Larry Elmore
Larry Elmore | |
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Fantasy art | |
Spouse | Betty |
Larry Elmore (born August 5, 1948[1]) is an American fantasy artist whose work includes creating illustrations for video games, comics, magazines, and fantasy books. His list of work includes illustrations for Dungeons & Dragons, Dragonlance, and his own comic strip series SnarfQuest. He is author of the book Reflections of Myth.
Early life and education
Elmore was born August 5, 1948, in Louisville, Kentucky, and grew up in Grayson County in midwestern Kentucky.[1] Elmore described his school days by saying, "The rural school I attended didn't have any art program, so I spent my time drawing - and daydreaming. I was a pretty bad student ... I was always getting into trouble for drawing in class. I wish I had a quarter for every drawing of mine a teacher destroyed."[1] He majored in art at Western Kentucky University.[1]
Career
A month after graduating from college, Elmore was drafted into the U.S. Army and stationed in Germany. After leaving the service, Elmore worked as an illustrator for the United States government in the Fort Knox Training Aids Department.[1] Three years later, Elmore turned to freelance work, his art being published in National Lampoon and Heavy Metal magazines.[1]
One of Elmore's friends, a fellow government illustrator,[2] introduced him to the Dungeons & Dragons game while Elmore was freelancing.[1] Elmore joined the staff of TSR, Inc., the producers of Dungeons & Dragons, as its first professional illustrator,[2] in November 1981, and created art work for adventure modules, game books, and novels, as well as paintings for posters and calendars.[1] Elmore created the SnarfQuest comic which appeared in Dragon.[1] During the "Project Overlord" development phase of the Dragonlance setting, Elmore created the concept artwork which was used to promote Dragonlance to the upper levels of management at TSR.[3]: 16 Elmore was in charge of creating a look for the Dragonlance saga, and did many of the early sketches for the series,[1] his first cover appearing on Dragons of Autumn Twilight.[4] British game designer Graeme Davis commented that Elmore "... should get some kind of award for drawing so many dragons and making them all different".[5]
Elmore left TSR in 1987.: 332
In the late 1990s,
Elmore scaled back his activities in 2006, switching to contract work only, stating, "A friend of mine, Keith Parkinson, who also worked at TSR, died of leukemia three years ago. We shared a studio, and we were always talking about how when we hit 50 we'd be doing our own thing. ... He didn't make it, and I was 57 and still pulling all-nighters. I was tired of it. I was tired of paying dues."[2] His work appears in the book Masters of Dragonlance Art.[7] Elmore released a book of artwork called 20 Years of Elmore in 2005.[8] He has frequently been described as a legend in the fantasy and gaming communities.[2][9][10][11]
In 2013, Elmore raised funding through Kickstarter for a 336-page hardback book of his artwork over his 40-year career.[12]
In 2014, Scott Taylor of Black Gate, named Larry Elmore as #1 in a list of The Top 10 RPG Artists of the Past 40 Years, saying "Elmore not only helped define a good portion of 1980s TSR, but he also got to do the Shadowrun core cover for FASA that was so incredibly popular it reappeared on the 2nd edition and video game as well."[13]
Personal life
In 1971, before leaving for his Army service in Germany, Elmore married his wife, Betty. He has two children, and currently lives with his wife in
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "TSR Profiles". Dragon (#107). Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR, Inc.: 63 March 1986.
- ^ The Charleston Gazette. p. D3. Archived from the originalon September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
- ^ "Black Gate » Articles » Art Evolution 12: Larry Elmore". December 2010.
- ^ Gallagher (July 1987). "Open Box". White Dwarf (91). Games Workshop: 4.
- ^ a b Reed, Bill (November 8, 1996). "Sci-Fi fans flock here again". The Virginian-Pilot. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
- ^ D'Ammassa, Don (January 2003). "Masters of Dragonlance Art", Chronicle 25 (1): 30.
- ^ "Here there be dragons". The Charleston Gazette. April 21, 2005. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
- ^ a b McMillion, Elaine (October 23, 2009). "More than 400 expected at gamer convention this weekend". Charleston Daily Mail. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
- ^ Nett, Veronica (October 25, 2009). "CharCon attracts hundreds of gamers". Sunday Gazette-Mail. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
- ^ Roberts, Jack; Rios, Alejandro (February 24, 2006). "The local scene stretches all the way to Copenhagen, sort of". Intelligencer Journal. Lancaster, PA. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
- ^ "The Complete Elmore".
- ^ https://www.blackgate.com/2014/02/12/art-of-the-genre-the-top-10-rpg-artists-of-the-past-40-years-2/
- ^ "Players match wits, command armies in gaming convention". Messenger-Inquirer. Owensboro, Kentucky. January 7, 2007. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2009.
Some people have said, 'you saved my life' ... It gave them a reason to go on, and they picked up art. I've had people come up to me and say, 'I was in high school and couldn't read. I saw your book cover ... (and) liked it so much I learned to read.' Those are payoffs you never dream of, and it's worth more than money.
External links
- Official website
- "Larry Elmore :: Pen & Paper RPG Database". Archived from the original on August 23, 2010.
- "Interview with Elmore". Archived from the original on 2009-01-27.
- "Samples of Elmore's art work". Archived from the original on August 23, 2010.
- "Bibliography of Elmore's work". Archived from the original on August 23, 2010.