William Stout
Encyclopedia
William Stout is an American
fantasy art
ist and illustrator
with a specialization in paleontological art
. His paintings have been shown in over seventy exhibitions, including twelve one-man shows. He has worked on over thirty feature films, doing everything from storyboard
art to production design. He has designed theme parks and has worked in radio with the Firesign Theatre.
, and earned a full scholarship to the Chouinard Art Institute
. He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from the school (which at that point had become the California Institute of the Arts
).
Stout began his professional career as an illustrator for comic books and graphic novels, with his first job coming in 1968 with the cover for the first issue of the pulp magazine
Coven 13. In 1971 he worked as Russ Manning
's assistant on Manning's Tarzan of the Apes
Sunday and daily newspaper comic strips
. In 1972, Stout worked for Harvey Kurtzman
and Will Elder
on Playboys "Little Annie Fanny
". In 1973 Stout began his relationship with the Firesign Theatre. At that time he gained international notoriety for his numerous bootleg
record album covers for the Trademark of Quality
label.
From 1976 to 1977 Stout worked as art director for the rock
magazine Bomp! During this time, he became one of the first American contributors to Heavy Metal
magazine.
's film Wizards
. During his career, Stout has worked on the advertising for over 120 films.
In 1978, with Buck Rogers, Stout began his film production design career. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Stout and fellow illustrator Richard Hescox ran a Los Angeles art studio, working on such projects as the storyboards for Raiders of the Lost Ark
and pop singer Michael Jackson
's "Thriller
" video. Fellow cartoonist Dave Stevens
worked for a time in the same studio.
Stout has worked on over thirty feature films, including both Conan films, First Blood
, The Hitcher, and Invaders From Mars
. In 1985, with Return of the Living Dead
, Stout became the youngest production designer in film history. He also production designed the Masters of the Universe
film.
Stout wrote The Warrior and the Sorceress
for Roger Corman
, and a never-produced dinosaur feature for Jim Henson
. For Industrial Light & Magic in 1996, he designed "Edgar" (the big bug in Men in Black
). Stout was the key character designer for the computer-animated feature Dinosaur
(released in 2000). Stout worked as the conceptual designer for The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
, and key designer for Guillermo del Toro
's Pan's Labyrinth
. Recent film work includes Christopher Nolan
's film The Prestige
and creature design for Frank Darabont
's & Stephen King
's The Mist
. He is slated to work on del Toro's At the Mountains of Madness as well as a proposed John Carter of Mars film.
's Dinosaur Tales
. In 1984 he illustrated The Little Blue Brontosaurus, which was a 1984 Children's Choice Award recipient and the basis for the 1988 animated feature The Land Before Time
.
In 1986, as a result of his paleontological reconstruction work, eleven Stout paintings were selected for inclusion in the traveling exhibition "Dinosaurs Past and Present," an important group show depicting the history of paleoart
. The six-year tour included (among others) the Smithsonian Institution
, British Museum
, the Royal Ontario Museum
, and the American Museum of Natural History
, and broke attendance records at each host museum. At the Smithsonian alone, over two million visitors saw the exhibition.
Author Michael Crichton
acknowledged Stout's work as an inspiration for his 1990 book Jurassic Park. In 1993, Universal Cartoon Studios chose Stout to design a prime-time animated series of Jurassic Park.
Also in 1993 Comic Images released William Stout's Lost Worlds, the first of three trading card
sets. (To date, over twenty million William Stout trading cards have been sold.)
. His experiences there eventually resulted in the one-man show "Dinosaurs, Penguins and Whales — The Wildlife of Antarctica." The exhibition was part of Stout's effort to alert and inform the public of the complex beauty of Antarctica, and to work as part of the international effort to make Antarctica the first "World Park." "Dinosaurs, Penguins and Whales" evolved into a forthcoming book, Lost Worlds: Modern and Prehistoric Life in Antarctica, the first visual overview of life in Antarctica.
In August 1991 Stout received a grant from the National Science Foundation
to participate in their Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. For three months during the 1992-1993 austral summer, Stout was based at McMurdo Station
and Palmer Station
. He made several dives beneath the ice, climbed the active volcano Mt. Erebus, camped in the dry valleys, and produced over one hundred painted studies as he carefully observed Antarctica's wildlife. Shortly thereafter, Stout drove over one thousand miles through central southern Chile
, documenting the rare prehistoric forests there for inclusion in his Lost Worlds book.
depicting "Life Before The Dinosaurs." In early 1998 Stout completed three Cretaceous
murals and supervised two full-sized dinosaur sculptures for Disney's Animal Kingdom
.
In 2007, Stout completed twelve large murals depicting the prehistoric life of San Diego for the San Diego Natural History Museum
.
In addition, Stout's murals and paintings are on permanent display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
, the Orton Geological Museum, The Museum of the Rockies
, and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
.
for a year and a half as a conceptualist, designer, and producer for Euro Disneyland, Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland
, and Walt Disney World. In 1989 he was hired by Lucasfilm
/Industrial Light and Magic as conceptualist and chief designer for their first foray into themed entertainment centers. In 1991 Stout conceived and designed ZZ Top
's Recycler tour. In 1994 Stout continued theme park attraction creation and design for MCA/Universal
's Islands of Adventure
. In late 1995, Steven Spielberg
chose Stout as his senior concept designer for GameWorks
, a Sega
/Universal
/DreamWorks SKG joint project. For two years Stout and his team oversaw the concepts, design, and execution of the first three GameWorks facilities in Seattle, Washington; Tempe, Arizona; and Ontario, California). Stout worked in 1998-1999 as the lead designer for Kansas City's Wonderful World of Oz theme park (which unfortunately was never developed). He was also a designer for the Michael Jackson
's private Neverland Ranch
theme park.
's first children's book, Abu & The 7 Marvels, which won many awards. The Stout-illustrated book The Emerald Wand of Oz
was released in 2005, followed by Trouble Under Oz
in 2006. Stout's own publishing company, Terra Nova Press, has published thirty-four books on art and the history of art.
. He served for years as a member of their executive board, and is currently on their advisory board. Stout was unanimously voted a signature member in 1997.
William Stout resides in Pasadena, California
, with his wife; they have two adult sons.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fantasy art
Fantasy art
Fantasy art is a genre of art that depicts magical or other supernatural themes, ideas, creatures or settings. While there is some overlap with science fiction, horror and other speculative fiction art, there are unique elements not generally found in other forms of speculative fiction art...
ist and illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
with a specialization in paleontological art
Paleoart
Paleoart is an informal term first coined by Mark Hallett for art that depicts subjects related to paleontology. These may be representations of fossil remains or depictions of the living creatures and their ecosystems....
. His paintings have been shown in over seventy exhibitions, including twelve one-man shows. He has worked on over thirty feature films, doing everything from storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
art to production design. He has designed theme parks and has worked in radio with the Firesign Theatre.
Education and early career
William Stout grew up in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, and earned a full scholarship to the Chouinard Art Institute
Chouinard Art Institute
The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 in Los Angeles, California, by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard .-Founder:...
. He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from the school (which at that point had become the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
).
Stout began his professional career as an illustrator for comic books and graphic novels, with his first job coming in 1968 with the cover for the first issue of the pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
Coven 13. In 1971 he worked as Russ Manning
Russ Manning
Russell Manning was an American comic book artist who created the series Magnus, Robot Fighter and illustrated such newspaper comic strips as Tarzan and Star Wars...
's assistant on Manning's Tarzan of the Apes
Tarzan (comics)
Tarzan, a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and then in 23 sequels. The character proved immensely popular and quickly made the jump to other media, including comics.-Comic strips:...
Sunday and daily newspaper comic strips
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
. In 1972, Stout worked for Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic books and magazines. Kurtzman often signed his name H. Kurtz, followed by a stick figure Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic...
and Will Elder
Will Elder
William Elder was an American illustrator and comic book artist who worked in numerous areas of commercial art, but is best known for a zany cartoon style that helped launch Harvey Kurtzman's Mad comic book in 1952....
on Playboys "Little Annie Fanny
Little Annie Fanny
Little Annie Fanny was a comic strip created by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder for Playboy in October 1962. The inspiration for the comic strip was Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie. The comic follows the escapades of Annie Fanny, a tall, blonde, amply breasted, round buttocked, curly-haired young...
". In 1973 Stout began his relationship with the Firesign Theatre. At that time he gained international notoriety for his numerous bootleg
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
record album covers for the Trademark of Quality
Trademark of Quality
TMQ, TMOQ or TradeMark Of Quality was a bootleg record label that originated in the Los Angeles, California area during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The label was responsible for many underground records of Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Jefferson Airplane, Devo, Grateful Dead, The Beatles, Frank...
label.
From 1976 to 1977 Stout worked as art director for the rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
magazine Bomp! During this time, he became one of the first American contributors to Heavy Metal
Heavy Metal (magazine)
Heavy Metal is an American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine, known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy/science fiction and erotica. In the mid-1970s, while publisher Leonard Mogel was in Paris to jump-start the French edition of National Lampoon, he discovered the French...
magazine.
Film and television
In 1977 Stout painted his first movie poster, for Ralph BakshiRalph Bakshi
Ralph Bakshi is an Israeli-American director of animated and live-action films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, five of which he wrote...
's film Wizards
Wizards (film)
Wizards is a 1977 American animated post-apocalyptic science fantasy film about the battle between two wizards, one representing the forces of magic and one representing the forces of industrial technology. It was written, produced, and directed by Ralph Bakshi...
. During his career, Stout has worked on the advertising for over 120 films.
In 1978, with Buck Rogers, Stout began his film production design career. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Stout and fellow illustrator Richard Hescox ran a Los Angeles art studio, working on such projects as the storyboards for Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
and pop singer Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's "Thriller
Thriller (music video)
Michael Jackson's Thriller is a 14-minute music video for the song of the same name released on December 2, 1983 and directed by John Landis, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jackson....
" video. Fellow cartoonist Dave Stevens
Dave Stevens
Dave Stevens was an American illustrator and comics artist. He is most famous for creating The Rocketeer comic book and film character, and for his pin-up style "glamour art" illustrations, especially of model Bettie Page...
worked for a time in the same studio.
Stout has worked on over thirty feature films, including both Conan films, First Blood
First Blood
First Blood is a 1982 action thriller film directed by Ted Kotcheff. The film stars Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled and misunderstood Vietnam War veteran, with Sheriff Will Teasle as his nemesis and Colonel Samuel Trautman as his former commander and only ally...
, The Hitcher, and Invaders From Mars
Invaders from Mars (1986 film)
Invaders from Mars is a 1986 science fiction film directed by Tobe Hooper from a screenplay by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby. It is a remake of the 1953 science fiction film Invaders from Mars, and is a reworking of that film's screenplay by Richard Blake from an original story by John Tucker Battle...
. In 1985, with Return of the Living Dead
Return of the Living Dead
The Return of the Living Dead is a 1985 American zombie film that was followed by several sequels. The film was written and directed by Dan O'Bannon and starred Clu Gulager, James Karen and Don Calfa....
, Stout became the youngest production designer in film history. He also production designed the Masters of the Universe
Masters of the Universe (film)
Masters of the Universe is a 1987 science-fiction fantasy film based on the toy line by the same name. The movie stars Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and Frank Langella as Skeletor...
film.
Stout wrote The Warrior and the Sorceress
The Warrior And The Sorceress
The Warrior and the Sorceress is an 81-minute motion picture directed by John C. Broderick and starring David Carradine, released in 1984 by New Horizons...
for Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
, and a never-produced dinosaur feature for Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
. For Industrial Light & Magic in 1996, he designed "Edgar" (the big bug in Men in Black
Men in Black (film)
Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film was based on the Men in Black comic book series by Lowell Cunningham, originally published by Marvel Comics. The film featured the creature effects...
). Stout was the key character designer for the computer-animated feature Dinosaur
Dinosaur (film)
Dinosaur is a 2000 American computer-animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on May 19, 2000, and is the 39th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
(released in 2000). Stout worked as the conceptual designer for The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz is a 2005 musical telefilm directed by Kirk Thatcher and starring Ashanti and The Muppets. The film was produced by Bill Barretta and written by Debra Frank, Steve L. Hayes, Tom Martin, and Adam F...
, and key designer for Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist and designer. He is mostly known for his acclaimed films, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones...
's Pan's Labyrinth
Pan's Labyrinth
Pan's Labyrinth is a 2006 Spanish Spanish-language dark fantasy film, written and directed by Mexican film-maker Guillermo del Toro. It was produced and distributed by the Mexican film company Esperanto Films...
. Recent film work includes Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Jonathan James Nolan is a British-American film director, screenwriter and producer.He received serious notice after his second feature Memento , which he wrote and directed based on a story idea by his brother, Jonathan Nolan. Jonathan went to co-write later scripts with him,...
's film The Prestige
The Prestige (film)
The Prestige is a 2006 mystery thriller film written, directed and co-produced by Christopher Nolan, with a screenplay adapted from Christopher Priest's 1995 novel of the same name. The story follows Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, rival stage magicians in London at the end of the 19th century...
and creature design for Frank Darabont
Frank Darabont
Frank Darabont is a Hungarian-American film director, screenwriter and producer who has been nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe. He has directed the films The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist, all based on stories by Stephen King...
's & Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's The Mist
The Mist (film)
The Mist is a 2007 American science-fiction horror film based on the 1980 novella of the same name by Stephen King. The film is written and directed by Frank Darabont, who had previously adapted Stephen King's works The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile...
. He is slated to work on del Toro's At the Mountains of Madness as well as a proposed John Carter of Mars film.
Paleontological art
In 1981 Bantam Books published Stout's landmark masterwork The Dinosaurs: A Fantastic New View of a Lost Era (recently updated and re-published as The New Dinosaurs). In 1983, Stout was among those who illustrated Ray BradburyRay Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
's Dinosaur Tales
Dinosaur Tales
Dinosaur Tales is a short story collection by Ray Bradbury. Several of the stories are original to this collection. Other stories were first published in Collier's and The Saturday Evening Post magazines...
. In 1984 he illustrated The Little Blue Brontosaurus, which was a 1984 Children's Choice Award recipient and the basis for the 1988 animated feature The Land Before Time
The Land Before Time
The Land Before Time is a 1988 American animated adventure film directed and co-produced by Don Bluth , and executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall....
.
In 1986, as a result of his paleontological reconstruction work, eleven Stout paintings were selected for inclusion in the traveling exhibition "Dinosaurs Past and Present," an important group show depicting the history of paleoart
Paleoart
Paleoart is an informal term first coined by Mark Hallett for art that depicts subjects related to paleontology. These may be representations of fossil remains or depictions of the living creatures and their ecosystems....
. The six-year tour included (among others) the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, the Royal Ontario Museum
Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With its main entrance facing Bloor Street in Downtown Toronto, the museum is situated north of Queen's Park and east of Philosopher's Walk in the University of Toronto...
, and the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
, and broke attendance records at each host museum. At the Smithsonian alone, over two million visitors saw the exhibition.
Author Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton
John Michael Crichton , best known as Michael Crichton, was an American best-selling author, producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and many have been adapted...
acknowledged Stout's work as an inspiration for his 1990 book Jurassic Park. In 1993, Universal Cartoon Studios chose Stout to design a prime-time animated series of Jurassic Park.
Also in 1993 Comic Images released William Stout's Lost Worlds, the first of three trading card
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
sets. (To date, over twenty million William Stout trading cards have been sold.)
Antarctica
In January 1989, Stout traveled to Antarctica and PatagoniaPatagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
. His experiences there eventually resulted in the one-man show "Dinosaurs, Penguins and Whales — The Wildlife of Antarctica." The exhibition was part of Stout's effort to alert and inform the public of the complex beauty of Antarctica, and to work as part of the international effort to make Antarctica the first "World Park." "Dinosaurs, Penguins and Whales" evolved into a forthcoming book, Lost Worlds: Modern and Prehistoric Life in Antarctica, the first visual overview of life in Antarctica.
In August 1991 Stout received a grant from the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
to participate in their Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. For three months during the 1992-1993 austral summer, Stout was based at McMurdo Station
McMurdo Station
McMurdo Station is a U.S. Antarctic research center located on the southern tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program, a branch of the National...
and Palmer Station
Palmer Station
Palmer Station, on Anvers Island, is Antarctica's only US station north of the Antarctic Circle. Initial construction of the station finished in 1968. The station, like the other US Antarctic stations, is operated by the United States Antarctic Program....
. He made several dives beneath the ice, climbed the active volcano Mt. Erebus, camped in the dry valleys, and produced over one hundred painted studies as he carefully observed Antarctica's wildlife. Shortly thereafter, Stout drove over one thousand miles through central southern Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, documenting the rare prehistoric forests there for inclusion in his Lost Worlds book.
Murals
In 1994 Stout painted two murals for the Houston Museum of Natural ScienceHouston Museum of Natural Science
The Houston Museum of Natural Science is a science museum located on the northern border of Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, USA. The museum was established in 1909 by the Houston Museum and Scientific Society, an organization whose goals were to provide a free institution for the people of Houston...
depicting "Life Before The Dinosaurs." In early 1998 Stout completed three Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
murals and supervised two full-sized dinosaur sculptures for Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney's Animal Kingdom is an animal theme park located at the Walt Disney World Resort. The fourth park built at the resort, it opened on April 22, 1998, and it is the largest single Disney theme park in the world, covering more than . It is also the first Disney theme park to be themed entirely...
.
In 2007, Stout completed twelve large murals depicting the prehistoric life of San Diego for the San Diego Natural History Museum
San Diego Natural History Museum
The San Diego Natural History Museum was founded in 1874 as the San Diego Society of Natural History. The present location of the museum in San Diego's Balboa Park was dedicated on January 14, 1933....
.
In addition, Stout's murals and paintings are on permanent display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
Houston Museum of Natural Science
The Houston Museum of Natural Science is a science museum located on the northern border of Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, USA. The museum was established in 1909 by the Houston Museum and Scientific Society, an organization whose goals were to provide a free institution for the people of Houston...
, the Orton Geological Museum, The Museum of the Rockies
Museum of the Rockies
The Museum of the Rockies, is located in Bozeman, Montana. The museum, originally affiliated with Montana State University in Bozeman, and now, also the Smithsonian Institution, is known for its paleontological collections, although these are not its sole focus...
, and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is located in Raleigh, North Carolina. This museum is the oldest established museum in North Carolina and the largest museum of its kind in the Southeast...
.
Entertainment design
Beginning in 1987, Stout worked for Walt Disney ImagineeringWalt Disney Imagineering
Walt Disney Imagineering is the design and development arm of the Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation and construction of Disney theme parks worldwide...
for a year and a half as a conceptualist, designer, and producer for Euro Disneyland, Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo Disneyland
is a 115 acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside of the United States and opened on April 15, 1983...
, and Walt Disney World. In 1989 he was hired by Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm Limited is an American film production company founded by George Lucas in 1971, based in San Francisco, California. Lucas is the company's current chairman and CEO, and Micheline Chau is the president and COO....
/Industrial Light and Magic as conceptualist and chief designer for their first foray into themed entertainment centers. In 1991 Stout conceived and designed ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
's Recycler tour. In 1994 Stout continued theme park attraction creation and design for MCA/Universal
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
's Islands of Adventure
Islands of Adventure
Universal's Islands of Adventure is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. It opened May 28, 1999 as part of an expansion that, along with CityWalk Entertainment District, the Portofino Bay Hotel, and Hard Rock hotel, converted Universal Studios Florida into the Universal Orlando Resort...
. In late 1995, Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
chose Stout as his senior concept designer for GameWorks
GameWorks
GameWorks is a chain of entertainment venues featuring video games, simulators, prizes, and a full service bar and restaurant. There are 7 GameWorks venues throughout the U.S. The first GameWorks opened in Downtown Seattle in March 1997....
, a Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
/Universal
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
/DreamWorks SKG joint project. For two years Stout and his team oversaw the concepts, design, and execution of the first three GameWorks facilities in Seattle, Washington; Tempe, Arizona; and Ontario, California). Stout worked in 1998-1999 as the lead designer for Kansas City's Wonderful World of Oz theme park (which unfortunately was never developed). He was also a designer for the Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's private Neverland Ranch
Neverland Ranch
Neverland Valley Ranch is a developed property in Santa Barbara County, California, most famous for being a home of American entertainer Michael Jackson from 1988 to 2005. Jackson named the property after Neverland, the fantasy island in the story of Peter Pan, a boy who never grows up...
theme park.
Illustration
In 2001, Stout illustrated Richard MathesonRichard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been...
's first children's book, Abu & The 7 Marvels, which won many awards. The Stout-illustrated book The Emerald Wand of Oz
The Emerald Wand of Oz
The Emerald Wand of Oz is a 2005 book by Sherwood Smith and is a continuation of the Oz series that was started by L. Frank Baum in 1900. The book is illustrated by William Stout and published by HarperCollins....
was released in 2005, followed by Trouble Under Oz
Trouble Under Oz
Trouble Under Oz is a 2006 novel by Sherwood Smith, illustrated by William Stout and published by HarperCollins. It is a sequel to Smith's 2005 novel The Emerald Wand of Oz and a further continuation of the Oz series originally started by L. Frank Baum in 1900.Dori and Em, Dorothy Gale's modern-day...
in 2006. Stout's own publishing company, Terra Nova Press, has published thirty-four books on art and the history of art.
Influences
On his website, Stout lists the following influences:- Painting: Frank FrazettaFrank FrazettaFrank Frazetta was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for work in comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers and other media...
, Thomas MoranThomas MoranThomas Moran from Bolton, England was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family took residence in New York where he obtained work as an artist...
, Norman RockwellNorman RockwellNorman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
, Charles R. KnightCharles R. KnightCharles Robert Knight was an American artist best known for his influential paintings of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals...
, Stanley MeltzoffStanley MeltzoffStanley Meltzoff was an American painter and was most known for his marine paintings The artist attended the MA Inst. Fine Arts, NYU, 1940 and the Art Students League of New York. He was a soldier Artist-Journalist with Stars and Stripes, Italy World War II 1941-45. The artist became a full time...
, Carl Evers - Comics: Harvey KurtzmanHarvey KurtzmanHarvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic books and magazines. Kurtzman often signed his name H. Kurtz, followed by a stick figure Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic...
, Alex TothAlex TothAlexander Toth was an American professional cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but is known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout the 1960s and 1970s. His work included Super Friends, Space Ghost, The...
, Russ ManningRuss ManningRussell Manning was an American comic book artist who created the series Magnus, Robot Fighter and illustrated such newspaper comic strips as Tarzan and Star Wars...
, Robert CrumbRobert CrumbRobert Dennis Crumb —known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded...
, Wally WoodWally WoodWallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. He was one of Mads founding cartoonists in 1952. Although much of his early professional artwork is signed Wallace Wood, he became known as Wally Wood, a name he...
, Will EisnerWill EisnerWilliam Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
, Hal Foster, Al WilliamsonAl WilliamsonAlfonso "Al" Williamson was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western and science-fiction/fantasy...
, Robert WilliamsRobert Williams (artist)Robert Williams is an American painter, cartoonist, and founder of Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine.Williams was part of the Zap Collective, along with other underground cartoonists such as Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton...
, Will ElderWill ElderWilliam Elder was an American illustrator and comic book artist who worked in numerous areas of commercial art, but is best known for a zany cartoon style that helped launch Harvey Kurtzman's Mad comic book in 1952....
, Frazetta, Jean GiraudJean GiraudJean Henri Gaston Giraud is a French comics artist. Giraud has earned worldwide fame, not only under his own name but also under the pseudonym Moebius, and to a lesser extent Gir, the latter appearing mostly in the form of a boxed signature at the bottom of the artist's paintings, for instance the...
, Roy G. Krenkel, Franklin BoothFranklin BoothFranklin Booth, was an influential American artist notable for his highly detailed pen-and-ink illustrations.-Biography:...
, Arthur RackhamArthur RackhamArthur Rackham was an English book illustrator.-Biography:Rackham was born in London as one of 12 children. At the age of 18, he worked as a clerk at the Westminster Fire Office and began studying part-time at the Lambeth School of Art.In 1892 he left his job and started working for The...
, Rick GriffinRick GriffinRichard Alden Griffin was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. As a contributor to the underground comix movement, his work appeared regularly in Zap Comix. Griffin was closely identified with the Grateful Dead, designing some of their best known...
, Jim Evans, Gaspar SaladinoGaspar SaladinoGaspar Saladino is an award-winning letterer and logo designer who worked for over 50 years in the comic book industry, mostly for DC Comics. He has over 3,000 credits on the Grand Comics Database. Eventually Saladino went by one name, "Gaspar," which he wrote in his trademark calligraphy... - Design: Alphonse Mucha, J. C. LeyendeckerJ. C. LeyendeckerJoseph Christian Leyendecker was one of the pre-eminent American illustrators of the early 20th century. He is best known for his poster, book and advertising illustrations, the trade character known as The Arrow Collar Man, and his numerous covers for The Saturday Evening Post. Between 1896 and...
, Ron CobbRon CobbRon Cobb is an American cartoonist, artist, writer, film designer, and film director.By the age of 18, with no formal training in graphic illustration, Cobb was working as an animation "inbetweener" artist for Disney Studios in Burbank, California. He progressed to becoming a breakdown artist on...
, Ludwig HohlweinLudwig HohlweinLudwig Hohlwein was a German poster artist. He was trained and practiced as an architect until 1906 when he switched to poster design. Hohlwein's adaptations of photographic images was based on a deep and intuitive understanding of graphical principles...
, HokusaiHokusaiwas a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. He was influenced by such painters as Sesshu, and other styles of Chinese painting...
, YoshitoshiYoshitoshiTsukioka Yoshitoshi was a Japanese artist.He is widely recognized as the last great master of Ukiyo-e, a type of Japanese woodblock printing. He is additionally regarded as one of the form's greatest innovators. His career spanned two eras – the last years of feudal Japan, and the first years of...
, Maynard DixonMaynard DixonMaynard Dixon was a 20th-century American artist whose body of work focused on the American West. He was married for a time to American photographer Dorothea Lange.-Biography:... - Color: Mucha, Edwin Austin AbbeyEdwin Austin AbbeyEdwin Austin Abbey was an American artist, illustrator, and painter. He flourished at the beginning of what is now referred to as the "golden age" of illustration, and is best known for his drawings and paintings of Shakespearean and Victorian subjects, as well as for his painting of Edward VII's...
, Yoshida Hiroshi, "most of the other great Japanese print artists," N. C. WyethN. C. WyethNewell Convers Wyeth , known as N.C. Wyeth, was an American artist and illustrator. He was the pupil of artist Howard Pyle and became one of America's greatest illustrators...
, Frazetta, Giraud, Kurtzman, Edmund DulacEdmund DulacEdmund Dulac was a French book illustrator.-Early life and career:Born in Toulouse, France, he began his career by studying law at the University of Toulouse. He also studied art, switching to it full time after he became bored with law, and having won prizes at the Ecole des Beaux Arts... - Watercolor: Harry RountreeHarry RountreeHarry Rountree was a prolific illustrator working in England around the turn of the 19/20th centuries. He came from New Zealand in 1901 to London, when he was 23 years old....
, Frazetta, Moran, Edward Detmold, Alberto VargasAlberto VargasAlberto Vargas was a noted Peruvian painter of pin-up girls. He is often considered one of the most famous of the pin-up artists...
, Jack DavisJack Davis (cartoonist)Jack Davis is an American cartoonist and illustrator, known for his advertising art, magazine covers, film posters, record album art and numerous comic book stories... - Wildlife painting: Bob KuhnBob KuhnBob Kuhn is a former mayor of Glendora, California.Kuhn was elected to the Glendora City Council in 1986 and was the city's mayor in 1990, 1993, and 1994. He also served as a Planning Commissioner from 1982–1986....
, Bruno LiljeforsBruno LiljeforsBruno Andreas Liljefors was a Swedish artist, the most important and probably the most influential wildlife painter of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century...
, Robert LougheedRobert LougheedRobert Lougheed was an artist who has specialized in images of the American West.He was born in and raised on a farm in Massey, Ontario, Canada. He became an illustrator for mail-order catalogues and for the Toronto Star, but studied in his spare time at the Ontario College of Art and then at the...
, Robert BatemanRobert BatemanRobert Bateman may refer to:people* Robert Bateman , painter, sculptor, naturalist, and scholar* Robert Bateman * Robert Bateman , Canadian wildlife artist and naturalist...
, Hokusai, HiroshigeHiroshigewas a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, and one of the last great artists in that tradition. He was also referred to as Andō Hiroshige and by the art name of Ichiyūsai Hiroshige ....
, Knight
Personal life
In 1993 Stout was invited to join the California Art ClubCalifornia Art Club
The California Art Club , founded in 1909, is one of the oldest and most active arts organizations in California. It celebrated its centennial in the spring of 2010. The California Art Club originally evolved from the Painters Club of Los Angeles...
. He served for years as a member of their executive board, and is currently on their advisory board. Stout was unanimously voted a signature member in 1997.
William Stout resides in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, with his wife; they have two adult sons.
Exhibitions (selected)
- "The Prehistoric World of William Stout", 1977.
- "Dinosaurs, Penguins and Whales: The Wildlife of Antarctica", 1991–1995 — inspired by the three months Stout spent in Antarctica, shown in Moscow at the personal request of then-President Mikhail GorbachevMikhail GorbachevMikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
. - "Studies From Gondwana - Landscapes and Wildlife of Antarctica," 1993
- "William Stout - Lost Worlds," 1994
- "William Stout's Visions of Gondwana - Past and Present Life in Antarctica," 1995
- "Dinosaurs On Ice - William Stout's Antarctica," 1997
- "Dinosaurs, Penguins & Whales: William Stout's Antarctica," 1999 — Stout's largest (55 paintings) show to date; held at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, California
Awards
- Inkpot AwardInkpot AwardThe Inkpot Award, bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International, is given to some of the professionals in comic book, comic strip, animation, science fiction, and related pop-culture fields, who are guests of that organization's yearly multigenre fan convention, commonly known as...
, 1978 - Children's Choice Award (The Little Blue Brontosaurus), 1984
- Society of IllustratorsSociety of IllustratorsThe Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. Founded in 1901, the mission of the Society is to promote the art and appreciation of illustration, as well as its history...
, Gold and Silver Medals (Abu & The 7 Marvels), 2002 - Benjamin Franklin Award, Best Young Adult Book (Abu & The 7 Marvels), 2002
- Bram Stoker AwardBram Stoker AwardThe Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented by the Horror Writers Association for "superior achievement" in horror writing. The awards have been presented annually since 1987, and the winners are selected by ballot of the Active members of the HWA...
nominee (Abu & The 7 Marvels), 2002 - Chesley Award nominee (Abu & The 7 Marvels), 2002
- Society of Illustrators Silver Medal (Tanagra Theatre poster), 2004
- Spectrum Silver Award (Tanagra Theatre poster), 2004
- Society of Illustrators Silver Medal (Cricket magazine cover), 2004
- Spectrum Gold Award, 2006