A Tribute to Robert Tinney

A Captivating Artist in the Early Days of Circuit Cellar

- By Curtis Franklin, Editor-in-Chief

In 1988, when Steve Ciarcia started what was then Circuit Cellar INK, he brought a few ideas with him from his days as a columnist at BYTE: The articles in Circuit Cellar INK would always be focused on projects that readers could recreate and modify; the magazine would always have a personality (in the beginning, it was very much his); and covers would be illustrations painted by Robert Tinney. Robert Tinney passed away at the beginning of February, and it’s only right that Circuit Cellar take a moment to remember his contributions to our beginning.

Robert was born in New York in 1947, moved to Louisiana as a child, and lived in or near Louisiana for most of the rest of his life. He became an illustrator after serving in the military and painted his first BYTE cover in 1975. He was part of that magazine's visual identity for more than a decade to follow.