Category: Musings
July 5, 2024
After The Monstrous Manual: The Calm Before The Storm Using the money I had earned from Dragon Mountain and the Monstrous Manual, in the summer of 1993 I rented a two-bedroom apartment, dedicating one bedroom as my “art studio”. Well…really I drew and painted all over the place, as you can see in the photo …
Continue reading “Behind The ‘Monstrous Manual’: PART 10”
July 2, 2024
TD, Monster Machine Welcome back to a deep dive of my experience working on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monstrous Manual. As I mentioned at the start, I finished illustrating the Dragon Mountain boxed set adventure on February 1st, 1993 and began immediately on the Monstrous Manual the following day. All 100 pieces were due …
Continue reading “Behind The ‘Monstrous Manual’: PART 9”
June 26, 2024
Creepy-Crawlies I am sad to say our trip down Monstrous Manual Memory Lane is nearing its end but don’t fret, we still have a few more monsters to cover: Giant creepy crawlers that are iconic Dungeons & Dragons monsters, like… ILLUSTRATION #3: Ankheg The giant subterranean invertebrate known as the Ankheg (ANN-kegg) made its colorful …
Continue reading “Behind The ‘Monstrous Manual’: PART 8”
June 18, 2024
“There were virtually no fantasy figurines being produced when Chainmail Fantasy Supplement tabletop battles were being played, and so that is where the conversion of dime store toys into monsters began.” –Gary Gygax, 2007 I’m back and highlighting some classic, iconic monsters of Dungeons & Dragons that I had the opportunity to illustrate back in …
Continue reading “Behind The ‘Monstrous Manual’: PART 6”
June 14, 2024
The Fairy Folk We enter the enchanting fairytale world of sprites, sylphs, gnomes and other fae folk in this installment of ‘Behind The Monstrous Manual’. Previously, I spoke about mythology, folklore and J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic books, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy influencing Gary Gygax and his designers when creating Dungeons & Dragons …
Continue reading “Behind The ‘Monstrous Manual’: PART 5”
June 10, 2024
Moving beyond Parts 2 and 3 of fantasy humanoids, we’ll now take a look at a several monsters I had the opportunity to illustrate for the Dungeons & Dragons Monstrous Manual that have been celebrated for centuries in epic myths. We’re talking the Cyclops, Medusa, Minotaur and more! ILLUSTRATION #44: Giant, Cyclops Our first monster …
Continue reading “Behind The ‘Monstrous Manual’: PART 4”
June 4, 2024
Big Bad Humanoids I’m back with my deep dive into the making of 1993’s Dungeons & Dragons Monstrous Manual, a book that was pivotal in my career as an aspiring illustrator. Previously, I discussed how I came to work on the first colorized edition of this classic D&D rulebook and shared the story of the …
Continue reading “Behind The ‘Monstrous Manual’: PART 3”
May 31, 2024
Humanoids “The fact is that I have read so much mythology, folklore, fairytales, and authored fiction with monsters and all manner of strange folk and creatures that it is hard to pin down exactly where a good number of the AD&D monsters got their inspiration.” –Gary Gygax, 2007 In Part 1 of ‘Behind The Monstrous …
Continue reading “Behind The ‘Monstrous Manual’: PART 2”
May 29, 2024
Long Time No See It has been eons since I wrote a new blog post. In fact, it was two presidents and a pandemic ago since I’ve added anything new. Wow. I still love sharing what I am up to…but over the years, social media has come to replace posts like this. Most of us …
Continue reading “Behind The ‘Monstrous Manual’: PART 1”
December 18, 2017
If you’ve been following me on social media for the past year, you know that in November I celebrated the opening of a retrospective exhibition at The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. To say that the experience was surreal would be an understatement. Having grown up copying Rockwell’s iconic images, it is an amazing …
Continue reading “Never Abandon Imagination: The Fantastical Art of Tony DiTerlizzi”
July 4, 2017
Its hard to believe its been over 20 years since this site launched. Over the last two decades it has been amazing to watch the growth of the internet and how it has shaped our world. My early online presence is due to Jim Gaynor, who was a computer specialist at Ohio State University back …
Continue reading “Welcome to the NEW DiTerlizzi Website!”
January 13, 2017
I know the site looks like a ghost town. I haven’t updated it in almost a year. Fear not, I am in the process of a new design for the site which I am planning on relaunching very soon. In the meantime, I do have some newsy bits I’d love to share: 2016 marked the …
Continue reading “Happy New Year!”
May 9, 2016
Fast Company magazine recorded a conversation with Game of Thrones creator, George R.R. Martin, and myself on fantastical world building, creative process and finding inspiration. Thanks to Chuck Salter, George (and Raya), Jim Ludwig and the staff at the Jean Cocteau Cinema for capturing this moment. The event at the Cocteau was a fun …
Continue reading “George R.R. Martin & Tony DiTerlizzi: The Minds & Processes That Build Fantasy Worlds”
January 27, 2016
I’m super excited to announce my first event for the new year!
December 9, 2015
Dark Sword Miniatures has released all the figurines in the “DiTerlizzi Masterworks” line just in time for the holidays!
October 15, 2015
The leaves are changing color. There’s a chill in the air. We’ve placed a cluster of pumpkins on our doorstep, stretched a giant spiderweb across the porch railing and hung rubber bats and spiders from our porch roof. Now its time to decorate for Halloween inside.
August 6, 2015
This time last week the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis was jammed full of 60,000+ gamers and I was happy to be among them.
July 24, 2015
The Gen Con game fair begins next week and I am as excited as a halfling in a dragon’s hoard.
June 10, 2015
To say that this year has been this nerd’s dream-come-true would be an understatement. If a collection of my Dungeons & Dragons artwork wasn’t enough, I am totally geeking out right now as I announce a line of gaming miniatures–based on my designs–which will be available this fall.
April 14, 2015
This weekend I hop aboard a Rebel Cruiser and zoom off to Anaheim, California for the STAR WARS: Celebration.
February 13, 2015
Its been over a decade since I attended the biggest gaming convention in the country, but this summer I am thrilled to be returning to one of my most favorite cons of all.
October 3, 2014
USA TODAY: October 2nd, 2014: ‘Star Wars’ trilogy is retold in new kids’ book
September 30, 2014
Next week is the release of STAR WARS: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight. To celebrate, I’ll be doing events in my hometown, New York City, Boston, Austin and Miami.
August 14, 2014
For my longtime fans of the work I did for AD&D, Planescape, Changeling and even Magic the Gathering, this press release is for you:
July 30, 2014
I’ve attended San Diego’s Comic Con International off-and-on since the 1990’s and I’ve watched it grow to become the daddy of all geek conventions. Despite the long airplane flight, long lines and 200k+ crowd, it is a fun four-day ride.
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