Posted on 06/15/2005 1:08:24 PM PDT by Borges
David Sutherland, an artist whose work appeared in various Dungeons and Dragons rule books, has died. He was 56 years old.
Sutherland passed away at his home in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., on June 6 from chronic liver failure.
Although he remained faceless to Dungeons and Dragons players, a generation of gamers grew up with Sutherland's otherworldly images in the 1970s and '80s.
Perhaps his best-known illustration is the one that appeared on the cover of the first Dungeons and Dragons set.
A simple composition, it shows a wand-waving magic user and a knight, his longbow drawn, squaring off against a dragon who sits – à la Smaug from The Hobbit – atop a vast pile of gold coins and jewels.
Sutherland's clean, expressive artwork helped players picture their own imaginary "campaigns," as the ongoing games of Dungeons and Dragons were called.
Working at the company Tactical Studies Rules under the game's co-inventor, Gary Gygax, Sutherland was part of a team of illustrators that produced pictures of battles and monsters.
His fellow artists included Erol Otis, Darlene Pekul, David Trampier and others.
Sutherland's work also appeared on the cover of the Dungeon Masters Guide, the book used by the referee who would oversee each gaming session.
He also did the cover for the Monster Manual, the compendium of foes that players fought for treasure.
A Minneapolis native, Sutherland trained as a commercial artist before going to Vietnam to serve as a military policeman. After his return, he launched a career as a fantasy artist while working odd jobs.
Sutherland's cover art for the 'Dungeon's Masters Guide.' Eventually, a university professor involved in developing Dungeons and Dragons put him in touch with TSR, the Wisconsin firm that emerged as the dominant publisher of role-playing games.
Sutherland also served as TSR's artistic director, but preferred working on his own art.
Sutherland's career stalled after Wizards of the Coast, another gaming concern, bought TSR in the late 1990s and did not rehire him. He recently divorced, and was reportedly still upset at the dissolution of his marriage when he died.
An auction of Sutherland memorabilia was held last year, raising $22,000 US that was used to set up a trust fund for his two daughters. He is also survived by his mother, a sister and a brother.
Following a visitation, Sutherland will receive a military burial on June 22 at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.
I wasted so much times as a kid playing those stupid games.
I never thought he was the best fantasy artist, but he does go WAY back.
There were wive's tales that people went crazy playing them and committed suicide because they took it too seriously. I wonder if that was true.
I bought my basic set in 78 or 79 at the BX on Clark AFB.
I was too busy with girls to join the D&D geeks.
I feel sad for this. May David rest in peace. It was the first Roll Playing Game I have ever played and what has brought me into the world of fantasy.
Hey, I know you from the Satanists Coven, right? You held the chalice of virgin's blood. Good times.
A d20 salute to the man.
Growing up, the kids who played role-playing games in my high school were split evenly between guy and chicks. Go figure.
D and D geeks is so right. The sad part was that I grew out of it when I hit 13 but there were some of the same guys sitting in my USAF day room still playing D and D years later.
By the way, you never had a girlfriend, admit it!
Is that really you, Gorfloor The 11th level Druid/Elven warrior? Great to hear from you again.
Because-you-might-be-interested ping.
Chronic liver failure, eh? Hmm.
It gets a bad reputation from people who don't understand that it's just a game like any other where you pretend to be someone else.
Wasn't D&D a target of the Religious Right back in the day?
Correct. They had me.
And here I was thinking at the time I was the only DM in the Philippines ...
This is true. People fearing things they don't understand is nothing new, like you mentioned. I didn't play the game but i read the TSR books.
as a side note, a conservative at W&M..ouch ;)
Ditto. There were at least as many girls as guys in my lot.
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