Virgil Warden Finlay was born in Rochester, New York on July 23, 1914. At school he excelled in athletics, but after class he promptly returned home where he would write poetry or draw. His intricate drawings of monsters and maidens were to make him one of the best known and admired fantasy illustrators of the mid-20th century.

Finlay's chosen medium was initially scratchboard which - after first coating with black ink - he would then use a scribe to scratch out a thin white line. He also became adept at stippling, tirelessly creating images made up of thousands of carefully placed ink dots.