FANTASY ARTIST ED BEARD JR. HAS BEEN CREATING DRAGONS, MONSTERS, AND JUST ABOUT EVERY IMAGE OF A CREATURE YOU COULD IMAGINE, FOR OVER 25 YEARS.
1976 - Ed's first international commission came at an early age when he was commissioned by the POPE PAUL VI in 1978 via Cardinal Medeiros of Boston to represent the United States as delegate to the arts . From this commission came many more years of religious works including a 70' tall cathedral walls and ceilings with various religious depictions years later.
Ed created this image when he was just 11 years old. |
Ed also had an illustrious career working as a government official portrait painter to such distinguished people as Carl Albert speaker of the US house of Representatives under President Carter, Hubert Humphrey, Vice President of the United States and Senator, and many more.
1982 - Ed spent the better part of the 80'S customizing auto's and motorcycles for
national competition collectors. Ed's auto mural work gained world recognition when his
custom mural work one him several World of Wheel Awards and Winston Championships. Ed also
wrote feature instruction articles for "Air Brush Action Magazine .
During that same time Ed was the first muralist in the country to fully illustrate and
airbrush a full size public transit bus for RI. The Zoo Bus was featured in many news
papers in
1988 - The Largest undertaking was the Cathedral of St Anne's in
1989 - 2002 - By the late 80's and early 90's Ed aggressively pursued the Comic
Book and Gaming art publishing art market.
He attended his first Gen Con Gaming Convention in 1993 and was hired by a new upstart company known today for its world famous Magic the Gathering Card Game now owned by Hasbro. Ed has nearly 200 cards in Magic alone.
Ed has worked for RPG magazines, card Games,
childrens books and just about anything Fantasy Game and Comic related.
With over 1000 published works and hundreds of other interior and cover works as well as a
lengthy list of licensed products with Eds images on them, ranging from t-shirts,
mugs, puzzles, calendars, and more Ed's art can be found just about anywhere.
2003 - Ed's art has climbed the licensing charts for merchandise as well. Such
international companies as ("The Mountain Corp" worlds largest manufacturer of
T-Shirt's) ("Cuppa Corp" worlds largest manufacturer of Coffee fantasy image
based Mugs) ("The Rook Corp" worlds largest manufacturer of collectible game
tins to hold cards.) ("The Tree-Free Greetings card Corp" worlds largest
manufacturer of Tree Free non paper based Greeting Cards), Ceaco, Cobble Hill and other
jigsaw puzzle companies, and more.

2004 - Ed is extremely proud of his role as co producer in Z-Man Games product " Camelot Legends" a hybrid card / board game where players can battle knights and Kings at Cornwall, the Perilous forest and even Camelot. Ed and his wife Kelly through their company, Art Directed and handled all of the artist content of the card images. Ed is extremely proud of this boxed set product and is proud to have worked with 29 of the most talented people in the fantasy gaming Art industry as well as with the likes of Designer of the Game Andrew Parks and Publisher and long time friend Zev Shlasinger of Z-Man Games.
2006 Ed launches ERS Publishing and Licensing and begins representing a select group of top Fantasy Illustrators by publishing them through licensing on various products.
Ed has released his own full color Art book called "The Enchanted Realm" available on Eds website, Amazon.com, Bud Plant Comic Catalog, and other major bookstore chains.
Ed also has illustrated the 2007, 2008 and soon to be 2009 "Dragon" calendar
internationally distributed by Tide-Mark the world leader in calendars.
2007 In an ever increasing digital
world, always looking for a faster, easier, and more efficient technology for art, Ed has
launched "handpaintedmasters.org" a web site and organization that celebrates
the unique skill set and ability of the traditional hand painted techniques by his and
many other top industry illustrators from Fantasy to Wildlife art, and the one of a kind
tangible original art that is generated from the craft.
July 2007- Ed produces a series of instructional DVDs to which samples are uploaded to
youtube.com and have received tremendous approval and requests for Ed to begin a new
series that include Drawing the Dragon The Complete Drawing
Instruction and a new series showcasing Eds unique acrylic painting technique.
Ed and his wife Kelly, a theater performer and singer, have been
have been together for 17 years. They have two
children Destini (who also performs theater
and sings) is 15 yrs and Dustin (who is already showing that he has the gift and skill in
illustration as well) is 10 yrs.
Below is a self portrait of Ed relentlessly demanding perfection from his students!
Ed was called to create the Magic The gathering Card entitled " Fascist Art Director" Ed couldn't resist the temptation to poke fun at many of the comments and demands that are placed on artists who worked for Wizards of the Coast or for any other large corporation. Take a moment to laugh and to read the papers on the back board. This image appeared in the "Unhinged" comical game card set from Wizards of the Coast Magic The Gathering. Although Ed is known for his intensely passionate nature when it comes to encouraging and motivating young artists to be the best they can be, Ed admits that he does fall shy of the Fascist Art Director and all his glory! ;)

In actuality I am a bit like this when it comes to being an advocate for artists rights on a national scale and am always looking out for artists rights, to learn more about the most recent intellectual property and copyright law that is threatening artists, illustrators and photographers ability to protect their hard work and properties, go to: www.illustratorpartnership.org and look for the link to the "OW" Orphaned Works Copyright Legislation currently being deliberated in congress.