Erik M. Gist

E. M. Gist began his study of art with Jeff Watts in 1996. Three years later, Erik's training developed into teaching where he is now one of the lead instructors at Watts Atelier of the Arts. Gist began his career as a professional artist in 1998, eventually transitioning into genre illustration, and he painted his first comic cover in 2007. Erik’s clients include Dark Horse Comics, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, BOOM! Studios, Disney Entertainment, TOR Publishing, Wizards of the Coast, Upperdeck, and Palladium Books. His work has been exhibited in Spectrum: the best in contemporary fantastic art for over a decade, including a nomination in the Comic category in 2019. Erik has been a finalist for the Illie Award, Chesley Award, Rondo Award, and Pulp Ark Award. He won the Horror Comics Award for best cover in 2012, the Robert E. Howard Foundation "Rankin" award, gold and silver SILA West awards in 2021 and repeated as a gold medal winner in 2022. Recently you can see his work on the covers of numerous comics from Marvel, DC, BOOM!, Magic the Gathering cards, as well as many other publications.