Fred Fields is an American artist whose work has appeared largely in the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

from TSR.

Biography

Fred Fields was born in northern

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. He grew up in the small town of

Burlington, Kentucky Burlington is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Boone County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 15,926 at the 2010 census. History Burlington was incorporated in 1824. Burlington marks the county seat of Boo ...

. Fields wanted to be an artist since childhood: "I don't know that becoming an artist is a decision you can make... I've been drawing since before I can remember, and I started painting at age nine. I used to do all these monsters and stuff, and my mom was frankly a little concerned about it. Now that I'm making a living at it, I think mom's OK with it. My parents always encouraged me to draw and do what I wanted with it. They've always been 100% behind me." Fields attended the Central Academy of Commercial Art in Cincinnati, and moved to Chicago after graduation. He worked there for about a year in advertising, producing illustrations and concept sketches for both television commercials and print ads. He worked at Leo Burnett Advertising in Chicago as a storyboard comp artist. Fields continued painting on his own time, and began sending out samples of his work; ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' magazine was among the clients those who were interested in his work. Fields painted his first cover for ''Dragon'' in 1988, for issue #142. He applied to TSR's art department soon after and was hired. "I went from freelancing, completely on my own, to sitting in a room with the likes of

Clyde Caldwell Clyde Caldwell (born February 20, 1948) is an American artist. Self-described as a fantasy illustrator, he is best known for his portrayals of strong, sexy female characters. With his work at TSR in the 1980s, he is considered one of the artis ...

, Brom, Tony Szczudlo,

Robh Ruppel Robh Ruppel is an American artist best known for his work on role-playing game products. Critic Joseph Szadkowski of ''The Washington Times'' has referred to him as a "horror genius". Early life Robh Ruppel grew up in Bellaire, Texas, and att ...

Dana Knutson Dana Knutson is an artist best known for his work on role-playing game products. Career Dana Knutson has had a long career as an artist on role-playing games. He worked at FASA for 10 years, producing art on numerous works for their ''Star Trek' ...

Randy Post Randy "rk" Post is an illustrator of fantasy publications. Background Post was raised in Illinois on a farm. Post has done freelance work for TSR, including ''Red Steel'', ''Cutthroats of Lankhmar'', and '' Spells & Magic''. Post garnered a fu ...

, and

Todd Lockwood Todd Wills Lockwood, (born July 9, 1957 in Boulder, Colorado, United States) is an American artist specializing in fantasy and science fiction illustration. He is best known for his work on the role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'', and for his ...

. I just sort of stopped and thought, 'Wow, I've arrived.'" Fields worked on scenes from worlds such as

Forgotten Realms ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a ...

, and even

Ravenloft Ravenloft is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game. It is an alternate time-space existence known as a ''Demiplane, pocket dimension'' or demiplane, called the Demiplane of Dread, which consists of a collection of la ...

, saying "It was fun doing the Gothic horror stuff. In some cases, I think I took it further than other artists. I put a lot more blood in there." His work was represented in the 1996 collection ''The Art of TSR: Colossal Cards''. Critic Joseph Szadkowski of ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

'' singled out Fields's work "Dragon Claw" as "stunning", and later named the collection as the year's "Best Trading Card Release Based on Fantasy Art". Archangel Entertainment released a book of his artwork in 1999, entitled ''The Art of Fred Fields''. In May 2010, artwork by Fields appeared as part of the "Lucid Daydreams" Exhibition at Gallery Provocateur in Chicago.http://www.chicagoartistsresource.org/visual-arts/node/26562

Works

Fred Fields has had his art appear in various ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game books and their associated novels throughout the 1990s, as well as in other games such as ''

Shadowrun ''Shadowrun'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in an alternate future in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime, with occasional elements of conspir ...

''. His artwork has appeared on numerous ''D&D'' covers, such as ''

Greyhawk Ruins ''Greyhawk Ruins'' is an adventure module for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. It was published in 1990 by TSR, Inc. for the second edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' rules. Publication history WGR1 ''Grey ...

'' and ''

Book of Artifacts ''The Book of Artifacts'' (abbreviated as BoA) is a supplemental sourcebook to the core rules of the second edition of the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. This book, published by TSR, Inc. in 1993, details 50 different ...

''. Fields has illustrated cards for the ''

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

'' collectible card game.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fields, Fred Game artists Living people People from Burlington, Kentucky Role-playing game artists Year of birth missing (living people)