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Alex Ross Biography

Alex Ross was born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in Lubbock, Texas. He made his artistic debut at three when, according to his mother, he grabbed a piece of paper and drew the contents of a television commercial he had seen just moments earlier.

Comic book illustrators George Perez and Bernis Wrightson are listed as inspirations for Alex, when, at an early age, he began to draw his own comics. At 17, Alex went to Chicago's American Academy of Art. There, he studied classic surrealists such as Salvador Dali who would later become influential toward Alex's comic book style. Ross has been called the photorealist of comic books, having also studied Norman Rockwell and J.C. Leyendecker.

After graduating from the American Academy of Art, Alex collaborated in 1993 with Marvel Comics editor Kurt Busiek to create “Marvels”, a graphic novel which examined the Marvel superheroes from the perspective of an ordinary man. The book's critical success demonstrated Alex's affection for the characters through both detail and believability. Alex's “Kingdom Come” is a futuristic story for DC Comics about a minister who must intercede in a superhero Civil War. It was a visual feast, filled with surprise cameos, in-jokes and a main character based on Ross’ father, allowing Ross to publicly acknowledge his family’s influence. “Uncle Sam” is 96-page story that took a hard look at the dark side of American history. Marvels, in addition to “Kingdom Come” and “Uncle Sam” have been combined into a single volume that remains in print today.

In 1998, Warner Bros. Studios began promoting Ross' work with fine art prints on paper and canvas. On the 60th anniversary of Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman, Ross completed fully-painted, tabloid sized books that celebrated the birthday for each superhero. Ross has worked on numerous projects including the creation of a limited edition promotional poster for the 2002 Academy Awards, cover designs for TV Guide Magazines.

The demand for Ross' work continues to grow steadily. He is one of the most gifted talents in comic fine art today. "I do the gigs I do because I care about the material," Ross says. "In some cases, it’s because I like the character. In some cases, I have a vision in my head of something I must do. It all involves artistic expression. If I can’t get into the work on some artistic level, I can’t do it."


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