Maybe it has something to do with exposure? I'm in the US, and while I'm familiar with McQuarrie, the other names don't ring a bell. Elson's works figured prominently in the old Terran Trade Authority books, and since so many of his paintings sparked my imagination, his was a name I latched on to.
Without going back and looking, anyone mention Wayne D. Barlowe? His Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials was another book that fired my imagination.