books, 1976.)
Priestess of the Sun (2009) (BJ)
Priestess of the Sun, Boris & Julie A private commission for a Ukrainian client who stipulated that it should be an ancient Peruvian scene hence the inclusion of Machu Picchu in the background and the corresponding title.
Prime (1994)
Prime, Boris Vallejo Dreams.062
Titans.040
Ult_Coll.106
Painted as the cover of a new issue of Prime magazine. The magazine also included a centrefold of the image without the cover text.
Primeval Princess
Primeval Princess, Boris Vallejo 1982-Dec
B4.37
CD1
Diva.027
FAT.040
FABV.033
FPG.05
Ult_Coll.070
Painted for Portal Publications for use as a wall poster. In addition it was also used as the cover for The Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejo.

The common title Primeval Princess is straight-forward enough but I must admit to being baffled by the title So What? used in Diva.

Painted 1977.

Princess / Princess Leia (2004) (BJ)
Princess Leia, Boris & Julie Ult_Ill.017 Although it is not stated, this is clearly a drawing of Carrie Fisher in her role of Princess Leia from Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi.

One assumes this was a private commission.

The Princess of Ice (2000)
The Princess of Ice, Boris Vallejo Fant_Work
Knife
One of the Franklin Mint paintings for their series of Fantasy Collector's Knives.

Bearing in mind that the girl is sitting on ice, she is not wearing the amount of clothing you might expect – such is the world of fantasy art!

Prisoner (1979)
Perfect Instants, Boris Vallejo BJ.63
CD1
Mirage
Painted for Mirage.

Can one possibly detect a bit of phallic symbolism there?.

The Prisoner (2004)
It, Boris Vallejo 2006-Apr This is a painting from the 2006 Fantasy Calendar. I have no record of it being used anywhere else other than the Boris and Julie website borisjulie.com though, at the time of writing, it no longer appears there.
The Prisoners (1979)
Some Summer Lands, Boris Vallejo B2.87
CD1
Cover for Some Summer Lands (Pocket, 1979,) by Jane Gaskell, which is the 5th and final book in her Atlan Saga.
Prisoners No More (2011)
Prisoners No More, Boris Vallejo 2012-May Used for the month of May in the 2012 Fantasy Calendar.
A Private Cosmos
A Private Cosmos, Boris Vallejo B3.C5
CD1
FABV
WOB.11
Book cover for the book of the same title (Ace Books, 1977) by Philip José Farmer.

Painted 1977.

Privateers (1985)
Privateers, Boris Vallejo Cover art for Privateers by Ben Bova (Tor Books, 1985.)
The Professor (BJ)
The Professor, Boris & Julie A promotional painting of Grayson Boucher for Mountain Dew which was used under his nickname The Professor. See AO for additional information.

Probably painted in 2005 or 2006.

Professor X (1994)
Professor X, Boris Vallejo '94 This artwork was painted for the X-Men '95 Ultratrading card set.

Professor Xavier was the founder of the X-Men. According to Stan Lee the character's physical appearance was inspired by that of Yul Brynner.

Prometheus (1997)
Prometheus, Boris Vallejo CD2
TwinV.060
In greek mythology, Prometheus was credited with stealing fire and giving it to humanity. As a punishment, Zeus sentenced him to eternal torment: he was bound to a rock whereupon an eagle ate his liver. Overnight, his liver would regrow only to be eaten again by the eagle the following day. This cycle was repeated until he was eventually rescued by Heracles (Hercules).

I have no information as to why this was painted.

Prophet (1995)
Prophet, Boris Vallejo Cover art for Prophet #1, a comic book.
The Protest
The Protest, Boris Vallejo FABV This was a personal piece and, according to FABV, was painted in 1967.
Psi-Lord (1996)
Psi Lord, Boris Vallejo MM96.34 Another Marvel character painted for the Marvel Masterpieces 1996 (Fleer/Skybox, 1996) trading card set. This is a depiction of Franklin Richards in his teenage guise of Psi-Lord.
Psylocke (1994)
Psylocke (1994), Boris Vallejo '94 This was painted for the trading card set X-Men '95 Ultra (Fleer, 1995.)
Psylocke (1995)
Psylocke (1995), Boris Vallejo MM96.DI2 A later portrait of Psylocke, this time for the Marvel Masterpieces 1996 (Fleer/Skybox, 1996) trading card set.
Ptero in the Mountains (1997)
Ptero in the Mountains, Boris Vallejo 1999-Oct Painted for the 1999 Fantasy Calemdar.
Pterodactyl (1985)
Pterodactyl, Boris Vallejo B4.21 One of the Chess King clothing advertisements.
Pumping Iron (1986)
Workout, Boris Vallejo B2.14
B2.Promo
SG.Red
Presumably a promotional piece or magazine illustration.

This was used on card 14, and a promotional card, for the Boris Series 2: The Fantasy Continues trading card set. It was also used on a redemption card for the Boris & Julie: Strokes of Genius card set - lucky finders of this card were able to redeem it for a 22" x 29" (overall size) lithographic print.

Punisher (1996)
Punisher, Boris Vallejo MM96.36 One of the many Marvel characters painted for the Marvel Masterpieces 1996 (Fleer/Skybox, 1996) trading card set.
Purple & Black (1995)
Domino, Boris Vallejo MM96.11 Domino is a character from Marvel's X-Force series. This was painted for the Marvel Masterpieces '96 trading card set.
Pygmalion and Galatea (1988)
Pygmalion and Galatea, Boris Vallejo B3.35
1989-Nov
Painted for the 1989 Mythology Calendar.

Greek Mythology: Pygmalion, King of Cyprus, was a talented sculptor. Among the statues he carved was one of a beautiful woman that he named Galatea. In time he fell wildly in love with Galatea. She made all the flesh-and-blood women he knew seem drab in comparison. Aphrodite, the Goddess of Beauty and Love, took pity on the lovesick Pygmalion. She turned Galatea into a living woman and presided over the marriage of the two.
Pymalion is modelled by Greg Hildebrandt, one of the twin Hildebrandt Brothers, also great artists.

Pyramids (1987)
The Vengeance of Orion, Boris Vallejo B3.49
BoB.67
CD1
Cover for Vengeance of Orion, by Ben Bova (Tor Books, 1988.)
Pyramids (1999) (BJ)
Pyramids (1999), Boris & Julie This is the background painting which was digitally modified to become Freedom in the 2001 Fantasy Calendar.
The Pythoness (1991)
The Pythoness, Boris Vallejo B3.C1
1992-Jul
Painted for the 1992 Mythology Calendar wherein it is entitled The Pythoness but the name Thytonese is used on the trading card - this strikes me as being not so much a typing error but more a case of somebody not being able to read someone else's writing.


Page last updated: 2023-08-26