Chris McGrath was born in the Bronx and has lived in New York City his whole life. At an early age he became interested in art, especially science fiction and fantasy. At the age of 12 he came across the art of Frank Frazetta, and knew then that he wanted to be a book-cover artist. After Graduating from the School of Visual Arts in 1995 he taught guitar for several years before beginning his career as an illustrator in 2001. Since then he has done covers for New York Times best selling authors such as Jim Butcher, Brandon Sanderson, Rob Thurman and Kat Richardson.