Larry Elmore | |
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 Larry Elmore atLucca Comics and Games 2016 | |
| Born | (1948-08-05)August 5, 1948 (age 76) |
| Known for | Fantasy art |
| Spouse | Betty |
Larry Elmore (born August 5, 1948[1]) is an Americanfantasyartist whose work includes creating illustrations for video games, comics, magazines, and fantasy books. His list of work includes illustrations forDungeons & Dragons,Dragonlance, and his own comic strip seriesSnarfQuest. He is author of the bookReflections of Myth.
Elmore was born August 5, 1948, inLouisville, Kentucky, and grew up inGrayson County in midwesternKentucky.[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 atWestern Kentucky University.[1]
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 theFort Knox Training Aids Department.[1] Three years later, Elmore turned to freelance work, his art being published inNational Lampoon andHeavy Metal magazines.[1]
One of Elmore's friends, a fellow government illustrator,[2] introduced him to theDungeons & Dragons game while Elmore was freelancing.[1] Elmore joined the staff ofTSR, Inc., the producers ofDungeons & Dragons, as its first professional illustrator,[2] in November 1981, and created art work foradventure modules, game books, and novels, as well as paintings for posters and calendars.[1] Elmore created theSnarfQuest comic which appeared inDragon.[1] During the "Project Overlord" development phase of theDragonlance 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 onDragons of Autumn Twilight.[4] British game designerGraeme 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.[2] He has illustrated cards for theMagic: The Gathering collectible card game, and provided cover art for theMMORPGEverQuest. In 1996, Elmore wrote the novelRunes of Autumn[6] with his cousin Robert.[citation needed] Elmore did most of the black-and-white artwork forMarc Miller'srole-playing game,Traveller in 1996, published byImperium Games.[3]: 332
In the late 1990s,Margaret Weis andTracy Hickman used Elmore's fantasy world, Loerem, in theirSovereign Stone trilogy.[3]: 351 In the early 2000s, Elmore created newSnarfquest comics for the short-lived magazineGames Unplugged, published by Ken Whitman's Dynasties Productions; Whitman later acted as product manager for Elmore Production, the art company of Larry Elmore.[3]: 351 Elmore provided the artwork for the fantasy world in theSovereign Stone Game System (1999).[3]: 352 In 2004,Sovereign Press returned the rights forSovereign Stone to Elmore, and he then licensed the game to the small press company known as White Silver Publishing.[3]: 352
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 bookMasters of Dragonlance Art.[7] Elmore released a book of artwork called20 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 throughKickstarter for a 336-page hardback book of his artwork over his 40-year career.[12]
In 2014, Scott Taylor ofBlack 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 theShadowrun core cover for FASA that was so incredibly popular it reappeared on the 2nd edition and video game as well."[13]
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 inLeitchfield, Kentucky.[citation needed] He attendsfantasy andscience fiction conventions held in the United States[6][9] and Europe.[citation needed] He has said that inspiring others with his art has often been more rewarding than the money he earns in his profession.[14]
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.
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