A number of my favorites have already been mentioned here so I'm going to list some of the ones I haven't seen yet. A few I think are worth repeating though... Also, although I love many of the old and not so old masters, but I'm going to limit myself to contemporary artists. :-) 1. "Michael Whelan" has long been a favorite on mine. So much so that I own some of his limited edition prints and an artist proof. I like his early work the best. (www.michaelwhelan.com) 2. "Syd Mead" is another favorite of mine. He did a lot of the set and craft design for Blade Runner. He also work on numerous other films such a Aliens, 2010, Tron, etc. His work falls into the classifications of illustration and industrial design. (www.sydmead.com) 3. "Donato Giancola" I fell in love with some of his brilliant science fiction and fantasy oil paintings the very first time I saw them on book covers.(www.donatoart.com) 4. "Brom" Wonderfully strange, dark and sometimes brooding paintings that fall into the genres of fantasy and horror. (www.bromart.com) 5. "Alan Lee" I've always enjoyed his beautiful and detailed fantasy watercolours and sketches. He is best known as the celebrated illustrator of J. R. R. Tolkien's great fantasy novels and worked on the Lord of the Ring films. (more info at http://www.endicott-studio.com/galalan.html) And sneaking in a few more... Michael Parkes, Jeff Jones, Brain Froud, Gil Bruvel, Lela Dowling...