Stephen Youll was born in Hartlepool, England. He studied art at Durham
New College of Art and Design, and then furthered his art education at Sunderland University. After graduating with a distinction in Illustration in 1985 he worked as a reconstruction artist at Durham Cathedral, one of England’s most historic and important Norman Cathedrals. In 1987 he exhibited his science fiction work for the first time at the World Science Fiction Convention in Brighton, England. In that same year he ended up getting enough cover assignments that he was able to go full time freelance. Stephen moved to
New York City in 1989.

Stephen Youll’s art can be found on hardback, trade, and mass market book covers. The many clients he has worked for include: Bantam Books, Warner Books, Tor Books, Avon Books, Ballantine Books, Penguin Books, Daw Books, Pocket Books, Harper Collins, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, the IBM Corporation, Sony, and Universal Studios.

Stephen’s art has been shown and exhibited throughout the United States and England and he has been awarded with many awards at conventions and exhibitions for his art, which included Best Artist, Best in Show, and Best Professional Artist. He has been nominated many times by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists for Best Paperback and Best Hardback covers. Steve has also been awarded certificates of merit and been exhibited at the Society of Illustrators. He has also had his art shown at the Illustration House in Manhattan. In 1996, he was presented with a Gold Award by the Magazine and Book Sellers News Stand cover competition for most outstanding cover of the year for “Tales of Jabba’s Palace”.

His work may be found in the Spectrum art books, The Universes of
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman: Realms of Dragons, and in Infinite Worlds, The Fantastic Visions of Science Fiction Art. Numerous magazine articles have been written about his work in Art Scene International, Film Fanaddict, Realms of Fantasy, Science Fiction Age, and Airbrush Action. Barnes and Noble picked Stephen to represent the ‘best science fiction artist’ for their
on-web interviews. He has been Artist Guest of Honor at Boscon in 1998,  and Artist Guest of Honor at the World Science Fiction Convention in Philadelphia in 2001. His work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian, and his painting “Speaking in Tongues” is hanging in the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle, Washington. Many private collectors have his original art work, including George Lucas who now owns six of his Star Wars paintings. He has a hard cover book featuring over a hundred of his favorite paintings and sketches
that is titled “The Art of Stephen Youll: Paradox”.

Stephen currently lives in Florida with his wife and cats.