The Borisography: T

The painting is undated but as the book was published in January 1985 I think it safe to assume that it was painted in 1984.

Cover art for Talisman (Penguin/Roc, 1994,) a collection of stories in the Earth Dawn series, edited by Sam Lewis.

Painted, per FABV, in 1976.

The painting is undated but it is known that it was painted together with seven (that's right - a total of eight) other Tarzan paintings in March 1977! If you think that's a lot of paintings for one month I should add that Boris also did one other painting in the same month.

Although it is undated it is known that this was painted in 1977.

Here's a close-up of the tattoo to help you appreciate the amazing artistry involved.

No signature or date is visible – I suspect that they were lost due to cropping of the picture.

Boris has done cover paintings for several of these books.

According to Imaginistix this is a composite image with the figure of LeBron James actually being a photo.

According to Julie Bell's Instagram account this was commissioned for an article about the group in the December 2006 edition of the magazine Maxim, thereby giving rise to one of its alternative titles.

Sweet Chastity is the innocent, pink-haired heroine of the eponymous strip-cartoon series in the magazine who, inevitably, ends up in a state of undress. For this particular edition, six artists (Boris, Julie Bell and four others) were each asked to paint a pin-up of her and this was Boris' interpretation of her.

Norse Mythology: Idun, Goddess of Youth, was carried off by Thiassi the Giant in the guise of an eagle. Thiassi had plotted this abduction with Loki in order to wrest the Golden Apples of Youth from Idum. But deprived of their precious fruit, the Gods began to wither and age. Therefore, they decreed that the traitorous but resourceful Loki (disguised as a falcon and under threat of painful death) rescue Idum and bring her back to the safety of Asgard, where she might again tend the tree on which the apples grew.

A jewellery company made a one-of-a-kind gold pendant based on this image and gave it to Boris as a gift. They had contemplated a line of pendants based on Boris' work, but the project was not completed.

MicroVisions is a charity run by the Society of Illustrators to provide scholarships for students. Every year 12 participating artists are each invited to produce, and donate, a 5" x 7" painting. The resulting artworks are ultimately sold at auction with all proceeds going to the charity.

Boris was one of the chosen few for 2010 and this was his contribution.

Detail is given of the little brown splodge: .

Norse Mythology: In a moment of drunkenness, Krungnir the Giant challenged Thor the Thunder God to a fight. Krungnir then decided to improve his chances of defeating Thor by having an even larger giant (nine miles and one furlong high) built out of clay. During the confrontation, Krungnir hurled a huge whetstone at Thor. But he had not counted on Thor's magic hammer, which collided with the whetstone, smashed it to bits, and went on to cleave Krungnir's skull in two. The clay man, seeing this, trembled so violently that he disintegrated into dust.

Also used as promotional card for the Boris With Julie card set.

This is as close to a family protrait as we're likely to get, the models being Julie Bell, Boris (violin) and Julie's two sons Anthony and David Palumbo. They are also the four artists responsible for the Tarot series of paintings. Although Boris, his first wife Doris and their two children, Maya and Dorian, often featured in his paintings I not aware of them ever appearing together in a family group.

Workman Puzzles (that's the same Workman as produces the calendars) have brought out a 26⅜" x 18⅞" (W x H) puzzle utilising this painting. However, apart from cropping the top and bottom of the picture they have also stretched the left and right edges to produce the horizontal format.

The illustration in FABV seems to exhibit some damage to the sky area. This is now of academic importance since recent images show that the top of painting has been removed leaving it with an approximate 3:4 aspect ratio.

The female model was Boris' first wife, Doris.

Painted 1976.

Polynesian Mythology: Tinirau was a god of the ocean and fish, also known as "the swallower". He had a love affair with the golden Sun Goddess, Hina.

This is an early piece of a genre Boris is not fond of (because of the excess of clothing.) Book cover for Ballantine Books.

Painted 1976.

A modified version was used in the 2010 Fantasy Calendar under the title The Sirens of Sarumea.

The painting is signed but not dated.

Painted 1976.

A version, edited for the sake of modesty, was used in the 2023 Fantasy Calendar under the title Cosmic Entanglement.

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.

The sources for this image show a curious white object, at the start of the road leading to the tower, which is missing from the book cover. Closer examination reveals what appears to be a piece of (self adhesive?) paper that had become attached to the painting!

The car illustrated, a Toyota Tacoma, was in production from late 2004 whilst the AMA Motocross sponsorship began in 2005. This would suggest that the undated painting was produced in one of those two years. My image is dated 2008 which gives the latest possible year for the artwork.

Like the other images in the series, this one is undated.

I'm sure that the faces are those of real riders but I cannot say who they are. I also assume the cobras are also of some significance but, again, I cannot say what it is.

Curiously, the Boris & Julie website has this listed as being by Julie Bell whilst the original artwork is listed as a joint production (and was signed to this effect in the original advertisements.) I have since discovered that when used on the cover of the Spring 2009 edition of Heavy Metal it was also accredited to the two artists so I am confident that the artwork should appear in this index.

According to Peruvian legend, Mama Ocllo and her consort Manco Cápac were the founders of the Inca empire. Boris' painting depicts an entirely non-legendry meeting between the couple and a dragon, taking place at Machu Picchu.

See Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo for Boris' 1988 calendar painting of the duo.

The painting also appears in the book Fantasy Art Now edited by Martin McKenna (I L E X, 2007) for which Boris wrote the foreward.

Various illustrations of the painting have been stretched at the top (and, I suspect, at the bottom) to change an almost square painting into a vertical format. Not only that, the point at which the stretching commences varies from one source to another – two examples are shown together with the original (on the left.)

The commission for this cover was originally given to Boris' friend John Buscema who was responsible for drawing Conan on the cross. He did not however feel comfortable with the painting so Marvel asked Boris to complete the design and paint it.

The painting is undated but would have been completed either at the end of 1974 or early in 1975.

I have seen the question asked "Which tail belongs to which being?" I can tell you, from a study of the characters' fins, that the tail on the right belongs to the triton (the male one, in the background.)

The painting is, atypically, not dated, but the card set gives the year 1971 whilst the 1981 calendar says 1977. The latter date is in keeping with the publication of the book so I have assumed it to be correct.

The title is evident from the scene depicted: a maiden on a dragon rescuing a helpless he-man from the fearsome monster.

This painting appeared on the old Imaginistix website as a Julie painting, complete with signature and dated 1991, but the game's box clearly shows Boris' signature. My understanding is that Julie Bell was commissioned to paint the artwork but before it was complete some alterations were requested so, with Boris' collaboration, this painting was produced. Apparently all signatures were added digitally because the completed artwork appears to be unsigned. Several years later, Julie finished her first painting as Soldier of Tomorrow.