By sheer volume, who created the most D&D Art?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't think that's defensible when it comes to Trampier's Wormy strips, but he's not a contender for greatest volume anyway. Some of those comic pages rival any art that's ever been associated with D&D.

We'll probably never know why Tramp left and turned his back so definitively on RPG art, but it's a huge loss. His 1E art still holds up, IMO, even when some of his peers' work doesn't. And damn it, Wormy was funny as hell.

 

[Joshua Randall]

If we count every instance of a Holloway spot art (generally a small part of the page) should we not also count every panel of a D&D comic (also a small part of the page)?

 

[GreyOne]

I think he had a lot more generally than spot art. I would count Trampier comic art like Wormy. I was thinking more excluding the DC comic art,etc - ie the comic books. I'm thinking just pure game art.

 

[GreyOne]

What, no callout for all those covers he did for Avalon Hill's Tales From the Floating Vagabond? Clearly his magnum opus, and the main reason most people bought the fool things in the first place.

I don't think that's defensible when it comes to Trampier's Wormy strips, but he's not a contender for greatest volume anyway. Some of those comic pages rival any art that's ever been associated with D&D.

Yeah there were so many games. Besides already mentioned, Star Frontiers, MERP, Gangbusters, Boot Hill, Traveller. Any of those old TSR games for sure.

 

[Mannahnin]

In terms of raw numbers, I agree that Holloway may be the champ, since his art spanned from the late 1970s, I believe, through the end of the TSR era. (I don't think he did anything for WotC.) Much of his work was spot art inside books, rather than covers, which means there was a lot more opportunity for his art to be used. And there were years where it seemed every issue of Dragon featured a new piece from him.

Yes. This is my belief. Add to all the D&D stuff is the vast number of other games he worked on from Paranoia, Battletech, Chill, DCC, etc and I think he is the workhorse of RPG art.

I'm definitely not including comic art or 3d sculpts, lol.

Something about Holloway's style always rubbed me a little wrong, but I can admit that objectively he was a great artist, especially for more humorous stuff. His work for Paranoia in particular is iconic.

I was going to bring up DCC as well- one thing that adds to his volume figures over most other old TSR artists is that he was working on new products and still doing art up until his passing a couple of years ago.

Erol Otus and David "Diesel" S. LaForce are two more artists still working and cranking out good stuff. Holloway, Otus, Jim Rosloff and Jeff Dee also did work for the DCC module line (100+ modules) for 3.x, so that's a bunch more art they produced in the post-TSR years, starting in 2003.

Here is a nice site I noticed talking about these 5. Clyde Caldwell, Larry Elmore, Jeff Easley, Keith Parkinson and Daniel R Horne as some of the most featured in pre 3e days. There are some great samples of their art as well. I recognize the art from Daniel Horne, but he is not one I ever think of, sadly.

Oh man, Daniel Horne definitely had fewer pieces, but some of them are absolute classics.

 

[Parmandur]

Stan! is a pretty serious contender, as is perhaps Wayne Reynolds.

 

[delericho]

The fans.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Would agree on Jim Holloway. He's done Dragon magazine covers, module covers, and interior art on just about every type of product TSR put out.

What, no callout for all those covers he did for Avalon Hill's Tales From the Floating Vagabond? Clearly his magnum opus, and the main reason most people bought the fool things in the first place.

I don't think that's defensible when it comes to Trampier's Wormy strips, but he's not a contender for greatest volume anyway. Some of those comic pages rival any art that's ever been associated with D&D.

This one is still jaw-dropping and inspiring, all these decades later:

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

This one is still jaw-dropping and inspiring, all these decades later:

View attachment 358349

That was one of the pages I was thinking of. I know several people who bought multiple copies of that issue so they could clip out Wormy and put it up on their wall. And the pages leading up to it display a real mastery of sequential art too, the pacing is just perfect.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

That was one of the pages I was thinking of. I know several people who bought multiple copies of that issue so they could clip out Wormy and put it up on their wall. And the pages leading up to it display a real mastery of sequential art too, the pacing is just perfect.

Trampier had a great narrative sense that really grew as the series progressed. Heck, his D&D art often invited the reader to imagine the story behind that single moment captured.