Wayne Douglas Barlowe (born January 6, 1958 in Glen Cove, New York) is a science fiction and fantasy painter. He has paintedover 300 book and magazine covers and illustrations for many major book publishers, as well as Life magazine, Time, and Newsweek. His parents, Sy and Dorothea Barlowe, were both natural history artists.
He is well known for his realistic paintings of surreal alien (or fantastic) life. His Barlowe's Guides to extraterrestrial and to fantasy are his interpretations of specific creatures and beings from well-known science fiction and fantasy literature. His Inferno is an interpretation of the demonology contained in the Grimoire of Honorius.
He was married to fantasy and science fiction editor Shawna McCarthy and has two daughters from the marriage, Cayley and Hillary.
Design work for the Babylon 5 TV movie, Thirdspace.
Creature and character designs for Galaxy Quest, Titan A.E., Hellboy, The Golden Army, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Avatar.
Preproduction drawings for Blade II.
Created concept art for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, John Carter of Mars, and The Hobbit.
In 2004, his book Expedition was sold to the Discovery Channel for development into a two hour presentation. It was retitled Alien Planet and premiered May 14, 2005.