Wednesday, September 28, 2011

An Appreciation of Tramp

Reader Josh Munn pointed me toward this appreciation of the art by David Trampier over at TOR.COM by Saladin Ahmed. Seeing as I consider Tramp to be one of the best illustrators D&D ever got, I find it hard to disagree with the sentiments expressed in the essay. Head on over and give it a read.

12 comments:

  1. This reminded me of my own fascination with Tramp The Mysterious early last year...

    http://templeofdemogorgon.blogspot.com/2010/03/emirikol-chaotic-and-trampier.html

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  2. Trampier is my favourite FRPG artist of all time. Thanks for sharing this link!

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  3. A nice read.

    If Tramp is still living, someone needs to find a way to (re)introduce him to the OSR. He's a gem.

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  4. Those pictures at Saladin Ahmed's site really are some of the most integral images to how I want to remember D&D. Tramp was always my favorite. "Wormy" is one of the best comics (and most beautifully drawn) comics I've ever read.

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  5. Tramp was the 20th Century's answer to Albrecht Dürer or Gustave Doré- simply the best fantasy artist to work in the RPG industry.

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  6. As I noted in that thread, I wish he'd posted a panel or more of Wormy. Some of Tramp's color work in that comic, especially in the winged panther arc, has a quality that reminds me of Maxfield Parrish.

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  7. What a shame that the guy quit the industry like that.

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  8. Thanks for the link, it was a great read! Trampier's artwork is so powerful and captivating, he and the Hildebrand brothers were some of the first to grab hold of my teenage imagination.

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  9. Wasn't there a posting about someone who convinced Tramp to getting Wormy published into a single book? I remember reading something about that on one of the boards..

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  11. Wasn't there a posting about someone who convinced Tramp to getting Wormy published into a single book? I remember reading something about that on one of the boards..

    As I recall, Jolly Blackburn of Kenzer & Co made contact with Tramp in order to try to produce such a volume and Tramp politely declined any interest and ask that Jolly lose his phone number and never contact him again. By all account, Trampier is very bitter about his days in the gaming industry and wants nothing more to do with it.

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  12. For me, it's all Erol, all the time. DAT's stuff never thrilled me.

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