Keith Parkinson, Fantasy Artist

Keith Parkinson (22 October 1958 - 26 October 2005) was a fantasy artist and illustrator. Known for cover and game artwork for games such as Everquest, Magic: The Gathering and most recently Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, a game being developed by Sigil Games. He died of leukemia. Keith Parkinson is survived by his wife and son, Donna Parkinson and Nick Parkinson respectively, who are both also employed at Sigil Games. Image File history File links KeithParkinson. ... October 22 is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 70 days remaining. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... // For other meanings see Fantasy (disambiguation) Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. ... Look up Artist in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... An illustrator is a graphic artist who specializes in enhancing written text by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text. ... EverQuest (EQ) is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that was released on March 16, 1999. ... Magic: The Gathering (colloq. ... Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is a high fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in development by Sigil Games Online. ... Sigil Games Online, Inc. ... Leukemia or leukaemia (see spelling differences) is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal proliferation of blood cells, usually white blood cells (leukocytes). ...

Keith is described by his friends and coworkers (and in the Eulogy by Brad McQuaid) as having had a true passion for his work, as well as a friendly and positive demeanor until the time of his death [1]. Brad McQuaid is a computer game designer who was one of the original designers of EverQuest (1999), making him a major name in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) industry. ...

Career

Keith Parkinson Graduated from Kendall School of Design in 1980. His first job was with a company called Advertising Posters, where he worked on the artwork for many of the early arcade games. After that, he went on to work at TSR where he worked on projects including book covers, game boxes, magazines and calendars [2]. Among his book covers are such titles as Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, and Gamma World. Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dragonlance Dragonlance Logo Dragonlance is a large series of fantasy books, and a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. ... The Forgotten Realms second edition logo. ... Gamma World is a science fantasy role-playing game, originally created by James M. Ward and Gary Jaquet, and first published by TSR in 1978. ...

After five years of working at TSR, Keith left and pursued a freelance career for seven years. During this time, most of Keith's work was painting covers for the New York publishing market. His clients included Bantam Books, Penguin Books, and Random House. Best Selling Authors that he painted covers for include Terry Goodman, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and Terry Brooks to name a few. [3]

In 1995, Keith's first attempt at game design, Guardians, was published by FPG [4]. Many other artists worked with him on the project. FPG also published Keith's first book, titled "Knightsbridge: The Art of Keith Parkinson". Keith also published two other books containing his artwork in and around 2004: A sketchbook titled Spellbound, and a second full-colour artbook titled King's Gate . Other works from this time include a set of art trading cards, and a screensaver produced by Second Nature Software. Guardian may refer to: A legal guardian, a person responsible for a ward. ...

In 2000, Keith devoted more of his time to writing and shifted his commercial art focus to the game industry. He produced art for THQ's 'Summoner', and painted the well-known artwork for the original Everquest, as well as its first three expansion packs. In painting the box art, Keith also created Firiona Vie, who has adorned the cover of every expansion since. During this time, he became a close friend of Brad McQuaid. THQ Inc. ... EverQuest (EQ) is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that was released on March 16, 1999. ... Brad McQuaid is a computer game designer who was one of the original designers of EverQuest (1999), making him a major name in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) industry. ...

Through his friendship and reputation with Everquest designers Brad McQuaid and Jeff Butler, Keith Parkinson was hired as the art director and a cofounder at Sigil Games Online. He worked there on the MMORPG Vanguard: Saga of Heroes until the time of his death in late 2005. Keith fell ill before he could create the box art for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, but he did paint the game's three 'mascot' characters: Jeric, Eila, and Idara. At the 2006 E3 Expo, the Vanguard: Saga of Heroes box art was revealed. According to Brad McQuaid, when Keith knew he would not be able to finish the box art for Vanguard, it was his wish for Donato Giancola, a friend of his, to paint the box art in his place. The left part of Donato's painting was painted to emulate Keith's personal style as a tribute to him. As the painting goes to the right (the left is used for the box art, similar to Everquest), it transitions into Donato's style. As a further tribute to Keith Parkinson, Donato painted a character resembling him into the painting. [5][6] Players interacting in Ultima Online. ... Donato Giancola (born enter date, 1967 is a multiple award winning American artist specializing in science fiction and fantasy illustration. ...

Published Works

• Knightsbridge: The Art of Keith Parkinson
• Spellbound: The Keith Parkinson Sketchbook
• King's Gate: The Art of Keith Parkinson
• 'Guardians': Collectable Card Game

Published Works: Box Art

• Everquest
• Everquest: Ruins of Kunark
• Everquest: Scars of Velious
• Everquest: Shadows of Luclin
• Everquest: Planes of Power

External links

• Keith Parkinson Online
• Keith Parkinson Eulogy, by Brad McQuaid
• Gaming Report's article, "Artist Keith Parkinson Passes"