This year’s special guest at our festival will be Paul Bonner.

Paul Bonner is a fantasy artist who has created artwork for fantasy game companies.

Paul Bonner illustrated the covers for the World of Lone Wolf series of game manuals, including *Grey Star the Wizard*, *The Forbidden City*, *Beyond the Nightmare Gate*, and *War of the Wizards*.

His portfolio includes Games Workshop, FASA Corporation, Riotminds, and Rackham. He has also illustrated several book covers and a few posters for classic fantasy works (Tolkien and Lloyd Alexander). In 2008, his first collection of works, *Out of the Forests*, was published. Although it did not include all of his work, it featured a selection of most of his major projects. Bonner’s work has also appeared numerous times in the annual Spectrum art books.

His work for Dungeons & Dragons includes the covers for the adventures *Die Vecna Die!* and *Into the Dragon’s Lair*.

Bonner’s works are characterized by vivid colors, high contrast, and slightly exaggerated features[citation needed]. Virtually none of his works feature elves, though most other “standard” races appear frequently[citation needed]. Although he typically depicts scenes of violence, few of his works actually show blood. Furthermore, his illustrations of typically savage creatures, such as orcs, show a more likable side than usual, including a fair amount of whimsy.

Bonner's artwork has appeared in Magic: The Gathering expansions starting with Eventide.

In 2005, Bonner won the Spectrum Award silver prize in the book category for *Cadwallon Goblin*.

In 2007, Titan Books published a book about Bonner and his work, titled *Out of the Forests: The Art of Paul Bonner*.