One of the founders of our hobby and one of the most unsung contributors to Dungeons & Dragons, Len Lakofka has passed away at the age of 76.
Along with the many adventures, classes, spells, and rules he created, Len was also father of the Suel in Greyhawk, designer of their gods, and namesake of the Lendore Isles.
The value of his work goes without saying, but his presence will be sorely missed. The adventures of Leomund go on.
Not sure if this is the proper forum or not, but I saw this post on Facebook and wanted to share it with the Canonfire! community. It is Warduke, by Tyler Walpole. Tyler is a local (for me) artist living in Des Moines, Iowa. He does lots of work for Paizo, but also some for WotC/D&D (or, at least, he used to). I had a chance to speak to him a bit at Gamicon in Iowa City this past January and he impressed me as a very nice fellow. This one is a simple sketch, as are the rest at the link below, but he does incredibly detailed color pictures also.
Hmmm... I can't figure out how to post the actual picture. Well, check the link. There are links above the picture taking you to more of Tyler's album.
Wow! That's some really nice work! I've seen Tyler Walpole's art before. It's a name that I recognize, just because I'm an artist, and I notice that kind of stuff - it's my geek thing. But, I am struggling to recognize from where I recognize it.
I guess I'll do a little 'net surfing to figure it out. [Ah ... it seems that I recognize him from his work for Paizo's Pathifinder line, and from the cover illustrations for the D&D comicbooks.]
Regarding this piece, though... I loved Warduke in the 80s when I actually played with the toys, in the Dungeon magazine article on him, which linked him to GH - and especially the Wayne Reynolds art for it, and this is great art too! Love it! _________________ Owner and Lead Admin: https://greyhawkonline.com
Editor-in-Chief of the Oerth Journal: https://greyhawkonline.com/oerthjournal
Visit my professional art gallery: https://wkristophnolen.daportfolio.com
The funny thing about that Dungeon #105 cover is that art director Sean Glenn and I came up with the idea of putting it on the cover, but the then-editor-in-chief didn't have any emotional connection to the character, and didn't think it was a good idea. When I became editor-in-chief shortly thereafter, asking Sean to contract the Warduke cover from Wayne Reynolds was literally one of my first acts. I think it happened within hours of me getting the promotion. :)
Iquander - that's interesting! Never would've thought that Wayne Reynolds art would've been passed up for a cover! Of course, at that point he'd achieved things like illustrating every magic item in the DMG, but, he wasn't quite the massive name that he is now.
I'm really glad that you chose him for your covers from Paizo. He's a great artist, and both Warduke peices from Dungeon #105 were some of the best I've ever seen. I still remember playing with the Warduke action figure as a kid. And his artwork has influenced me as an artist since I first recognized his artwork in gaming books nearly a decade and a half ago. _________________ Owner and Lead Admin: https://greyhawkonline.com
Editor-in-Chief of the Oerth Journal: https://greyhawkonline.com/oerthjournal
Visit my professional art gallery: https://wkristophnolen.daportfolio.com
Icarus, couldn't agree more about Wayne Reynolds. I emailed him a year or so ago and asked him if there were any plans to do a book and he replied that he never considered his art worthy of a book, or perhaps he meant never consider the idea.
In any case I'm so please that paizo are publishing a book of his artwork in October, at a very reasonable price.
I've never found any one elses artwork quite so evocative and exciting. He is just so good with characters and the implied action he points into them (stances, facial expressions etc). If I ever strike it reach first order of my day would be to pay Wayne to illustrate my characters!
Sometimes I would hesitate to by Dragon or Dungeon magazines, but never when they contained his artwork.
Imagine a Greyhawk hardcover filled with his art. Awesome.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum