We’re sorry to report the passing of American SF and fine artist David Schleinkofer, who died earlier this week, of Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
David was a professional artist and illustrator for over 40 years who had a distinct airbrush style, who received his art training at Bucks County Community College and The Philadelphia College of Art, now The University of The Arts, both in Pennsylvania.
“His work was eminent in the 1970s, especially on the cover to a book called Tomorrow and Beyond in 1978,” noted fellow artist Bob Eggleton on Facebook, “sort one of the first books to collect the works of many many SF/Fantasy artists of the 1970s. It became the granddaddy inspiration of the Spectrum annuals in the 1990s.
“David’s work featured in this book and he was on many SF paperbacks and in the 1980s, on a short-lived but visually stunning magazine called Science Digest.”
In a 2013 interview, David himself felt he had inherited his talent from grandfather, who was also an artist, and revealed his first commercial work was for Cars Magazine, after touting his portfolio around New York agencies for some time, followed by work for Stereo Review, the latter thanks to support from fellow artist Alan Magee.
Across his career, David’s commercial work was used by many of the advertising agencies in New York, utilised by companies such as Bailey’s Irish Cream, BASF, Levis and in a TV commercial for Schmidt’s Old Time Bread; as well as publications such as Champion International Paper and USA Today.
During his time as a client of agent Joe Mendola, he also created back box art for the first generation of Transformers toys for Hasbro, Hot Wheels art for story books for Mattel, and Milton Bradley games; and worked on box art for numerous computer games including Absolute Zero, Sim City, and more.
His cover work for book publishers featured on series such as Battlestar Galactica; and Robotech, his work used on all of the first printings of the novels by “Jack McKinney” a pseudonym used by authors Brian Daley and James Luceno; as well as creating art for many other science fiction paper backs for publishers such as Ace, Ballatine/DelRey, and Simon and Schuster.
“Whether he painted for an array of sci-fi publications or other projects, David brought a perspective to his subjects that was striking, provocative, or subtly haunting — or a combination of all of the above,” noted the team behind the Robotech Novels group on Facebook, in a short tribute to the artist.
“A legend of not only Robotech but worlds beyond. May the vistas that await you be as vivid and enthralling as what you had done on canvas.”
In addition to his work for Science Digest, his art also featured in Asimov Sci-Fi Magazine and Cosmopolitan. He also worked in television, creating concept art for a children’s SciFi show developed for BBC America by Rick Sigglekow, between 1976 and 1997.
In later years, he focused more on the fine arts, some of his work exhibited in different area art galleries in Bucks County, doing mostly landscapes, marine art, portraits (both human and animal). His work sold globally to collectors. He continued to create paperback covers on commission, including covers for the Sue Henry Murder Mysteries, published by The Penguin Group.
Our sympathies to family and friends on his passing.
David Schleinkofer, born 29th January 1951, died 20th April 2025
Web Links
• David Schleinkofer Flickr Profile
• Facebook: Robotech Novels – Support the True Books By the Original Authors
• Facebook: Old SciFi Art Group (no AI!)
• 2013 Q&A with David Schleinkofer, the 1984 Transformers battle scene artist
David talks extensively about his artistic process in this interview
My thanks to artist Bob Eggleton for alerting me to the news of David’s passing
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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