Howard Lyon is an American fantasy artist whose work has appeared in

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 ...

s and ''

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 ...

''.

Early life and education

Howard Lyon was born in

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the most populous city in the East Valley (Phoenix metropolitan area), East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is bordered by ...

and studied illustration at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

(BYU) working with artists such as Robert T. Barrett, Don Seegmiller,

James C. Christensen James C. Christensen (September 26, 1942 – January 8, 2017) was an American illustrator and painter of religious and fantasy art. Christensen was born and raised in Culver City, California.Taylor, Scott and Walch, Tad"Of fantasy and faith: L ...

Career

His ''

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 ...

'' work includes ''

Monster Manual III ''Monster Manual III'' is a manual published in September 2004 by Wizards of the Coast, for use with the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. It is the first of the monster specific books published by Wizards of the Coast to be made for th ...

'' (2004), ''

Player's Handbook II ''Player's Handbook II'' is the title of a third edition ''Dungeons & Dragons'' supplement. It is a handbook of rules and guidelines for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. As the name implies, the book is a supplement to the edition's ...

'' (2006), '' Monster Manual IV'' (2006), ''

Tome of Magic ''Tome of Magic'' (abbreviated ToM) is a handbook of rules and guidelines for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. As its name implies, it is a supplement to be used to expand the magical options available in the game. It was first releas ...

'' (2006), ''

Tome of Battle ''Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords'' is an official supplement for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game, published by Wizards of the Coast in 2006. The book chronicles the rise and fall of the fictional Temple o ...

'' (2006), ''

Cityscape In the visual arts, a cityscape (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape. ''Townscape'' is ...

'' (2006), ''

Complete Scoundrel ''Complete Scoundrel: A Player's Guide to Trickery and Ingenuity'' is a supplemental rule book for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Contents The book provides feats, prestige classes, and other options for chara ...

'' (2007), ''

Rules Compendium ''Rules Compendium'' is a book written for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Contents The ''Rules Compendium'' consists of material that originally appeared in the ''Player's Handbook'', ''Dungeon Master' ...

'' (2007), ''

Elder Evils ''Elder Evils'' is an official supplement for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Contents It includes new content for epic level characters, in the form of extremely powerful, alien monstrosities intent on destro ...

'' (2007), and the 4th edition ''

Manual of the Planes The ''Manual of the Planes'' (abbreviated MoP) is a manual for the ''Dungeons and Dragons'' role-playing game. This text addresses the planar cosmology of the game universe. The original book (for use with ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 1st Ed ...

'' (2008). He is known for his work on 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. Lyon has also worked in the video game industry as an Art Director and as a concept artist and freelance illustrator for

Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three graduat ...

and

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

. Lyon has illustrated children's books, including

David Farland John David Wolverton (May 28, 1957 – January 14, 2022), better known by his pen names Dave Wolverton and David Farland, was an American author, editor, and instructor of online writing workshops and groups. He wrote in several genres but was ...

's 2005 book ''Of Mice and Magic''. Lyon has also done illustrations for the

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...

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 ...

and

science fiction magazine A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard-copy periodical format or on the Internet. Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, nov ...

the

InterGalactic Medicine Show ''InterGalactic Medicine Show'' (sometimes shortened to ''IGMS'') was an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. It was founded in 2005 by multiple award-winning author Orson Scott Card and was edited by Edmund R. Schubert from 200 ...

(sometimes shortened to ''IGMS'') founded by author

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...

. Works include ''

Mazer in Prison ''Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show'' (2008) is a science fiction and fantasy anthology edited by Edmund R. Schubert and Orson Scott Card. Originally published in paperback by Tor Books in August 2008, it contains eighteen stories ...

'' (October 2005), ''Dream Engine'' (October 2006), ''Body Language'' (November 2009), and ''Expendables'' (October 2010). A member of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...

(LDS Church), Lyon shifted his focus to religious art when the video game company he was working for closed. In February 2020 Lyon was the Artist Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the 38th annual

Life, the Universe, & Everything ''Life, the Universe, & Everything: The Marion K. "Doc" Smith Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy'' is an academic conference held annually since 1983 in Provo, Utah. It is the longest-running science fiction and fantasy convention in Utah, ...

professional science fiction and fantasy arts symposium.

References

External links

Howard Lyon
Official website * Living people Role-playing game artists Year of birth missing (living people) {{D&D-stub