I bet Tom Hanks doesn't like hearing about this.
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.
dangus, meet Xenalyte.
"crazy Goth girls, but they can be a lot of fun."
seconded!
You're just an uppity geek.
I played off and on from age 9 - 14. Then I found out about chicks.
Geek girls are the best girls. I married one who used to organize SF conventions. Still is the best girl.
I graduated to Traveller early on and never looked back. Hell, I still play (and I'm 40).
I gave it to a Paladin, sorry dude. Don't forget all your playboys in the drop ceiling.
If you wanna come over later for Ho-Hos and Mellow Yellow you can come over till 9. Thats when my mom says you have to leave.
The kids are still playing that. I know a lot of middle-school kids that play.
Its just another competitive game though. No imagination in it.
It's the Devil's game, I tell ya. The Devil loves to get the souls of geeks. Satan got to young geek Bill Gates to form Microsoft so that our computers could all be possessed with demon software that fails constantly.
Well, I'm a gorgeous woman who still is a geek, then. Unfortunately for you I'm married. ;-)
MM:
I've "met" Xenalyte in the FR fora before. Good call. It's just that there's nothing past tense about Xenalyte's activities.
If we ever happened to land in the same neck of the woods, I do think it'd be a kick to get to meet her in person.
XL:
Don't mean to be rude by talking about you.
Let's face it: It's great for a guy to able to let the inner Geek out with a woman. Geeking out is fun!
(But just for the record: Participation in a forum like FR is a moderately good hint of being a Geek.)
seconded!
But you never know when they'll cross the line from fun-crazy to restraining-order crazy.
Oh, Geeze. That's such a retarded game. It was just a scam to get people to spend huge sums of money on packs of cards.
Ah those wild and crazy geek girls.
They are, unfortunatly, usually in the minority.
My rather large breasted sister-in-law once walked with me into a "Games Workshop" (a geek emporium). There were slack jawed young geeks staring with unrolled dice cuped motionless in their hands.
I said "Human, female. Frequency of occurence: for YOU, RARE. Armor class -5 so back off."
I have advised my daughter that being a geek is a very good thing - and she shows every sign of being one, she's 8 and reading Heinlein. She'll have her pick of boys.
>> I vote smash his skull with a sledgehammer. <<
Fiesty, too!
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