Explore fantasy art: Larry Elmore
Larry Elmore’s fame came in the 1980s and a series of illustrations and book covers for Dungeons & Dragons, including the very well-known Dragonlance series. These days his work is in less demand but he’s still producing art.
I don’t need to look any of these names up. Raistlin and Caramon Majere. Tanis half-elven. Tasslehoff and Flint. Goldmoon and Riverwind. Tragic Sturm, Tika, and Laurana. These are the main characters in the original Dragonlance trilogy. In the image it’s as if the viewer is being invited to join their campfire. Dragons of Autumn Twilight released when I was 14, and to say it made an impact would be an understatement. I think this series really solidified my love of the fantasy genre. Larry Elmore’s art was a part of that, too.
Can there by spoilers for a series from the 1980s? Anyway, I meant it when I called Sturm ‘tragic’ earlier. He dies at the hands of a missing member of the companions from the first image. A now battle-hardened Laurana stands over is body, locking eyes with his killer.
The image above remains one of my favourite fantasy illustrations. If I’m honest, I bought the AD&D second edition Monstrous Manual mainly due to this image being given a two-page spread. Larry Elmore has a website, through which you can source prints of all these images and more.
The art above was done for an expansion for the online game Everquest.
The character on the left, Firiona Vie, was emblematic of the game and featured on a lot of other Everquest game art.
Larry’s art may not been seen as much as it once was, but his influence remains. You can see more of his work at his website.
(this article was edited post-publication to remove a work by Keith Parkinson).
Scent of a Gamer 
Elmore’s art brings back so many memories! My big brother used to have posters of his work on the walls, and they always sparked my imagination. While some of them can be look pretty cheesy nowadays, they still hold a special spot in my heart.
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Yes, while there are still some classics, I’m happy that most art has moved away from the cheesecake style.
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One of my favourite Elmore pieces was in the 2nd Ed AD&D Players Handbook: Dragon Slayers and proud of it (http://www.larryelmore.com/store/DRAS/dragon-slayers-and-proud-of-it). Nothing summed up an adventuring party like that, and more than one of my PCs was inspired by that artwork.
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His work featuring groups of varied character types is always my favourite
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I bought a set of figures from Ral Partha years back (long gone now) based on his art. So far I’ve resisted the Dark Sword Miniatures range…
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You just reminded me of Dark Sword! I bought a couple of their Games of Thrones models a bit over 10 years ago. One is painted and I don’t actually know where the other one is!
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I bought the Jon Snow one plus a wolf. Painted the wolf but Jon took the black (primer) and that was it. Actually I got one of the Elmore masterworks as a freebie in that order. That’s not painted either…
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I had the wilding with great axe (painted) and Damphair (no idea where)
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That Damphair mini is great. I always thought a ‘sea Druid’ character would be awesome.
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I love the artwork. Do you know if he did any art for Magic the Gathering?
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I know he did, as he did several cards in Odyssey, which was my first Magic set. Here’s a link to all 11 cards he illustrated: https://scryfall.com/search?as=grid&order=name&q=%28artist%3Alarry+artist%3Aelmore%29
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Great artist. Even now the death of sturm gets to me.
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me too, and I think Elmore’s art is a big part of that
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The EverQuest cover art pictured here was done by Keith Parkinson, not Larry Elmore. https://www.keithparkinson.com/everquest-2/
Keith Parkinson did the original EverQuest cover and the Ruins of Kunark (1), Scars of Velious (2), Shadows of Luclin (3), and Planes of Power (4) expansions.
Don Maitz did the Lost Dungeons of Norrath (6) expansion.
https://www.paravia.com/DonMaitz/about/commissions.php
Larry Elmore did Omens of War (8), Dragons of Norrath (9), Depths of Darkhollow (10), and Prophecy of Ro (11) expansions.
https://larryelmore.com/store/?storetype=popular&search=everquest
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thanks for the correction! I have updated the article.
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