David A Hardy (b. 10 April 1936; Bournville, nr Birmingham, UK)
David Hardy is a British space artist and was born in 1936 in Bournville, UK. He studied at the Margaret Street College of Art in Birmingham, and was soon painting for the British Interplanetary Society.

He started his career as an employee in the Design Office of Cadbury's, where he created packaging and advertising art for the company's confectionery.

His first science fiction art was published in 1970, but he has gone on to illustrate hundreds of covers for books, and for magazines such as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact. His work also appears regularly in magazines such as Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, Astronomy Now and Popular Astronomy, for which he also writes articles.

Jon Gustafson and Peter Nicholls write that he is "known as much for his astronomical paintings in the accurate tradition of Chesley Bonestell as for his sf work". Some of his best early work, at age 18, was to illustrate a nonfiction book by Patrick Moore, Suns, Myths and Men (1954). Gustafson and Nicholls remark that The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction was "the magazine for which he developed his famous "Space Gumby," a green alien which lent humour to his vivid astronomical scenes. He was an important artist for Vision of Tomorrow and worked also for Science Fiction Monthly, If and Gal."

David has illustrated and produced covers for dozens of books in the UK, USA and Germany, both fact and fiction, including many by Patrick Moore, some by Arthur C. Clarke and the late Carl Sagan, all of whom own (or owned) his originals, along with Wernher von Braun, Isaac Asimov and even Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones and Brian May, among many others.

He also worked on Patrick Moore's The Sky at Night on TV from when it started in 1957, more or less until the present day (sadly it now uses little space art), and has appeared three times in person. In 1974 he started writing his own non-fiction books for both children and adults. His first novel, Aurora: A Child of Two Worlds, was published in 2003, with a revised edition in 2012. Since 1970 he has worked on covers for SF magazines (Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, Interzone, etc.), factual magazines (New Scientist, Focus, Astronomy Now, Sky & Telescope, etc.), movies (e.g. The Neverending Story), TV (Blake's Seven, Tomorrow's World, Cosmos, Horizon, etc.), computer games, record and CD art (from Hawkwind to Holst's The Planets Suite), video, and planetarium art.

He is European Vice President of the International Association of Astronomical Artists, and Vice President of the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists.

He has been Artist Guest of Honour at a number of science fiction conventions, including Stucon, Albacon, Armadacon, Novacon, the 2007 Eurocon, and Illustrious, the 2011 Eastercon. He was also a guest speaker at the 2012 Microcon at Exeter University.

David is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including:
1979 Nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist.
1987 Won 'Best European SF Artist' award.
2001 Won the Lucien Rudaux Memorial Award.
2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 Best cover art, readers award, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact.
2005 FUTURES was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Related Book.
2005 FUTURES received the Sir Arthur Clarke Award for 'Best Written Presentation'.