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Favorite RPG Artists

What I Like in RPG Art

Tony DiTerlizzi

Probably best known for his work on Planescape in the 90s, his use of exaggerated anatomy, DeTerlizzi has gone on to his own post-DnD career, illustrating a ton of books that don't have game rules in them.

Jez Gordon

Dynamic, heavy scratchboard illustrations with both a strong sense of mass and motion. Jez is one of the newer artists I have noticed. Not to mention his work as a cartographer and a designer of great-looking books.

Russ Nicholson

I encountered Russ Nicholson's art both in the Fiend Folio and in pages of White Dwarf back in the 1980s. Russ' intense line work, dark and moody texture and generally grungy feel struck me deeply as hitting an aesthetic that better reflected the sword and sorcery (e.g., Robert E. Howard) and the dark fantasy (e.g. Micheal Moorcock) I liked in my teens. As my tastes have evolved, grungy, dirty and complicated still has been part of my favored art aesthetic.

Erol Otus

What initially turned me on to Erol Otus was his work in the Fiend Folio depicting the Cthulhu Mythos as well as some spot illustrations, but a lot of his work over the years with TSR and Arduin made me love his clean lines, freaky people, and non-traditional fantasy characters as well his deeply disturbing take on monsters.

Liz Danforth

Editor and main artist for Flying Buffalo's Tunnels and Trolls, Liz's black and white work, in particular, has a strong sense of texture, with her use of hatching, fine line work, and realistic expressions and appearances. Her work reminds me of fantasy book illustrations when that was a thing in fantasy novels, and creates a strong sense of what to me embody the literary roots of swords and sorcery.
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