Who is the quintessential D&D artist?

[Snarf Zagyg]

Also, one of my favorite cover pieces-

The expert set is an illustration by Otus of a Magic User scrying and seeing the battle that is taking place on the basic set.

Heh.

 

[ART!]

When I voted for Trampier, it was actually this I was thinking of, rather than his rulebook covers...

View attachment 133663

This is one of the main reasons I voted for him, too.

I mean, how many 100s of hours did I spend on the player side of that DM's screen?

The answer is "a lot of 100s".

 

[steeldragons]

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Now I'm not sure if you meant Dark Sun's Brom or Planescape's DiTerlizzi.

Brom is definitely the face of Dark Sun, while DiTerlizzi set the tone for Planescape. I do find it interesting though, that most people seem to forget DiTerlizzi's importance in the Monstrous Manual. It was absolutely full of his art.

O_O
...omg...
Er...yeah...I meant Planescape and DiTerlizzi. I totally did that on purpose...just to see who was paying attention. TOTALY INTENTIONAL! Honest!
..

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[willrali]

Elmore, Elmore, then Elmore. No contest. Beautifully proportioned fantasy realism.

Then Easley.

I need to give honorable mention to Julie Bell, who isn’t on the list.

Brom also gets an honorable mention, because his aesthetic is Dark Sun to the core, and vice versa. And Dark Sun is one of the finest campaign settings ever devised.

 

[Hriston]

My picks:

1. David Trampier
2. David Sutherland
3. Darlene Pekul

This choice was made easier by David S. La Force being omitted from the list.

 

[steeldragons]

Fantasy Realism and overall winner, imho, Elmore.
Comic Booky goodness, dramatic scenes, crisp lines, and heroicly proportioned figures (for that day): Jeff Dee and Willingham are my tight, tied and close, seconds.

Brom is the furtherest from "quintessential D&D." But he is both foundational and quintessential "DarkSun."

Similarly, DiTerrlizi, while have a bit more work in his portfolio (showing up later 2e, I believe), is not quintessential D&D, but IS quintessential "Planescape."

Imo, neither belongs on the list of options (while WIllingham certainly does/was a noted oversight in such a thorough list).

Easley is an honorable mention (and very recognizable for folks because of all of his hardback manual cover work) but I never much cared for his at once "wispy," while still being "heavy," looking style.

 

[Arilyn]

Elmore running away with it so far.

I never really liked this piece. Mighty heroes slaughtering a very small dragon.

 

[Crusadius]

My formative years of roleplaying harken back to the late 80's and early 90's. So artists such as Elmore and Parkinson are most familiar to me. Planescape also was a big release at the time (along with the card game Blood Wars) so Tony DiTerlizzi also features foremost in my "artists that make me think of Dungeons and Dragons" list.

 

[Crusadius]

I never really liked this piece. Mighty heroes slaughtering a very small dragon.

But when you look at the HD of such a dragon, if you were not a high level party defeating such a foe was a big deal.