Julie Bell (born 1958 in Beaumont, Texas) is an American painter. A fantasy artist and wildlife artist, she is a former bodybuilder and fantasy model for her husband, painter Boris Vallejo.
Julie Bell has painted the covers for about 100 fantasy/science fiction book and magazine covers since 1990. In the early '90s, she illustrated painted covers for video games as well as best-selling trading cards for the superheroes of Marvel and DC. She designed the award-winning Dragons of Destiny sculpture series, Mistress of the Dragon's Realm dagger series, as well as the Temptation Rides sculpture series produced by The Franklin Mint.
Julie and her husband, Boris Vallejo, have done many paintings for advertising campaigns such as Nike, Inc., Coca-Cola, and Toyota. She has painted the covers for 2 albums by rock-icon, Meat Loaf...Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose and Hang Cool Teddy Bear.
Alleged plagiarism of Bell's work
In 2003, a Flash animation slideshow titled "Family Art Corner" was released anonymous, alleging that a woman named Jan McRae had plagiarized the work of many artists, including Bell, for reproduction in proselytization tracts printed by the Children of God cult. Bell's works, Archangel II, Expedition, Rogue, and Princess Mustang were compared in the slideshow, as were many works by Bell's husband, Boris Vallejo. After the slideshow was released, Karen Zerby, leader of the Children of God acknowledged that McRae had copied the work of others, as did McRae herself, and McRae admitted wrongdoing.
Julie was the winner of the Chesley Award for Artistic Achievement in 2008.
She also designed the cover art for Meat Loaf's albums The Monster is Loose and its first single "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and the album, "Hang Cool Teddy Bear".
In 2007, Bell and her husband Vallejo illustrated the poster for Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters.
A yearly calendar of 13 paintings by Julie Bell and Boris Vallejo is produced by Workman Publishing.