RALPH HORSLEY

It was unsurprising that my first published piece at age 18 was a drawing of an Orc for a UK roleplaying magazine, Imagine, considering my teenage years were dominated by a love of Dungeons and Dragons and Tolkien. That was in 1984, yet those passions have carried through into adulthood, seeing me graduate with a joint honours degree in English Literature and Librarianship, but deciding to pursue a career in illustration instead.

That pursuit has seen me work with a vast range of games companies, including Wizards of the Coast, Games Workshop, Blizzard, Paizo, Fantasy Flight Games, UpperDeck, Hogshead Publishing, Flying Frog Productions, and Osprey Games. Highlights include appearing in the D&D Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide, featuring in every edition of Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play, seeing publication of over 100 Magic the Gathering cards, being awarded the honour of ‘Best in Show’ at the Gen Con art show, and in 2021 publishing my career retrospective art book ‘An Art Adventure’.

I favour working traditionally, in both Oils and Acrylics. I love the tactile quality of this process, and the creation of artefacts from the raw materials of paint and paper. I have painted and drawn innumerable Orcs since that first one, yet my passion for the craft, and fantasy art, remains undimmed.

I like to balance my client commissions with personal pieces. I particularly enjoy visiting landscapes through my ‘Wildborn’ series, depicting dragons in their natural habitat, which contrasts nicely with my figuratively heavy works.

I live in Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK, and when not gaming or painting, enjoy open water swimming and cycling. Being in nature is always inspirational, and regularly awe inspiring.

Ralph