William Stout, noted for his dinosaur illustrations, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1949, and later moved to Los Angeles. At seventeen he won a scholarship to the Chouinard Art Institute (California Institute of the Arts) where he obtained his bachelor's degree.

Stout began his professional career in 1968 with his cover for the first issue of the pulp magazine Coven 13. In 1971 he worked on the Tarzan of the Apes Sunday and daily newspaper comic strips and Eisner graphic novels, and then on Playboy's "Little Annie Fanny" in 1972. From 1973 to 1974 Stout began his relationship with the Firesign Theatre and created 45 rock 'n' roll "bootleg" record album covers.

From 1976 to 1977 he was art director for the rock magazine Bomp! and also created his first movie poster, for Wizards. Stout ultimately worked on the advertising for over 120 films.

In 1981, his book, The Dinosaurs - A Fantastic New View of a Lost Era, was published. This book was followed by Ray Bradbury's Dinosaur Tales and The Little Blue Brontosaurus (recipient of the 1984 Children's Choice Award and the basis for Lucas and Spielberg's The Land Before Time.

In 1989 Stout began working for Lucasfilm/Industrial Light and Magic, and also undertook a voyage to Antarctica and Patagonia. The profound spectacle of the 'last continent' changed his life, leading to a 45-painting one-man show: Dinosaurs, Penguins and Whales - The Wildlife of Antarctica. This exhibition began its tour of the world's natural history museums at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County on January 19, 1991.

Stout was one of two people selected by the National Science Foundation to participate in their Antarctic Artists and Writers Program during the 1992-1993 austral summer. In November 1992, Stout departed again for Antarctica.

Through the National Science Foundation and the Antarctic Support Associates, he lived for three months at McMurdo Station and Palmer Station. He made dives beneath the ice, climbed Mount Erebus, camped out in the dry valleys, and produced over 100 paintings and studies during that time as he observed the continent's abundance of life. Upon his return he drove over a thousand miles through central southern Chile, documenting the rare prehistoric forests found there for his book on Antarctic life.

Michael Crichton acknowledged Stout's work as an inspiration for his book Jurassic Park and Universal Cartoon Studios chose him to design the animated series of Jurassic Park.

In 1993/1994 Stout painted two large murals for the Houston Museum of Natural Science depicting Life Before The Dinosaurs. He also continued to do theme park attraction creation and design for MCA/Universal and illustrated a series of covers for the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs comic books.

In 1997/1998, Stout completed three late Cretaceous murals, supervised two full-sized dinosaur sculptures for Walt Disney's Animal Kingdom, and began work for a Wizard of Oz theme park in Kansas. He has also been a designer for the Michael Jackson NeverLand theme parks.

In 1995 William Stout became a character designer for the Walt Disney computer animated feature Dinosaurs and helped to design 'Edgar', the key alien in "Men in Black", for ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) in 1996.

As a result of his work in paleon-tological reconstruction, eleven Stout paintings were selected for inclusion in the traveling exhibition 'Dinosaurs Past and Present'. The six-year tour included the British Museum, the Royal Ontario Museum, the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian.

William Stout currently resides in Pasadena, California, with his wife and two sons, and has been an active member of the California Art Club.

William Stout was born in Salt Lake City, UT in 1949. At seventeen he won a full California State Scholarship to the Chouinard Art Institute (California Institute of the Arts) where he obtained his Bachelor’s Degree. Stout began his professional career in 1968 with his cover and illustrations for the first four issues of the pulp magazine Coven 13.

In 1971 he began to assist Russ Manning on the Tarzan of the Apes newspaper strips and Eisner Award-winning graphic novels. In 1972 Stout joined Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder on “Little Annie Fanny” for Playboy. In 1973 Stout began his relationship with The Firesign Theatre, then gained international notoriety in 1973-74 for his 45 “bootleg” record album covers.

1977 saw Stout’s first movie poster, WIZARDS. He ultimately worked on the advertising for over 120 films. In 1977 he became the first American contributor to Heavy Metal magazine and held his first one man show, The Prehistoric World of William Stout. A collaboration with Will Eisner on The Spirit won a 1997 Harvey Award.

Buck Rogers and 1978 saw the beginning of Stout’s film career. He has worked on over 45 feature films, including the Conan films, First Blood, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Walt Disney’s Dinosaur, Masters of the Universe, The Hitcher and Pan’s Labyrinth (Stout’s work contributed to the film winning two of its Oscars and won Stout a 2006 Chesley Award). Return of the Living Dead made Stout the youngest production designer in film history. Stout was the original designer of the Predator and the Men In Black alien “Edgar”. He also contributed to Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige and Frank Darabont’s Stephen King’s The Mist.

In 1981 Bantam Books published Stout’s bestselling landmark masterwork THE DINOSAURS-A Fantastic New View of a Lost Era, followed by The Little Blue Brontosaurus (the1984 Children’s Choice Award recipient; adapted as The Land Before Time animated feature) and Ray Bradbury’s Dinosaur Tales.

Eleven Stout paintings were selected for inclusion in the traveling exhibition “Dinosaurs Past and Present”. At the Smithsonian alone, over two million visitors saw this show. Michael Crichton acknowledged Stout’s work as inspiration for his book Jurassic Park. In 1993, Universal Cartoon Studios chose Stout to design a prime time animated series of Jurassic Park. Stout’s prehistoric paintings and murals are on permanent display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Walt Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the San Diego Natural History Museum, the San Diego Zoo, the Orton Geological Museum, the Museum of the Rockies, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science and the Lagoon Discovery Center (Carlsbad, CA).

Stout worked for Walt Disney Imagineering from 1986 to 1989 as a conceptual designer, writer and producer for expansions to all their properties. He subsequently continued themed entertainment design for Disney, Universal and Landmark Entertainment Group. In 1995, Steven Spielberg made Stout Senior Concept Designer for GameWorks, a joint gaming arcade project between DreamWorks SKG, Universal and Sega. Stout designed the first three GameWorks clubs (Seattle WA, Tempe AZ and Ontario CA). In 1989 he was hired by Lucasfilm/Industrial Light and Magic as conceptualist and chief designer for their first foray into themed entertainment centers. In 1991 Stout conceived and designed Z Z Top’s Recycler tour. Stout began work in 1998/1999 as the lead designer for Kansas City’s Wonderful World of Oz theme park, and as a designer for the Michael Jackson’s NeverLand as well as a Toronto Dinotopia theme park.

Stout undertook a voyage to Antarctica and Patagonia in early 1989. The profound spectacle of the “last continent” changed his life, leading to his seven-year traveling one-man show Dinosaurs, Penguins and Whales-The Wildlife of Antarctica beginning at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. This evolved into his current book project, LOST WORLD-Modern and Prehistoric Life in Antarctica, the first visual overview of life in Antarctica. Through a 1992 Antarctic Artists and Writers Program grant from the National Science Foundation Stout returned for three months to Antarctica. Based at McMurdo Station and Palmer Station, he made dives beneath the ice, scaled an active volcano, and camped in the dry valleys. On his return he drove over 1000 miles through Patagonia, documenting the rare prehistoric forests found there.

Over 24 million William Stout trading cards have been sold. Stout’s work has received Gold and Silver Awards from Spectrum. Stout illustrated Abu; The 7 Marvels (Benjamin Franklin Award: Best Young Adult Book; Bram Stoker Award nominee; Chesley Award nominee; Gold and Silver Medals from the Society of Illustrators), Richard Matheson’s first children’s book. Harper Collins published Stout’s The Emerald Wand of Oz (2005) and Trouble Under Oz (2006). Stout’s own publishing company, Terra Nova Press, has published over forty books on art and the history of art. Bill’s latest books include Legends of the Blues,

Hallucinations, Inspirations, William Stout – Prehistoric Life Murals, Tyler’s Third Act, The New Dinosaurs A to Z, Dinosaur Discoveries and Flesk Prime. He is currently at work on his second blues volume, Legends of the British Blues, a book containing 100 portraits and biographies by Stout.

In 1993 Stout was invited into the California Art Club. He served for years as a member of their Executive Board; he is currently on their Advisory Board. Stout was unanimously voted the honor of recognition as a C. A. C. Signature Member in 1997. In 2015 William Stout received California Art Club’s William and Julia Bracken Wendt Award. He is proudly represented by American Legacy Fine Arts.

William Stout resides in Pasadena, California with his perfect wife. They are occasionally visited by their two sons and two brilliant grandsons.