Hello, i'm new to the forum, but old to AD&D and collecting.  I have a large comic book collection and some original art, much smaller (but expanding) D&D collection, but i have been looking for AD&D art for a long time and haven't seen a single vintage piece for sale.  I do own the original art for the Marrishi by Quinton Hoover from the 3rd edition MM but that is more because i'm a QH fan from M:tG and have the original art to the Wand of Ith and have exchanged lots of emails with him.

Anyone know of information on line on old school D&D art, art collections, any art for sale/trade, or anything else on the topic?

killjoy32 wrote:
hey chummer

there are quite a few threads on the forum that deal with art and they crop up all the time. do a search and you should easily find them. i would provide the links for you, but i just dont have the time

you might want to look up a member on here, called Tsrart: profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=68

he deals with that sort of thing all the time. if he cant help you, i am most certain he can put you in touch with someone who can.

also, have a word with Badmike. he had a piece commissioned from one of the renowned artists a while back, which was pretty amazing.

so there you go, at least a few options for you

Al

There are several places on the internet where D&D art is sold, often for amazing prices. Most of the best items are in private collector hands and either are unlikely to ever see the light of day again, or when they do will go for some ridiculous price.  You might get in contact with one of the old school artists and commision an orignal work by that artist; it can be of an existing piece, just updated, to give it that old school feel.  I have a nice piece by Roslof mimicking the cover of Q1; I know someone else here got a piece resembling the cover of D1-2.  Jeff Dee has a web site offering original artwork; I bet if you tried an Erol Otus or Holloway original could be commissioned for a price.
 Personally, while it would be great to own an existing piece, if/when I ever start collecting more art, I think original pieces are the way to go.  They are unique and can be personalized!

Mike B

I am embarassed to say i had a hard time finding the search link...but after much "searching" i found it, and a few interesting links, in addition to those posted here.

I still didn't find much in the way of old school stuff.  Of course i could commission one of the original artists, many of them are still active, and many of the names and links you provided i had already checked out.  I guess there just isn't much info on the web about the old school original art of D&D and where these peices are and if any of them are for sale other than the occasional painted piece of cover art that goes for a lot of $.  I'd love to have just one of those little pen and ink interior illustrations though, especially a Trampier or Dee...maybe we can start a gallery, and people that own some of the originals might provide scans?

thanks to those of you that replied.

Hi - to put it mildly, the financial collapse of TSR was a complete and utter travesty.  Nothing was done professionally, everything was haphazard, poorly documented and in many cases with outright malice toward the employees.

You can get a bit of the idea here:
post-73756.html

You can learn about Trampier (my fave) the grand master / anonymous cab driver here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Trampier

You can say hi to Jeff Dee here:
http://www.io.com/unigames/jeffdee.html

You can learn about TSR's collapse here, among a thousand other places:
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=243888

You can find Ryan Dancey's analysis during the TSR/WotC takeover here (can't find the original anymore, scroll down to Fid's post 5/16/2006):
http://dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic ... 79c9a80ca3

In short IMO:
* You will find very few TSR original art pieces.
* Several of the artists are either dead, or want nothing to do with remembering their D&D days.
* You should try to respect the wishes of the anonymous (Trampier etc.)
* The artists still working (Dee, Holloway, Otus, many others) are quality guys and those who want patronage and/or appreciation should be supported.

Classic D&D art collecting is actually a pretty sad field, although we have had some awesome stories (the re-recognition of DCS III by the fans for example, which was great).

FormCritic wrote:DCS III?  

David C. Sutherland. He passed away a couple of years ago IIRC. Paul Stormberg auctioned some of his stuff off for him right before he died.

yes that pic has been posted here before.. did a quick search o it but didn't find it.. must be tired;)

Brette:)

zhowar wrote:Hal - take a look at this thread. This is the one beasterbrook was looking for. The Willingham is posted on the third page. Lots of other pics of artwork posted as well.

viewtopic.php?t=5010

I figured you guys had probably discussed it here before.

I really enjoyed Kevin Mayle's reproductions as well.  They capture the original flavor but are clearly in his own style, which is complementary.

Hal

Hey all!

Not a whole lot to add - the posts thus far have pretty well covered the situation for vintage TSR pieces. The Caldwell/Parkinson/Easley/Elmore era and beyond is pretty well represented, but before that a tremendous percentage of stuff is just GONE.

Part of the problem is that once those pieces get into collections they don't leave, because they don't carry high enough price tags to justify parting with. It's one thing to let go of a piece you like from your collection because you get offered $12k . . . . it's very different when you're talking about a $200 piece. For most people, it's just not enough money to be worth the sacrifice, so those pieces almost never get sold. The only thing I could recommend is that if you are willing to offer silly money for something, you might be able to pry a piece or two out of an existing collection.

Otherwise, it's a "keep your eyes open and cross your fingers" kinda deal.

Good luck!


Pat

Actually I deal in original D&D art from a variety of artists; Mike Collins, David Roach, Kevin McCann. We have one of the pieces up on ebay right now if anyone is interested.




** expired eBay auction **




Hope this is of some help.



Mike