A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF RON ZALME

 

Born in The Netherlands, and raised in New Jersey from the age of 2 ˝ , Ron Zalme attended West Orange public schools and graduated from West Orange High School in 1972.  He began his collegiate studies as a biology major but soon switched to art, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Upsala College in 1976.  Directly after college, he attended the newly opened Joe Kubert School of Cartoon in Dover NJ to hone his commercial art skills.  He has been a cartoonist-illustrator in the children's education & entertainment field since 1978.  He began his professional career as the Asst. Production Mgr. for Marvel Comics and was soon freelancing for many other major clients in various markets while maintaining his staff position with Marvel.  After seven years (1985), he went entirely freelance to illustrate in the publishing, advertising, and merchandising markets… offering both his own creations and licensed-character art for print media, puzzles & games, products & packaging, and the Web.  He works primarily in pencil, pen & ink and watercolor, and is proficient in airbrush, hand-lettering, and PhotoShop and Illustrator digital artwork.  Major clients have included: Scholastic, The Washington Post, Sesame Workshop (CTW), Highlights for Children, World Wrestling Entertainment, King Features, Avon Products, Troll Books, Simon & Schuster, McGraw-Hill, Henson Assoc., Pearson Education, and Time for Kids.  He resides in Stillwater NJ with his wife Linda, a figurative sculptor of one-of-a-kind art dolls www.lindazalme.com .  They have three grown children and two Bouviers des Flanders.