Mark Zug

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Mark Zug is an American artist and illustrator known for fantasy and game art. Born in 1959 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, he began drawing as a child and was inspired by Frank Herbert and J. R. R. Tolkien. He left art for a time to work as a machinist and explore music, returning to art in 1985. He studied at the Pennsylvania School of Art and Design but did not graduate.

Zug’s big break came in 1992 when he illustrated Harlan Ellison’s I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay, including 160 pages of fully painted comics. He later painted cover art for Angie Sage’s Septimus Heap series (all seven released novels) and created art for the Dune universe in Last Unicorn’s collectible card game, which helped launch his career in game art. He has illustrated for Magic: The Gathering and Dune, among many other books and magazines, and his work has appeared on Star Wars comics and magazines such as Popular Science, Dragon, Dungeon, Duelist, Inquest, Star Wars Gamer, and Amazing Stories. He has worked with brands like Shadowrun, Battletech, Dune, and Magic: The Gathering, and his art is included in Masters of Dragonlance Art.

Zug’s awards include the Jack Gaughan Award for Best Emerging Artist (2001), the Chesley Award for Best Gaming Related Illustration (2005), and IlluXCon’s First Illie Award (2010). His illustration for Swordbird by Nancy Yi Fan was praised for its bold black-and-white drawings. He lives in Pennsylvania and maintains markzug.com.