Who is the quintessential D&D artist?

[Ralif Redhammer]

If you watch the Eye of the Beholder documentary, all the other TSR house artists of the time praise Parkinson as being the best, the most technically accomplished of them all.

If I had a 4th vote, would vote Parkinson... He did the mounted Tuigan warrior on the Forgotten Realms grey box cover, and Lord Soth's charge in Dragonlance. The king of the hyperrealists in 2nd ed.

 

[BronzeDragon]

If you watch the Eye of the Beholder documentary, all the other TSR house artists of the time praise Parkinson as being the best, the most technically accomplished of them all.

He is my favorite fantasy artist of all time.

What a tragic loss.

 

[BronzeDragon]

He did Lord Soth's charge in Dragonlance.

I deliberately did not put Lord Soth's charge as the sample for Parkinson. It's unfair for the other artists.

 

[innerdude]

I deliberately did not put Lord Soth's charge as the sample for Parkinson. It's unfair for the other artists.

Lord Soth's Charge is an unassailably great piece of artwork. It's the kind of art that even someone almost completely untrained in art techniques---like myself---can recognize as being "great," even if we can't describe why off the top of our heads.

 

[BronzeDragon]

Elmore running away with it so far.

 

[ART!]

I took the time to remind myself what kind of art all those folks did, and I narrowed my vote down to Dave Trampier, Jeff Easley, and Jason Rainville. Apparently I'm a fan of 1st edition and 5th edition art, and especially disliked the 4th edition art.

To elaborate on one of my picks, Dave Trampier.

This lizardfolk piece is still the bee's knees AFAIC.

Few if any D&D covers are as iconic as this:

He did so many Monster Manual illustrations, and they're all so good - and weird.

And, I mean:

 

[Fenris-77]

I love a lot of the old school artists, and Elmore actually isn't my favorite, but he is the artist that I think of first when I think of the D&D I grew up with. Something about the realism in his stuff really hit home with me at the time.

 

[ART!]

So, some samples of Jeff Easley's seminal work:

Basically, illustrating the cover of a book that gets a lot of use is gonna get you in the hall of fame, so:

And he did so many D&D covers...

I don't know what this is from but it's great:

 

[fearsomepirate]

My personal favorites are Otus and Trampier, but I voted for Easley and Elmore because I feel like they have, more than anybody else, defined the look of D&D, to the point that 35 years later, D&D art seems to bear indelible influence from them.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I'm not as fond of his dragons, but Easley's skeletons are tops in my book:

So, some samples of Jeff Easley's seminal work:

I don't know what this is from but it's great:
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