David C. Sutherland III

Greyhawk Creator

David C. Sutherland III
Born:	4 April 1949, Minnieapolis, Minnesota, USA
Died:	6 June 2005
First Greyhawk work:	Queen of the Demonweb Pits (1980).

David C. Sutherland III (April 4, 1949–June 6, 2005) was an early D&D illustrator and designer. Sutherland was a prolific artist, and his work heavily influenced the early development of D&D, especially his lasting legacy is in the game's Abyss.

Early life and inspiration

Sutherland's cover for the original Dungeon Masters Guide (TSR, 1979)

Sutherland was born April 4, 1949 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was a graduate of Minneapolis' Roosevelt High School. He trained as a commercial artist for two years at the Minneapolis Area Vocational Technical Institute before serving in the US Army as a military police officer in the Vietnam War, serving in 1969–1970. After his return from the war, he began his career as a fantasy artist, while working odd jobs. His artistic talents were nurtured and developed by his father, a fellow artist. David C. Sutherland II worked in the paper industry and encouraged his son by bringing home creative materials and supplies.

He became involved with the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) in the early 1970s. He spent his free time drawing sketches and cartoons related to these pastimes.

Career

Sutherland's map of Oerth, primarily depicting Oerik, from Dragon Annual #1 (1996).

Sutherland's involvement in game art began in 1974. After meeting Michael Mornard, a player in Gary Gygax' "Greyhawk" and then Dave Arneson's "Blackmoor" in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), he was introduced to Professor M.A.R. Barker at the University of Minnesota in 1975. Barker was designing Tékumel, a D&D setting published by TSR.

The professor put him in touch with TSR, and soon after, Sutherland was working for them. (March 2010) Sutherland worked with the D&D game's co-inventor, Gary Gygax, as part of a team of illustrators, including Erol Otus, Darlene, David Trampier, and others. Sutherland also worked as TSR's artistic director, but preferred working on his own illustrations. He worked at TSR until 1997 when the company was in the process of being purchased by Wizards of the Coast and he was not offered further employment.

After his relationship with TSR ended, Sutherland found it difficult to find work and, according to friends, felt abandoned by the gaming industry.^{[citation needed]} Recently divorced, Sutherland remained upset about the dissolution of his marriage, became despondent and his health began to fail.^{[citation needed]} An auction of Sutherland memorabilia—including artwork, miniature sculptures, games, and game memorabilia—was held in 2004, raising USD$22,000, used to set up a trust fund for his two daughters.

He died of chronic liver failure on June 6, 2005, in his home in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. He was buried on June 22, 2005, with full military honors at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His headstone reads, "Time to Map Heaven".

He is survived by his two daughters, Susan and Heather, and his mother, sister, and brother.

Notable works

• Most notably, for Greyhawk, he illustrated the first published map of Oerth, showing the rest of the planet outside the lands surrounding the Flanaess.
• He drew the early sketches for the various demon types (which became succubi, vrocks, hezrou, glabrezu, nalfeshnee, mariliths, balors, Orcus, and Demogorgon).
• He wrote the AD&D adventure Queen of the Demonweb Pits (Q1) (with some editing from Gary Gygax) which defined the Abyss and especially the realm of Lolth for all time.
• He created the wemic, a D&D lion-centaur.
• He drew the famous and popular isometric maps of Castle Ravenloft for the first edition AD&D adventure Ravenloft. As the newly revised version of the adventure, Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, explains in the introduction, these maps were "such a powerful aid to play that a generation of Dungeon Masters still fondly recall them and reemploy them whenever possible." Sutherland is even honored in the story of this newest version of the Ravenloft adventure, as there is a mention of a "Dhavit Uthurlan" as the designer of the castle.
• He is the cover artist for the first edition rules of the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide.
• He illustrated the scene of a dragon, a wizard, and an armored archer on the first D&D boxed set, "A simple composition, it shows a wand-waving magic user and a knight, his longbow drawn, squaring off against a dragon who sits—à la Smaug from The Hobbit—atop a vast pile of gold coins and jewels."
• He also illustrated the original cover of the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual.

External links

Disclaimer:Any lore presented through the following links does not necessarily adhere to established officially published content, and the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the editors of this wiki.

• David Sutherland at the Pen & Paper RPG Database. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
• PFC David C. Sutherland at FindAGrave.com.

References

Bibliography

• Gygax, Gary, and Brian Blume. Eldritch Wizardry. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR Games, 1976.
• Sutherland III, David C., and Gygax, Gary. Queen of the Demonweb Pits. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1980. ISBN 0394515412.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/38841676/david-c-sutherland: accessed 22 December 2023), memorial page for PFC David C Sutherland III (4 Apr 1949–6 Jun 2005), Find a Grave Memorial ID 38841676, citing Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA

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