Peter Vinton, Jr. got his start in Fredericksburg, Virginia by selling handsomely-detailed pen-and-ink renderings to area homeowners, which led to commissions from local real estate and construction companies. Following this came a number of lucrative design contracts with various law enforcement agencies, including the DEA (for whom Peter designed the now-famous REDRUM logo), the U.S. Secret Service (for whom he designed a recruitment poster ), and the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. In the fall of 1993, inspired by the works of the fantasy art demigods like Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Michael Whelan, Colleen Doran, Joe Jusko, and of course the Brothers Hildebrandt, Vinton embarked on his own fantasy art venture, and began a portfolio of dazzling otherworldly characters and settings to which he continues to add today. Early in 1995, Vinton's first genre illustrations appeared in several issuse of Aberrations. Illustratively, Vinton's pen-and-ink influences include Larry Hama, Brian Stelfreeze, Bill Mantlo, Mark Morales, some of the much-missed masters like Al Williamson, Neal Adams, George Pérez, and Paul Ryan (the latter of whom Vinton was fortunate enough to meet), and lately Demi Lang, Stephanie Phillips, and Babs Tarr. (He also suspects he owes a great deal of his talent to his maternal great-grandmother, Agnes Carrigan Foley of Pittsford, Vermont --who by all accounts was an obsessive artist and sculptor who would start a new project almost without warning and with whatever materials were nearest at hand!) He has done commercial work-for-hire for various publishers and advertisers, as well as for pro wrestlers, music labels, and Renaissance Fairs; his work has appeared in Medusa's Hairdo, the Iconic II anthology by the Comicbook Artists' Guild, and has also been featured on the cover of Lost Worlds and, more recently, My Peculiar Family. Vinton has been a featured artist at New York ComicCon, Wizard World's BigAppleCon, and Rhode Island Comic Con; he is an Artists' Alley regular at Granite State ComicCon, FanExpo Boston, and WICKED Comic Con; as well as tabling at Vermont Sci-Fi & Fantasy Expo, Plastic City Comic Con, and the historic Upper Valley Comic Expo. Watch this space for additional appearance announcements. Currently Peter is developing his own series, a not-too-distant-future tale of how the Second American Revolution came to be. Vinton encourages you to give your business to your local comic book store, especially on important worldwide events like Free Comic Book Day. He enthusiastically recommends: The Million Year Picnic in Cambridge, Mass. (Harvard Square) Jetpack Comics in Rochester, N.H. Comicazi in Somerville, Mass. Double Midnight Comics in Manchester and in Concord, N.H. Counterplay Comics, Collectibles, and Cosplay in Burlington, Mass. A native Vermonter, Vinton is a graduate of Vermont College of the Union Institute (Montpelier), would appear to have raised two children who didn't turn out to be axe murderers (as far as anyone knows), and is feverishly at work on the next installment of The Monitor's Guild. Vinton is also a total American history geek (the Revolution in particular); enjoys listening to Rush, Dream Theater, and Frank Zappa to keep his creativity simmering; and is forever indulging in his love of old episodes of Doctor Who at 1:00 a.m. He remains a Cancer but wants to "keep his options open" and hasn't ruled out being a Libra or perhaps even a Virgo someday. That time Peter was interviewed by Celtic Wolf Queen... (February 2020) Vinton's first-ever commercial sale: a row of townhouses for a real estate advertisement. (No, one does not start out drawing Batman and Wolverine.)

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