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The
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Fantasy Game
Mary Kirchof f
Editor
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Printed In the United States of America Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 88-5 1 734 ISBN: 0-88038-605-3 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 TSR, Inc.
TSR Ltd. 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton Cambridge CB I 3LB United Kingdom
Clyde Caldwell
Jeff Easiey
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93 Keith Parkinson
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h e introduction to a n a r t b o o k should whet t h e appetite a n d tempt t h e palate, like hors doeuvres before t h e main meal. In that spirit, Im about to tell you s o m e of my own observations a b o u t t h e amazing, talented artists represented in this book, things they arent willing to tell o r havent recognized in themselves. As t h e managing editor of TSRs b o o k department, it has k e n my pleasure to work with e a c h of these artists over t h e years, a n d they have left m e almost as many personal impressions as their art has created for us all. omething about Clyde Caldwell reminds m e of a swashbuckler. I c a n see him in my minds e y e at t h e bow of a sailing ship, saber in hand, his brightly colored tunic wafting in t h e salty breeze. Yet his hands a r e not t h o s e of a pirate-they a r e fine-boned artists hands. He has a ready, distinctive laugh, a slow, southern drawl, a n d h e s e e m s to thrive o n popcorn a n d yogurt. The women in his paintings a r e t h e dreams of many men a n d cause depression a m o n g us women. We know that t h o s e women really exist somewhere because h e works from photographs of his models. I havent been able to s h a k e t h e image of Jeff Easley as a Middle-Eastern sultan since Clyde painted him into t h e cover of t h e novel, Red Sands. Or t h e image of Jeff with a bloody a x e wedged in his forehead-part o f his homemade Halloween costume of a couple of years ago. Hes a quiet, gentle man w h o s e e m s able to a b s o r b t h e c h a o s of TSRs art room a n d sum it all u p with s o m e incredibly witty observation. While interviewing TSRs staff artists for The Art of the DRAGONLANC@Saga, I tried to pry from him s o m e juicy tidbit about his painting entitled Lair of t h e Live Ones, which is t h e o n e with Raistlin standing near a pit, surrounded by all sorts of g o o p y eyeballs a n d slimy creatures. I said something pithy like, It looks as if you really got into this piece a n d had fun creating t h e s e weird creatures. Did you enjoy painting it? Jeff looked at t h e photocopy of t h e painting, glanced a w a y thoughtfully, stroked his thick, red beard once, a n d said in a deep, mock-serious voice, Yes, I did. That w a s it. I like to time my noon meal in t h e cafeteria to coincide with his, mainly to see what incredibly weird concoction h e c o m e s u p with from t h e nearby grocery store. Whatever it is, from sardines to chicken, its bound to be covered with liberal dashes of t h e hot sauce h e keeps near his drawing table. If you can picture it, Larry Elmore reminds m e of a cross between Larrys own sexy renditions of Tanis Half-Elven from t h e DRAGONLANC&@ saga a n d a slightly befuddled Yosemite Sam. Theres a genuine warmth a b o u t Larry that radiates to his co-workers a n d his fans; h e gives you t h e impression that h e doesnt t a k e himself o r his accomplishments too seriously, though h e is very serious a b o u t his art. Hes filled with funny stories, but my favorite is t h e o n e a b o u t his beloved hot rod burning u p just three feet beyond t h e jurisdiction of t h e local fire department. And dont let him tell you that that curly dark-haired woman in many of his paintings isnt his wife. He vehemently denies it, as does she, but t h e rest of us know better.
of Fred Fields has b e e n colored by two events. The person y impr w h o introduced u s n o t too long ago said, This is Fred Fields, o u r new artist. Doesnt h e have t h e blackest hair youve e v e r seen? So n o w every time I see him my e y e s settle o n his hair a n d I unconsciously think, Yeah, it is really black. The other event c a m e u p just yesterday, when Fred told m e that h e had been wanting to include a self-portrait in o n e of his pieces a n d hed managed it in t h e piece entitled Art Warriors. I secretly thought Fred was far nicer looking, not so severe a n d brutish, a n d t h a t t h e g u y in t h e painting looked m o r e like Lyle Alzado. But Fred entered t h e Unflappable Illustrators Hall of Fame during a meeting when we w e r e discussing t h e subject of his first b o o k cover for TSR. The art director a n d I, t h e two fastest talkers in t h e world, had discussed t h e look we had in mind for t h e c o v e r a n d were both excited by this shared vision. Speech speed set at 78, we slammed into Fred with o u r enthusiasm, knocked him to t h e floor with endless detail, a n d then jumped o n his lifeless form by announcing a n impossible deadline. While we caught o u r breath a n d waited for t h e protestations, Fred calmly lifted his eyebrows a n d said, I c a n do that, yes. Stunned, I retreated to my office, whereupon Fred arrived n o t two hours later with a sketch that proved h e had heard every w o r d wed said. So far, h e s e e m s to eat relatively normal food, but I suspect that extended e x p o s artists will s o o n c h a n g e that. Keith Parkinson h a s always looked m o r e like a n athlete than a n d I think its because of his hands. There a r e calluses o n them, n o t just paint beneath t h e nails, as if hes n o t afraid to use his hands f o r things other than art. Hes a very focused person w h o s e e m s to k n o w w h o h e is a n d where hes going with his lifea n d his work. And y e t in every mental image I have of Keith hes smiling, a n d his smile always leaves a twinkle behind in his eyes. The other thing that c o m e s to mind a b o u t Keith is his painting moods. Suddenly hell feel like doing a western scene, so hell search a n d search f o r a w a y to slip s o m e aspect of that into a n assignment. And then there was his gray period, when h e was using a lot of s o m b e r tones. I liked to tease him a n d a s k if t h e paint s t o r e had run a special o n gray paint a n d h e was trying to c u t costs.
onderfully quirky, yet amazingly focused, these artists h a v e succeeded in showing us just what t h e world of t h e ADVANCED DUNGEONS 8. DRAGONSO fantasy g a m e looks like. Their compelling work places t h e m a m o n g t h e finest in t h e fantasy a n d science fiction genres. But Im sure you already know that. And now, I h o p e youre all very hungry, because dinner is served. Mary Kirchoff Lake Geneva, Wisconsin 30 August 1989
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uring this time I began doing covers for DRAGON@ Magazine, and TSR asked me to join their art staff. I was amazed t o find a group of kindred sdrits-artists with similar outlooks and Interests-after having been so isolated
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took the job at TSRandbegan working alongside, among others, Jeff Easley, whose work I had admired and whom I had competed for space with back in my fanzine days, and Larry Eimore, who had also been doing work for-Heavy
Metal.
"Tantras," 1989
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laughed about the issue of Heavy Metal in which a really grotesque painting of mine was selected for the front cover (it wasnt very good), and Larrys very nice painting was relegated t o the back cover because it wasnt weird enough.
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focus my art on the characters. I love to take an authors character and flesh it out, make the character visually real for the reader. I remember having vivid images of characters and monsters after finishing a Burroughs story, but when I would go back to take notes for an illustration, I was often amazed at how little description was actually present. The author had given me that vision without getting bogged down in detail.
Waterdeep: 1989
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For me, filling in that detail as an illustrator helps me recapture those magical moments in my youth, when I first discovered fantasy.
"Unconquered," 1986
t all started in a 5,000-watt hospital near Nicholasville, Kentucky. I, like every other artist in every other personal reminiscence, started drawing at a n early age. My parents were, a n d remain, a constant s o u r c e of encouragement. I still h a v e a number of my old n o t e b o o k s from t h e ages of four a n d five, a n d strangely enough, m o s t of t h e subject matter revolved around g h o s t s a n d monsters a n d various other creepy-crawlies. So t h e die, such as it is, was cast at a n early age. I used to c u t monster-movie ads o u t of t h e paper a n d k e e p t h e m in a s h o e b o x (I still havent s e e n t h e m all, but Im getting there). A few other pertinent thrills from my .&rmative years include a local N stations -night movie series Terror in t h e Night, my first copies of Famous Monsters of Filmland, a n d Creepy Magazine. Creepy #2 was especially pivotal in t h a t it gave m e my first look at a Frazetta (capital letters) painting. And, also like so many other artists, it m a d e m e what I a m today. My interest in t h e fantastic w a n e d somewhat during my high-school years. I went into Murray State University with t h e v a g u e intention of becoming a n artist. But after a couple of years of classes t h a t consisted of doing left-handed gesture drawings in t h e d a r k while listening to Spanish guitar music, I b e g a n looking toward t h e future, having married fellow art major, Cynthia Edwards. I started contributing to s o m e Edgar Rice Burroughs fanzines just a b o u t t h e time Frazettas first a r t b o o k c a m e o u t , a n d suddenly t h e future I was looking at a few sentences ago b e c a m e clear to me.
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Jeff Ensley
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Verrninaard, 1988
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"Mages' Battle," 1988
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Vengeanceof ,
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"Darkwell," 1988
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UnexpectedEncounter, 1987
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finished college and managed to d o a bit of Freelancing, which included some covers for g o o d 01' Creepy Magazine, fun stuff, indeed.
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t the same time I held a number of "makeends-meet" jobs, which included working in a popcorn factory and an oil seal spring factory.
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ortunateiy, at some point, although its all a blur now, I became aware that TSR was looking to fill out its art staff. I applied, was accepted, and the rest, if not history. is at least public record.
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hen I was asked t o write something about myself for this book, I thought, Oh, no! What a m I going to say without boring all the readers? Most of the time, these things read like a job application, listing all universities attended, degrees received, and experience, and they drop as many names as possible. If you a r e interested in that list, please write to m e personally-I hope youre hiring at a bjillion dollars a year! Until then, I decided to answer questions that Im most often asked. The number o n e question is: How long does it take to do a painting? As much time as I can squeeze out o f a client. Usually, with my horrible scheduling, I allow myself two weeks; thats fourteen ddys, at twelve to sixteen hours per day! Then I collapse for twenty-four hours and start all over again. When I was a staff artist I had to do some paintings in three days, and those are the ones that stay around to haunt me. How long have you been painting? I started in college, and Ive been painting o n and off for fifteen years. There have been a few dry spells, the longest being when I was drafted into the army (itstough trying to paint and drive an APC at the same time). Did you go to school to learn how to paint? This is a trick question! I received a BFA degree from Western Kentucky University, but Im still learning. No o n e can learn to paint in four years, o r six years, o r sixty years, and thats the seductive side o f art for me. Perhaps the next painting will be a great one, or the next. . . . I see all the faults when I look at my art, and Im never completely satisfied.
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o you use oils o r acrylics? Do you use a n airbrush? I use oils o n Masonite. My paintings a r e getting larger. too, a n d Masonite is heavy (Im going to kill myself lifting these things). OcCdSibnally, I paint with acrylics o n heavyduty illustration board. And airbrushes! Ugh! They hate me. Everytime Ive tried to use one, it spit o n me, clogged up, splattered-I think o tried to bite m e o n c e So I stopped fooling with them years ago. Give m e a normal brush, because I dont think I can handle anything more complex (just remember, Larry, fuzzy side down).
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o you use y w r own ideas, o r do publishers tell you what they want you t o paint?" Well, it's a n t t k of every$hing. solnetlmco I h a w totat beduin, and I general&think those are my better paintings. Most of the time. however. the a paintkrg Is
and on,
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Temptation, 1987
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ow comes the part where I say something profound, like "art flows from me like an endless creative river." Dream on. It's been a lot o f hard work and an uphill crawl. My art is just now getting t o the point where I can say, "Well, that painting is OK."
don't want my art to stagnate, so 1'11 continue t o crawl, I guess. And don't think for a moment that I don't appreciate all the comments and letters I get, good or bad; you keep me on the right track. Thanks a million!
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n 1974, at t h e age o f nine, I t o o k my first painting lesson. In 1988, at t h e age o f twenty-three, I painted my first DRAGON@ Magazine cover. Fortunately, my parents saw that I had s o m e talent at a young age and they were very supportive, encouraging, and gave m e direction. 1 grew up in Burlington, Kentucky, a n d took art classes for eight years from a Cerman-born artist, Anneleise Wharenburg, to whom I owe a great amount o f credit. In high school, I took a vocational class in commercial art. After graduation from high school, I enrolled in a two-year program at Central Academy o f Commercial Art in Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated with honors. Three short weeks later, I accepted a position illustrating television storyboards for Leo Burnett Advertising in Chicago, Illinois. During this time 1 was working o n a fantasy portfolio in my spare hours, never really thinking that I would o n e day do fantasy art f o r a living. Having had my fill o f advertising, I returned to Kentucky and freelanced for two years in Cincinnati. There I received my first fantasy art assignment from Ral Partha Miniatures Company, illustrating blister cards a n d box covers. Like a lot o f fantasy artists, I was influenced immensely by Boris Vallejo, Michael Whelen, and Frank Frazetta. I liken my first glance at a Frazetta book at t h e age ofsixteen to t h e monkeys touching t h e obelisk in t h e movie 200 1 :A Space
odyssey.
On June 5th, 1989, I was hired by TSR, f its Inc., and became t h e newest member o art staff. Home is now in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with my wife, Connie, my dog, Brandy, and my iguana, Fido.
Fred Fields
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eople ask me whether I sometimes work from photos. The Ideas and rough sketches come from my imagination. Once I get the scene arranged roughly the way I want it, I find models and make photos t o help finetune the figures.
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There are often subtleties in photos that I may not have thought to put into an illustration. I usually follow the photo very closely, but sometimes those nuances may cause me to stray from it completely.
Ninja, 1989
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hen t think o f t h e kind o f art I like, it creates a mood. It takes the viewer to a place-a real place o r a specific event. When I go outside to a lake, a woods, o r wherever, each specific place has its own feel. Trying to capture that and get that across to the viewer, to bring him to that spot through my art, is what I try to do. The more control I have over the content and f a piece o f art, the easier that is direction o to accomplish. Ive found that in addition to t h e actual f the painting also image itself, the size o makes a difference. BIG IS BETTER. On most projects now, 1 work larger than I previously did. The minimum size for my own art (as opposed to art for a publisher, which is usually smaller because o f time constraints), is 24 x 30, but Id really like to be in t h e r L x 5 range. Currently I work o n primed Masonite. I a m seriously considering going back to canvas o n board, though. Masonite is brittle, and t h e corners chip easily. Recently, I did a 30 x 40 painting o n Masonite for a major book publisher. En route to t h e publisher, t h e painting was somehow fo/decf in M f . What a deal, two paintings for the price o f one, eh? Needless to say, they werent amused, and neither was 1.1 had to physically and artistically return the two pieces into o n e painting. Oils a r e my medium o f choice now, primarily because dried colors stay true to their wet appearance. Occasionally, particularly if Im doing a n SF piece that involves airbrushing o r lots o f hard, straight edges, 111 use acrylics.
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"Horseman Near Lake," 1987
friend o f mine once said this about my art: You make the fantastic mundane and the mundane fantastic. I think that sums it up very well. When a fantastic subject-a dragon, for example-is put in an ordinary background, such as a
snow scene, the dragons existence becomes more believable. No one would look twice if a polar bear were used in that scene, but because it i sa dragon. the mundane snow scene is transformed into an interesting, fantastic
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hen I left my staff artist position at TSR in f 1987 November o to pursue a freelance career, I thought I would h a v e m o r e time for my family a n d other interests. Boy, w a s I wrong! My work output h a s grown considerably, which is vital since t h e publishing field, for which t h e majority o f my art is d o n e
t h e s e days, is so competitive. hen I look back at a lot o f t h e work I did in f t h o s e first couple o years as a staff artist, it m a k e s my e y e s hurt. I like to think t h a t t h e quality o f my a r t is constantly improving, a n d I'm sure you'll notice a progression as well.
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h e sheer volume of a r t n e e d e d by a company t h e size o f TSR makes it impossible to produce all of it in-house. Consequently, we work with a multitude of equally talented freelance artists w h o s e widely varying styles o p e n n e w artistic channels for us. Though all t h e s e gifted artists are n o t represented here, we have provided a tasty sampling. George Barrs forte is detail, a n d his quality is always superb. George lives in California. Denis Beauvais is a Canadian artist living in Ontario. H e h a s d o n e several covers for DRAGON@Magazine, providing us with what are considered to be some of o u r best in-flight battle scenes between dragons. Jeff Butler, former TSR staff illustrator, n o w freelances in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. H e is probably best known for his superhero artwork, but t h e range of his talents c a n be s e e n in his two paintings in t h e 1990 FORGOTTEN REALMS Calendar. David Dorman is a n accomplished comic book illustrator a n d hails from Florida. Stephen Fabian is o n e of o u r favorite black-and-white artists, a n d youll certainly see why. Stephen lives in New Jersey. Jim Holloway specializes in oriental-related art, a n d h e h a s recently completed a series of module covers in o u r Oriental Adventures product line. Jim lives in Fontana, Wisconsin. Husband a n d wife artist t e a m , John a n d Laura Lakey, enjoy building models to use as references. The d r a g o n o n Childs Play is sculpted from clay. They live in North Carolina. Erik Olson is o u r latest freelance find. Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, Erik n o w lives in California. Jack Pennington worl<s at a n ad a g e n c y in Detroit, Michigan. He enjoys doing fantasy a r t because it provides a pleasant break from his day-to-day work. And Valerie Valusek h a s b e e n doing freelance work for us for a b o u t five years. Her beautifully detailed black-and-white illustrations o f t e n h a v e hidden surprises, if you look closely enough. S h e lives in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
"Oh, @#?*I"
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"Child's Play," 1988, by John and Laura Lake)
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"The Warrior Wall," 1989, by John and Laura Lakey "Sorcerer's Surprise," 1989, by John and Laura Lakey
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Enter the realm of dragons, warriors, wizards and other wonders in this splendid collection of fantasy art.
The Art of the ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS@ Fantasy Game features the art of Clyde Caldwell, Jeff Easley, Larry Elmore, Fred Fields, Keith Parkinson, and many other well-known fantasy artists.
ISBN
0-88038-605-3
ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is a registered trademark owned b y TSR, Inc. The TSR logo is a trademark owned b y TSR, Inc.
8443
Printed in the U.S.A
$16.95U.S. $20.50CAN
f 10.50 U.K.