One of TSR's many superb
and prolific artists - Clyde Caldwell. He worked in the same room
as Jeff Easley and Fred Fields. Originals of his famous works line
the walls behind him - eg: at my head level, one can see the covers of
the 1987 Dragonlance Calendar, the first Dragonlance module:
Dragons
of Despair, and one installment of Greyhawk's
Mika novel trilogy.
When painting, the artists receive two short descriptive sentences which
they must paint while their imaginations run wild.
Further originals of Clyde
Caldwell's magnificent work. Those on the top row were used mostly
for D&D Gazeteers of Mystara. The row below holds a large work
of a female ranger from Dragon magazine #94, the cover of Azure
Bonds, and the cover of the Forgotten Realms Spellfire novel.
The bottom rows hold miscellaneous paintings of lesser significance.
In the same room, another
TSR artist, Jeff Easley was found at work with originals of several past
creations arrayed on the wall behind him.
From left to right, the
top row shows a painting of Kitiara from the Dragonlance world,
the front cover of the first printing of the AD&D Second Edition
Dungeon
Master's Guide, the front cover of the first printing of the AD&D
Second Edition Player's Handbook, a much reused painting of to dragons
fighting, and the front cover of the Magister Forgotten Realms game
accessory.
From left to right, the
bottom row shows a magical idol from a desert region of the Forgotten
Realms as featured in the 1989 calendar of that world, the front cover
of the 1988 Dragonlance Calendar, the front cover of the Oriental
Adventures Forgotten Realms boxed set, a painting of Raistlin fighting
Fistandantilus from the 1988
Dragonlance Calendar, and the front
cover of the AD&D First Edition Greyhawk Adventures hardback
rulebook.
At the time of my visit,
Jeff Easley was working on the front cover of the then upcoming Spelljammer
(AD&D adventures in outer space) boxed set. Nearby are various
sketches and photos that he and all artists make before painting.
Many of the people depicted in these fantasy paintings are based on real
life models.
Then newcomer to TSR,
Fred Fields - in another part of the artist's room. At the time,
he was known mostly for his work on the front covers of various issues
of TSR's module magazine - Dungeon.
