The Borisography: X

There are, so far, no titles starting with the letter X so instead I'm using this page to list artwork which is either untitled, has no known title or has not been identifed. Titles used here are purely for identification purposes - once an official title is available the images will be moved to the correct index pages(s.) Needles to say, I would be very pleased to receive any additional information regarding these artworks.

Untitled drawings from various books have not been included here but do appear in their various book pages.

Allies (original) (2012) (BJ)
Allies (original), Boris & Julie   I have no information for this painting, not even a name. I found it on Pinterest but the link to the original site, where the artwork had been offered for sale, was no longer functional, so I assume it was sold. This in turn suggests that it was a private commission.

The title used above is taken from the calendar version but, however, such versions usually have a different name.

Bay Con IV Girl (1978)
Bay Con IV Girl, Boris Vallejo Cover art for the Bay Con IV program of 1978. In this instance Bay Con is the San Francisco Bay Area comic convention which ran from 1975 - 1978 and is not to be confused with the current BayCon, a separate entity which commenced in 1982.
Boy building a snowman
Cartoon: Boy building a snowman, Boris Vallejo Boris1.029 Another untitled cartoon from Boris. At a guess I would say this was used for a Christmass card.
David and Goliath cartoon
Untitled cartoon, Boris Vallejo Boris2.069 This cartoon appeared in Boris Book Two. The subject appears to be David and Goliath or Jack and the Beanstalk or something similar – I've gone with the first of those names because there are some indefinable squiggles near the boy's left hand which might be a sling.
Eerie #34
Eerie, July 1971 cover This is the painting that set Boris' career upon its current path.

Some time during 1970, bored with having to paint something like 12 or 13 refrigerators for a client, Boris decided to take a break. He bought some paints and produced this piece for his own amusement but then showed it to several comic publishers to see if they were interested in using it. Warren Publishing took up the option thereby making it the first fantasy artwork that Boris had sold. As they needed to write a story around the painting, it wasn't until the July 1971 edition of Eerie that it appeared in print. In the meantime another Boris painting, The Boy Who Loved Trees, became his first published fantasy painting when it appeared on the cover of Vampirella for January 1971.

Fantasy Female (1992)
Fantasy Female (1992), Boris Vallejo Although I do not have a title for this piece or know why it was painted, I can say that it was modified (digitally?) to become Farona's Sacrifice in the 2003 Calendar.
Figure study
Undated figure study, Boris Vallejo This is a page from, I assume, one of Boris' notebooks showing one of his practice figure studies. Normally I would only include finished works of art but this is such a charming drawing I felt that it needed to be shown to a wider audience.
Girl with Dragon (2001)
Girl with Dragon, Boris Vallejo I acquired this image in 2002 but I'm at a loss as to where I obtained it. The drawing does not appear to have featured in any publicatiions and, needless to say, I have no information as to why it was drawn.
Gladiator (1975)
Untitled 1975 painting, Boris Vallejo This untitled piece appears to be the final result of the design sketch shown on page 47 of Boris. The painting is similar to the male figure in Nomads of Gor but closer examination shows a number of differences between the two.

As far as I can see the Gladiator description is purely arbritary since there is nothing to suggest that this is indeed the case.

Untitled 1975 painting - detail, Boris VallejoI've included a closeup of the painting's signature which, unusually, is signed Boris Vallejo '75 rather than just Boris 75.

Sky Mistress
Hyborian Gates: Sky Mistress, card HG The Hyborian Gates game cards are mostly based around small elements taken from larger artworks by Boris and Julie. I have tried to identify the source artwork for each card but have failed to do so for one - the illustration here is that card! The girl looks familiar but, despite that, I cannot match her to any painting.

I might add that I have not seen images of some of the rarest cards so there may be other unidentified artworks too.

To Bob
, Boris Vallejo & Julie This untitled cartoon was presented to Bob Michelucci at the 1978 Celebrity Con which was held in Monroeville, PA.

Although it is undated the inscription is dated 17 August 1978 so possibly it was drawn in that year.

To Wendy & Richard (1983)
To Wendy and Richard - cartoon, Boris Vallejo As can be seen from the inscription, this lovely cartoon is a personal piece gifted to friends (presumably) of Boris – a truly delightful gift. (Boris, if you're reading this, hint! Hint!)
Unknown (1989)
Unknown (1989), Boris Vallejo I hold no information at all for this painting – I would guess that it is another clothing advertisement.

The models appear to be Boris' children Dorian and Maya.

Unknown advertisement
Untitled advertisement, Boris Vallejo Boris1.033 An advertisement from before Boris became a fantasy artist. I initially thought the ad might have been for the car but the indistinct maker's name suggests that it was not the product being publicised.
untitled (and uncompleted!)
untitled artwork, Boris Vallejo BJ.03 This is a partially completed painting for an abandoned project – clearly it was stopped at a late stage otherwise Boris would not have got this far into the actual painting.

No information is provided as to what the project/title was/is.

I will endeavour to produce a better thumbnail when time permits.

Warrior woman - preliminary sketch (1978)
Warrior woman - preliminary art(1978), Boris Vallejo Preliminary artwork for the painting shown below.

The proportions, and the absence of a title, suggest that this was not for a book cover.

Warrior woman (1978)
Warrior woman (1978), Boris Vallejo This is the final artwork resulting from the preliminary work shown above. You may wonder why Boris went to the trouble of creating a colour design when the final painting is monochrome. The clue is the sepia colour used – this is the underpainting for a work that was never completed. It says something about the quality of Boris' draughtsmanship that even an underpainting is considered a saleable item.

For those that don't know, Boris' method (described in detail in Fantasy Art Techniques) is to transfer his final design onto the substrate (usually illustration board) using tracing-paper. The result is quite faint so he then overpaints that using sepia, acrylic, paint applied via a very fine brush. Having got to this stage he would normally apply a glaze then, once dry, work the oil painting on top. It seems that this project got cancelled before he started the painting proper.

It is not obvious from my thumbnail but the model is Danielle Anjou, one of Boris' favourite models at that time.

Werewolf Encounter
Werewolf encounter, Boris Vallejo Boris1.048 Boris provides no information about this painting which presumably dates from his commercial artist days. At a guess I would say that it may have been a story illustration or for an advertisement around Halloween time.
Woman attacking Orc (1997)
Woman attacking Orc (1997), Boris Vallejo I'm not sure where I got this image from but since Boris' sketch lines are visible I would guess that it was drawn for a fan at one of the many conventions that he attends.
Woman with Fan (1980)
Woman with fan - preliminary art (1980), Boris Vallejo Colour rough for an unknown purpose or painting. It has some similarities to Boris' cover painting Atlan but was painted over a year later. My immediate reaction upon first seeing it was that it might have been an unused design for Mirage.
Woman with Panther
Untitled: Woman with panther (circa 1997), Boris Vallejo I don't know how I obtained this image or the drawing's purpose. It is unsigned but my notes indicate that it dates from 1997.
Woman with Sabretooth (1980)
Woman with sabretooth - preliminary art (1980), Boris Vallejo Another colour rough for an unknown purpose or painting.

The proportions suggest that it is for an illustration rather than a book cover but this is not conclusive: I have noticed that Boris' preliminary artworks for book covers do not always include the extra space reserved for the book's title.

You moght like to compare this with The High Couch of Silistra, from three years earlier, with which it bears some similsrity.

Young girl walking
Cartoon: Young girl walking, Boris Vallejo Boris1.028 A delightful little, untitled, cartoon from Boris.


Page last updated: 2024-03-16