Susan Van Camp is a

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 ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

, best known for her work on various

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

Biography

Van Camp was born on June 11, 1959, and raised in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

. She began her commercial career in gaming by doing work for Steve Jackson's ''

Car Wars ''Car Wars'' is a vehicle combat simulation game developed by Steve Jackson Games. It was first published in 1980. Players control armed vehicles in a post-apocalyptic future. Game play In ''Car Wars'', players assume control of one or more ca ...

'' series. From there she proceeded to

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

with

Arrow Comics Arrow Comics was one of the original independent publishers of black-and-white comics in the mid-1980s, started in Ypsilanti, Michigan, by founders Ralph Griffith (24 April 1960–11 December 2020) and Stuart Kerr. History Origins Griffith ...

' ''

Tales from the Aniverse ''Tales from the Aniverse'' is a science fiction comic book created by Randy Zimmerman and Susan Van Camp, first published in 1985 by Arrow Comics, featuring anthropomorphic animals as the main characters. Overview ''Tales From The Aniverse'' was ...

'' in 1984, and ''Varcel’s Vixens'' from

Caliber Comics Caliber Comics or Caliber Press is an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, Caliber published over 1,300 comics in the decade following its inception and is ranked as one of America ...

. Comics led to

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expres ...

s and the art shows held at the conventions, where she began painting and putting her paintings up for bidding by the public. In 1994 Van Camp began doing work for ''

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a tabletop and digital collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast (now a subsidiary of Hasbro), ''Magic'' was the first ...

''. She began selling her own RPG game in 1996, ''

Dragon Storm Dragon Storm may refer to: * Dragon Storm (game), a role-playing game and collectible card game * Dragon Storm (astronomy) The Dragon Storm is a giant thunderstorm located in Saturn's Southern hemisphere, which is labeled as the "storm alley" reg ...

''.Greene, Ryan (April 15, 2005). "The play's the thing at local Game Con event", ''

South Bend Tribune The ''South Bend Tribune'' is a daily newspaper and news website which is based in South Bend, Indiana. It is distributed in South Bend, Mishawaka, north central Indiana, and southwestern Michigan. It has been named as a "Blue Ribbon Newspaper" ...

''.

Role-playing game credit

*''Otosan Uchi'' (''

Legend of the Five Rings Legend of the Five Rings (often abbreviated ''L5R'') is a fictional setting created by John Zinser, Dave Seay, Ryan Dancey, Dave Williams, DJ Trindle, Matt Wilson and John Wick and first published by a joint venture between Alderac Entertainm ...

'') (2000),

Alderac Entertainment Group Alderac Entertainment Group, or AEG, is a publisher of role-playing game, board game, and collectible card game products. AEG was formed by Jolly Blackburn in 1993 and is based in the city of Ontario, California. Prior to getting into their cur ...

; interior artist *''Doomtown or Bust!'' (''

Deadlands ''Deadlands'' is a genre-mixing alternate history role-playing game which combines the Western and horror genres, with some steampunk elements. The original game was written by Shane Lacy Hensley and published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group i ...

: The Weird West'') (1999),

Pinnacle Entertainment Group Pinnacle Entertainment Group is a publisher of role-playing games and wargames. History When Shane Lacy Hensley decided to create a 19th-century miniatures game he contacted Charles Ryan's company Chameleon Eclectic about publishing it. The resul ...

; interior artist *'' Blood Enemies: Abominations of Cerilia'' (''Birthright'') (1995),

TSR, Inc TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been ...

; interior artist *''

Faeries A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, o ...

'' (''

Ars Magica ''Ars Magica'' is a role-playing game set in 'Mythic Europe' – a historically grounded version of Europe and the Levant around AD 1200, with the added conceit that conceptions of the world prevalent in folklore and institutions of the High Mi ...

'') (1995),

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...

; interior artist *''Houses of Hermes'' (''

'') (1994), Wizards of the Coast; interior artist *''

Earthdawn ''Earthdawn'' is a fantasy role-playing game, originally produced by FASA in 1993. In 1999 it was licensed to Living Room Games, which produced the ''Second Edition''. It was licensed to RedBrick in 2003, who released the Classic Edition in 200 ...

'' (1993),

FASA Corporation Fasa ( fa, فسا, Fasā, also Romanized as Fassa) is a city and capital of Fasa County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 110,825, in 33,379 families. Fasa is the fourth most populous city of the province. The city date ...

; interior artist *''Paranormal Animals of Europe'' (''

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 ...

'') (1993), FASA Corporation; interior artist *'' Citybook VI - Up Town'' (''

Catalyst Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

'') (1992),

Flying Buffalo Flying Buffalo Inc. (FBI) is a game company with a line of role playing games, card games, and other gaming materials. The company's founder, Rick Loomis, began game publishing with ''Nuclear Destruction'', a play-by-mail game which started the pr ...

; interior artist *''Central Casting: Heroes Now!'' (1991),

Task Force Games Task Force Games was a game company started in 1979 by Allen Eldridge and Stephen V. Cole. TFG published many games, most notably including both ''Star Fleet Battles'' (currently published by the original designers, Amarillo Design Bureau) and ...

; cover artist *''Citybook V - Sideshow'' (''Catalyst'') (1991), Flying Buffalo; interior artist

Other game credits

*'' Clout Fantasy'', Base Set (2005),

Hidden City Games Hidden City Entertainment was a game publisher founded in 2004 (as Hidden City Games, Inc.) by Jesper Myrfors and Paul Peterson to develop and market the chip-throwing game, "Clout Fantasy." After Clout was developed the company recruited Peter A ...

; chip art *'' Tempest of the Gods'', core set (1995), Black Dragon Press; card art *''

Galactic Empires Galactic empires are a common trope used in science fantasy and science fiction, particularly in works known as 'space operas'. Many authors have either used a galaxy-spanning empire as background or written about the growth and/or decline of s ...

'', Primary Edition (1994), Companion Games; card art *''

Legends A legend is a historical narrative, a symbolic representation of folk belief. Legend(s) or The Legend(s) may also refer to: Narrative * Urban legend, a widely repeated story of dubious truth * A fictitious identity used in espionage Books, co ...

'' (Magic: The Gathering) (1994),

; card art *''

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

'' (Magic: The Gathering) (1993), Wizards of the Coast; card art

Magazine article credits

*"Animal Henchmen" in ''

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 ...

'' #269 (Mar 2000); interior artist *"The City of Lofty Pillars" in ''Dragon'' #201 (Jan 1994); interior artist *"Dungeon Mastery: Talk of the Town" in ''Dragon Annual'' #2 (1997); interior artist *"Ecology (Love-Life) of the Lamia" in ''Dragon'' #192 (Apr 1993); interior artist *"PC Portraits: Gnomes & Halflings" in ''Dragon'' #262 (Aug 1999); interior artist *"The Wizard's Companion" in ''Dragon'' #246 (Apr 1998); interior artist

Short story credits

*"Dedrak's Quest" (

Sci-Fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

) in ''Dragon'' #250; interior artist

Notes

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Camp, Susan 1959 births Fantasy artists Game artists Living people Role-playing game artists