J Caldwell Fantasy

[Liora Putcha]

Clydehas produced hundreds of cover paintings and illustrations in the fantasy genre and over the years became well-known (or maybe infamous) for his portrayal of strong, sexy female characters, which is his favorite subject. Rather obvious, really. He also did fantasy covers for publishers like Ace, Avon, Popular Library, Warner books, Zebra, Houghton-Mifflin, and Doubleday, and of course, magazines like Heavy metal, The Savage Sword of Conan, Epic Illustrated, Dragon, and Dungeon, and many others.

Science Fiction. I would love to see something like BINTI by Nnedi Okorafor, something more Neo-noir or cyberpunk like NEUROMANCER by William Gibson, Minority Report (the movie) or The Matrix or a series as expansive as Star Wars, which takes conventions of the space opera genre but is also something entirely new and combining both magic & science.

Crossover YA novels. Books the inhabit that late teen/twentysomething space. I want more books like WE ARE OKAY by Nina LaCour, JULIET TAKES A BREATH by Gabby Rivera, and even AMERICAN PANDA by Gloria Chao (which has a seventeen-year-old protagonist in college early) that explore race, sexuality, and identity. Would love to see this in fantasy, too, ala FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS by Julie Dao.

The image in question was held by Wizards of the Coast, and through Todd Lockwood I got a contact email for Jon Schindehette the Senior Creative Art Director for Dungeons & Dragons. So, I emailed Jon about the image, and he promptly replied and said he forwarded my request to Adam Dixon, the Associate Brand Manager for Magic the Gathering. Cool huh?

Clyde was the final pillar that held up the Temple of TSR Art, the last Master of Oil in the 80s. His art graces countless covers for TSR during that time period from the space lanes of Star Frontiers to the horror of Ravenloft, and in each he provided players with vivid depictions that stick in our memories even today.

Like Elmore, Clyde creates a more perfect universe, even tattered clothing coming off as the latest couture. His characters rise above the imperfection of their surroundings to astound us with their beauty.

Behind his brush is a keen mind, one ripe for creation, and his genre definition is phenomenal. His vision of the Hollow World, Mystara, brought players a collection of fifteen of the greatest world-building supplements of all time. In them Clyde works a forge of creation, the aspects of deep culture dripping off the page as he transports you to times unimagined.

You never see cut corners in a Caldwell work, every detail placed in perfect form. Perhaps this is why his women stand out so readily in his subject matter. To me, he melds the perfection of angelic divinity with the carnal appetites of a Frazetta-like sexual world. In this fashion Caldwell might be considered to have his own gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, and should he wear sandals, he could most certainly tread on the jeweled thrones of the fantasy landscape with sheer talent.

For me, after having had the pleasure of spending a year with Clyde, I would have loved nothing more than to see his true vision of Lyssa, but in the end I stole a brilliant approximation, and I want to thank Wizards of the Coast for giving me the opportunity to do so.

Clyde Caldwell 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 artists contributing to fantasy art's "golden age".

This art print features the work of legendary fantasy artist Clyde Caldwell. It measures approximately 13 by 17 inches, is in excellent/undisplayed condition and will be shipped with the utmost care. It is signed and numbered, and is limited to only 300 produced. Please note- the signature is real. It is the actual, hand-signed signature of the artist. It is not a pre-printed image on the print. Price: $29.99 We're Sorry

I've always enjoyed the concept of dungeons. Obviously the reality of such things doesn't make much sense, but to fantasy RPG players, underground complexes with fantastic decorations and monsters are...

JQ: First off, let me congratulate you on your most recent interview with Illustration Magazine. I received my copy and was astounded at the quality of both the illustrations and the interview itself. 48 pages! Well-deserved. How does it feel to be recognized and so highly esteemed even after so many years in the business?

CC: I never got a chance to meet Frank Frazetta, nor did I ever correspond with him. I'm pretty shy, so can't imagine striking up a conversation with Frank, should I have met him. I would have been totally intimidated, so would have gone into fanboy mode, I'm sure.

I had never seen a Frazetta original painting until a few years ago. There was a travelling exhibit of his work at a convention in Chicago and Jeff Easley, my wife, Sharon, and I went down to see it. It was mind blowing to see some of his originals in person.

A few years later, Sharon and I went on a pilgrimage to the Frazetta Museum in East Stroudsburg, PA. That was an incredible experience as well. I'm trying to get Sharon to go down to Florida to see the Frazetta Gallery there. That's on my bucket list.

CC: I only got to work with Tim Truman for a couple of weeks. He was leaving TSR as I was coming in, though he seemed like a really nice guy. Keith and Tim were good friends. Tim played guitar and Keith played drums. After Keith left, I think he and his family moved to Pennsylvania, where Tim was living, and Keith and Tim started a little band. Had Tim stayed at TSR who knows, maybe I would have joined the band as well.

Not only did I get to work with a lot of other great artists, there were many other talented folk working at TSR as well. Game designers, authors, editors, graphic designers, mappers, sculptors...it was amazing how much talent was brought together under one roof.

CC: My first GenCon was kind of interesting. It was held on the UW Parkside campus. The "Art Show" was in a small room overlooking the gym. It was in the middle of summer and the room had no air conditioning, so it was hot. I had a couple of prints that I was used to selling at conventions before coming to TSR, so I commandeered a table and set up by the door coming into the room.

CC: Honestly, I was rarely recognized outside of work. Maybe every now and again, but not often. TSR was really a hive of creativity. It was almost a palpable thing. The artists would bounce ideas off one another and ask each other for suggestions when we hit a snag in a painting.

When I first started work in the art department, I was new to oil painting. Jeff Easley and Larry Elmore had been painting in oils for years. I had previously been painting in acrylics and was finding the transition to oils somewhat difficult. So, I would pick their brains for oil painting advice.

CC: As illustrators, we're usually visualizing things written or made up, to one extent or another, by someone else. So, in that way, there is a collaboration of sorts going on in creating an illustration.

And of course, the cover and/or interior illustrations are only a part of the product as a whole. So, like baking a cake, there are many ingredients, but the cover illustration is like the icing. It's what you initially see when looking at a product for the first time.

And that includes the graphic design as well. But there were so many people working behind the scenes at TSR. Editors, proofreaders, typesetters, mappers, in addition to the writers and game designers, graphic designers and artists. Everyone had a part to play in producing a product, and even the people who were coordinating it all, art directors and people like that.

CC: I was always a big fan of many other fantasy artists. I met the Hildebrants at a convention or two, but they had no idea who I was. Then we had Tim come to a GenCon as artist guest of honor. He was super nice and I think we all enjoyed getting to know him a bit.

I also met Joe Jusko a couple of times, plus had a few email exchanges with him over the years. I've really become a huge Jusko fan. The work he's doing on the ERB Inc. reissues of the Tarzan titles is just phenomenal. He's such a good painter, and unlike me, he's fast. I can't say enough good things about his work.

I only met Julie Bell very briefly a couple of times. At GenCon one year, I got on a elevator with Boris & Julie, but didn't realize it until they got off. I had yet to meet them, so was bummed that I had missed an opportunity to say hello.

I knew Valerie Valusek fairly well. She did a lot of freelance work for TSR and would often pop into the art dept. She was an equestrian and I once asked her to bring her horse by TSR so that I could take some reference photos. She was kind enough to oblige.

However, the company ran into bad financial times and there were no profits to share. So, after awhile, they discontinued the profit-sharing plan, so that we could invest in our own IRAs. After I left the company, I understand they started up a 401k for the employees, but I wasn't there for that.

How it all came about is as follows. An editor came into the art dept. and gave me an "art suggestion" for the cover of the book. It read something like this, "A group of adventurers are walking along a stream of silver."

I thought this was kind of a lame suggestion, so I called Bob Salvatore and told him what I had been given. He hit the roof, saying that the suggestion had nothing to do with the book. He then proceeded to explain what the book was about and what he saw as a good cover scene. I did the painting based on his notes, and he liked the painting enough to purchase the original.

JQ: White Magic Cover of Dragon Magazine #147. This is one of the few Dragon magazines I was able to obtain on my own as a kid. I remember falling in love with the enchantress on the front cover. I still have it, and she still has a part of my heart.

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