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Keith Parkinson AI simulator
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Keith Parkinson
Keith A. Parkinson (October 22, 1958 – October 26, 2005) was an American fantasy artist and illustrator known for book covers and artwork for games such as EverQuest, Guardians, Magic: The Gathering, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. After designing book and magazine covers for TSR, Parkinson moved into game design in the 1990s, and co-designed the collectible card game Guardians. Parkinson died of leukemia on October 26, 2005.
Keith Parkinson was born in West Covina, California. Because of his father's career at GMAC, Parkinson spent his childhood in various cities in the United States including San Diego, CA, New York, NY, Miami, Florida, and Lansing, Michigan. From an early age, Parkinson took an interest in science fiction, particularly in spaceships, and used his artistic abilities to explore his interest. However, by the age of twelve, he became more interested in music than art; in an interview he stated, "I got involved with a rock & roll band in high school, and played semi-professionally all the way through high school and into college. For several years, my band toured on weekends. We were into heavy metal and played stuff by Blue Öyster Cult, Rush, Led Zeppelin, and other heavy metal monster groups." At one gig, Parkinson met his future wife, Mary, who later became the Dragon Magazine Advertising Coordinator.
Parkinson graduated from Kendall College of Art and Design in 1980. His first job was with a company called Advertising Posters, where he worked on the artwork for pinball games and early arcade games, including Tron and Krull. Parkinson was heavily influenced by Frank Frazetta and Roger Dean in his own fantasy work. At Advertising Posters, Parkinson was introduced to Dungeons & Dragons by a coworker. Parkinson recalls, "The first night I played a ranger in B1 [sic], Keep on the Borderlands, and I was hooked. We played every week."
In November 1982, he went to work at TSR, Inc.: "I didn't like a lot of the art I saw on D&D game products, and the company was in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, just over the border, so I drove up one day to see if I could do some freelance work. Elmore, Jeff Easley, and Tim Truman had all just joined the company, and the art they were working on was fantastic. It really blew my mind. Jim Roslof, who was the Art Director, hinted that I could join the staff full-time, but I missed the hint. A few days later, I called him about a job, and he had just hired somebody else the day before, but he'd keep me in mind. The next day, he called back, and had an opening.” Parkinson also worked on projects including book covers, game boxes, magazines and calendars. Among his book covers are such titles as Star Frontiers, Forgotten Realms and Gamma World. He is also known for his Dragonlance art.
After five years working at TSR, Parkinson left and pursued a freelance career for seven years. During this time, most of Parkinson's work was painting covers for the New York publishing market. His clients included Bantam Books, Palladium Books, Penguin Books, and Random House. Some of the authors that he painted covers for include Terry Goodkind, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Terry Brooks, and David Eddings.[citation needed]
During the 1990s, Parkinson created many of the book covers for the multi-genre role-playing game Rifts and its supplements.
In 1995, Parkinson's first attempt at game design, Guardians, was published by Friedlander Publishing Group (FPG), which also published Parkinson's first book, titled Knightsbridge: The Art of Keith Parkinson. He published two more books of his artwork: a sketchbook, Spellbound, and a second full-color artbook, King's Gate. Other works from this time include a set of art trading cards and a screensaver produced by Second Nature Software.
In 2000, Parkinson devoted more of his time to writing and shifted his commercial art to the game industry. He produced art for THQ's Summoner and painted the well-known artwork for the original EverQuest as well as its first three expansion packs. In painting the box art, he also created the character Firiona Vie, who has adorned the cover of almost every expansion since.
Keith Parkinson
Keith A. Parkinson (October 22, 1958 – October 26, 2005) was an American fantasy artist and illustrator known for book covers and artwork for games such as EverQuest, Guardians, Magic: The Gathering, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. After designing book and magazine covers for TSR, Parkinson moved into game design in the 1990s, and co-designed the collectible card game Guardians. Parkinson died of leukemia on October 26, 2005.
Keith Parkinson was born in West Covina, California. Because of his father's career at GMAC, Parkinson spent his childhood in various cities in the United States including San Diego, CA, New York, NY, Miami, Florida, and Lansing, Michigan. From an early age, Parkinson took an interest in science fiction, particularly in spaceships, and used his artistic abilities to explore his interest. However, by the age of twelve, he became more interested in music than art; in an interview he stated, "I got involved with a rock & roll band in high school, and played semi-professionally all the way through high school and into college. For several years, my band toured on weekends. We were into heavy metal and played stuff by Blue Öyster Cult, Rush, Led Zeppelin, and other heavy metal monster groups." At one gig, Parkinson met his future wife, Mary, who later became the Dragon Magazine Advertising Coordinator.
Parkinson graduated from Kendall College of Art and Design in 1980. His first job was with a company called Advertising Posters, where he worked on the artwork for pinball games and early arcade games, including Tron and Krull. Parkinson was heavily influenced by Frank Frazetta and Roger Dean in his own fantasy work. At Advertising Posters, Parkinson was introduced to Dungeons & Dragons by a coworker. Parkinson recalls, "The first night I played a ranger in B1 [sic], Keep on the Borderlands, and I was hooked. We played every week."
In November 1982, he went to work at TSR, Inc.: "I didn't like a lot of the art I saw on D&D game products, and the company was in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, just over the border, so I drove up one day to see if I could do some freelance work. Elmore, Jeff Easley, and Tim Truman had all just joined the company, and the art they were working on was fantastic. It really blew my mind. Jim Roslof, who was the Art Director, hinted that I could join the staff full-time, but I missed the hint. A few days later, I called him about a job, and he had just hired somebody else the day before, but he'd keep me in mind. The next day, he called back, and had an opening.” Parkinson also worked on projects including book covers, game boxes, magazines and calendars. Among his book covers are such titles as Star Frontiers, Forgotten Realms and Gamma World. He is also known for his Dragonlance art.
After five years working at TSR, Parkinson left and pursued a freelance career for seven years. During this time, most of Parkinson's work was painting covers for the New York publishing market. His clients included Bantam Books, Palladium Books, Penguin Books, and Random House. Some of the authors that he painted covers for include Terry Goodkind, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Terry Brooks, and David Eddings.[citation needed]
During the 1990s, Parkinson created many of the book covers for the multi-genre role-playing game Rifts and its supplements.
In 1995, Parkinson's first attempt at game design, Guardians, was published by Friedlander Publishing Group (FPG), which also published Parkinson's first book, titled Knightsbridge: The Art of Keith Parkinson. He published two more books of his artwork: a sketchbook, Spellbound, and a second full-color artbook, King's Gate. Other works from this time include a set of art trading cards and a screensaver produced by Second Nature Software.
In 2000, Parkinson devoted more of his time to writing and shifted his commercial art to the game industry. He produced art for THQ's Summoner and painted the well-known artwork for the original EverQuest as well as its first three expansion packs. In painting the box art, he also created the character Firiona Vie, who has adorned the cover of almost every expansion since.