In Memoriam Robert Tinney

tinney.net

8 points·dcminter··3 comments

Benj Edwards wrote a nice profile on arstechnica[0] (Feb 11).

"Tinney went on to paint more than 80 covers for Byte, working almost entirely in airbrushed Designers Gouache, a medium he chose for its opaque, intense colors and smooth finish. He said the process of creating each cover typically took about a week of painting once a design was approved, following phone conversations with editors about each issue’s theme. He cited René Magritte and M.C. Escher as two of his favorite artists, and fans often noticed their influence in his work."

[0] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/byte-magazine-artist...

> In his later years, Tinney grew philosophical about the future of illustration as a profession, noting that stock image databases had changed the economics of the field. But he remained upbeat about the value of artistic talent, comparing it in that 2006 interview to the skill of public speaking: “It’s a nice talent to have, but it isn’t easy to find someone who’ll pay you just to do it. You need to combine that basic talent with another skill to really have a marketable service.”

Perhaps something to ponder as AI stirs up what constitutes a marketable service.

Robert Frank Tinney, artist for over 100 Byte magazine covers 1975-1990, passed away peacefully on February 1st, 2026, at the age of 78.

Also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28607038

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