Education
Shaw graduated from Kent School in 1968. In the 1970s he studied at the New England School of Art and Design.
Shaw graduated from Kent School in 1968. In the 1970s he studied at the New England School of Art and Design.
He has been nominated five times for the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist, and has earned a top ten ranking six times in the annual Locus Poll Award for Best Artist. He worked for an advertising agency, before becoming well known as an illustrator. Since 1978, Shaw has painted more than 500 book and magazine covers, including covers for books by such science fiction luminaries as Isaac Asimov, C. J. Cherryh, Larry Niven, and Frederik Pohl.
His work includes more than 20 cover paintings for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
Beside his paintings, he works with sculpture materials. He has also illustrated cards in Last Unicorn Games" collectible card game Heresy: Kingdom Come.
In addition to work for various publishing companies, Shaw freelances as a graphic artist and 3D animation consultant for various United States. government and private sector clients, including Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the United States. Army and the National Reconnaissance Office. His oeuvre is distinguished for its eclectic style, surrealistic overtones and crystalline rendering.
The artist credits author Harlan Ellison for giving him his start in the business when he invited Shaw to paint cover illustrations for 16 paperback editions of Ellison"s books
In 1995, Paper Tiger Books published a compilation of Shaw"s artwork entitled Electric Dreams: The Art of Barclay Shaw (), with an introduction by Ellison.