Julie BELL
Note: Julie Bell painted the box art for 3 Mega Drive games published by Accolade (Hardball, Mike Ditka Power Football and Turrican) but the signature you can see on the box of each game is Boris VALLEJO‘s’. The latter asked Bell to paint these illustrations to help her start her career but Accolade wanted a bigger name on their game covers. You can spot Bell’s signature on the original artworks. (source: mentioned by original artwork collector Jeremy Buzash (who met Vallejo and Bell) in a video)
Games
Gallery Part 1
Gallery Part 2
Website
Instagram
Website (old)
Games (in alphabetical order)
A Fork in the Tale (PC – 1997)
Cover art: (Source: signature found on the artwork)
Arcus Odyssey, AKA Arcus Spirits / アークス・スピリッツ (Super NES – 1993)
Cover art for the unreleased US version (Source: Featured on the artist’s website)
Artist’s comment (Via Comic Art Fans): “The illustration I did for Arcus Odyssey is one of my favorite video game covers that I painted. At the time it was assigned to me, I had done several other video game covers and the art director had become comfortable with my style of painting and trusted me to create the image however I wanted. This was high praise to me and I really felt honored to have earned his trust.”
Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe, AKA Ax Battler: Golden Axe Densetsu / アックスバトラー ゴールデンアックス伝説 (Game Gear – 1991)
Cover art for the US and European versions (Source: Featured on the artist’s website)
BioShock 2 / バイオショック2 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows – 2010)
Promotional illustration published on 2K’s website (with Boris VALLEJO) (Source: Featured on 2K’s website)
Champions: Return to Arms (PS2 – 2005)
Illustrations x2 (wallpapers?) (with Boris VALLEJO) (Source: signature found on each artwork)
Defenders of Oasis, AKA Shadam Crusader: Harukanaru Ōkoku / シャダム・クルセイダー ～遙かなる王国～ (Game Gear – 1992)
Cover art for the US and European versions (Source: signature found on the artwork)
Demon’s Crest, AKA Demon’s Blazon – Makai-Mura Monshou Hen / デモンズブレイゾン -魔界村紋章編 (SNES – 1994)
Cover art for the US and European versions (Source: signature found on the artwork)
Doom II: Hell on Earth (DOS – 1994)
Unused cover art (Source: signature found on the artwork)
.Note: According to John Romero The Cyberdemon didn’t look right so we switched to (Gerald) BROM.
Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls (Mega Drive, Super NES, Jaguar – 1994)
Cover art (Source: signature found on the artwork)
Eternal Champions / エターナルチャンピオンズ (Mega Drive – 1993)
Cover art (Source: signature found on the artwork)
Hardball! (Mega Drive – 1991)
Cover art (Source: signature found on the original artwork)
Mike Ditka Power Football (Mega Drive – 1991), AKA Mike Ditka Ultimate Football (DOS, 1991)
Cover art (Source: signature found on the artworks)
.Note: Boris Vallejo’s signature appears on the game box, but it was later erased from the original illustration and replaced by Julie Bell’s, the real creator of this artwork
Natsume Championship Wrestling, AKA Zen-Nippon Pro Wrestling Dash: Sekai Saikyō Tag / 全日本プロレス’ 世界最強タッグ ダッシュ (Super NES – 1993)
Cover art for the US version (1994)
(Source: signature found on the artwork)
Run Saber / ランセイバー (SNES – 1993)
Cover art for the US and European versions (Source: signature found on the artwork)
Ryl: Path of the Emperor (Windows – 2005)
Cover art, in-box illustrations (with Boris VALLEJO) (Source: signature found on the artworks)
Shadow Warrior (PC – 1997)
Promotional illustration (Source: signature found on the artwork)
.Note: the artwork is signed 1995 and was presumably meant to be the game’s box art
Splatterhouse Part 3 / スプラッターハウス PART3 (Mega Drive – 1993)
Cover art (Source: signature found on the artwork)
Strider II (E), AKA Strider Returns (U) (Mega Drive – 1990, then Master System and Game Gear – 1993)
Cover art (Source: signature found on the artwork)
Super Valis IV, AKA Super Valis – Akaki Tsuki no Otome / SUPERヴァリス赤き月の乙女 (SNES – 1992)
Cover art for the US version (1993) (Source: signature found on the artwork)
The King of Dragons / ザ・キングオブドラゴンズ (SNES – 1994)
Cover art for the US and European versions (Source: signature found on the artwork)
Turrican (Mega Drive, PC Engine, Game Boy – 1991)
Cover art (Source: signature found on the artwork)
.Note: Julie Bell originally painted a different illustration for the game. Here is her comment on this unused version: “It was originally intended for Turrican. The art directors saw it mid-progress and wanted to add “more muscles.” So, I stopped working on it and did the one that they used, then finished it later because I thought it was pretty cool as it was. I liked how his face was coldly dispassionate and robot-like.” She eventually finished this artwork in 1996
Warrior of Rome II, AKA Caesar no Yabō II / シーザーの野望II (Mega Drive – 1992)
Cover art for the US version (Source: signature found on the artwork)
Wolfenstein 3D / ウルフシュタイン ３Ｄ (Super NES, Jaguar – 1994)
Cover art (US version only for the SNES version) (Source: signature found on the artwork)