Artist Keith Parkinson passes away

[Maldin]

I had the pleasure of meet Keith at GenCon years ago. He not only was what I consider to be the absolute best of the fantasy artists, but in a business often filled with egos and brush-offs, he was one of the most down-to-earth guys I've met and was genuinely interested in taking time and just chatting about anything.

His work will be missed, but more importantly... he will be missed.

Denis, aka "Maldin"
=============================
Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com

 

[Mark CMG]

47 is too, too young.

 

[Zander]

Simply put, Keith Parkinson was one of the greatest painters ever to work on the Dungeons & Dragons game, if not the greatest. Who can forget the cover for "Queen of the Spiders," the ride of Lord Soth and his knights, and most especially the image of a band of draconians tracking their quarry in a snowy wilderness?

When I was a little kid looking at Dragon magazine and dreaming about how I might one day become its editor, I often pictured "my" Dragon having covers by Keith Parkinson. I regret that I won't be able to work with him, but most of all I regret that we will no longer see new works by one of the finest artists ever to work in the industry.

Farewell, Keith. You will be missed, but never forgotten.

--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
Dragon & Dungeon

Dear Mr Mona,

Any chance that a future Dragon could feature Keith Parkinson's work on its cover? I think this would be a fitting tribute to this great artist. An obituary would also be appreciated by those of us who adopted his vision of fantasy as our own.

Zander
Dragon reader since 1983 and small-time contributor

 

[Aus_Snow]

Peace be with you, and with your loved ones.

 

[Darth Krzysztof]

I'm simply devastated to hear this. Like many of you, I always thought that Parkinson was the best of the Fab Four. His work really defined what D&D--heck, what fantasy in general--meant to me. His dragons, in particular, were always my favorites.

I only met him once, at a convention in 1990 or '91. I blindsided him a little with Demon Knight, the GrimJack graphic novel for which he did the cover. He and Elmore were both there, and meeting them was certainly the highlight of the show for me.

It's comforting to know that his work will live on, but WOW is this sad.

Go with God, Keith.

 

[genshou]

Wow, I'm... I'm absolutely stunned. I had heard about the illness, but thought he was on the way to recovery.

God grant him peace.