Meet the artists behind... DUNGEONS DRAGONS

Roll initiative! We interview incredible D&D artists about illustrating this immense, fantastical universe

For decades, ardent adventurers across the globe have been travelling across far-reaching worlds full of magic and mystery on many a quest, building their own stories and characters as they pray for high dice rolls. Across these pages, we gain a behind-the-scenes perspective on the world-building and character design from the artists that help make these incredible adventures possible.

TYLER JACOBSON

Tyler has illustrated many covers and story artwork for the game

Tell us a bit about yourself and your background as an artist. Where did you start, and what got you into it?

I’ve always been making art in some capacity. When I was a child, I was very inspired by fantasy and sci-fi films from the 80s. It wasn’t too long before I got into D&D with my brother and our friends. Most of the time I’d draw my character rather than pay attention to the adventure, but nonetheless, those 2nd edition D&D books really fired up my imagination. All through high school I would draw characters from all kinds of films, games and comics, completely filling the margins in my school notebooks (my teachers weren’t thrilled).

I went to art school at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, which is where my real art education began. Thanks to Irene Gallo at Tor Books, Jon Schindehette (D&D’s senior art director at the time) reached out to me for my first commission with Dungeons and Dragons. The rest is history.

Do you play D&D yourself, and if so what’s the appeal to you?