David C. Sutherland III

David C. Sutherland III was a fantasy artist famous for illustrating early editions of Dungeons & Dragons.

Background
Sutherland was born on April 4, 1949, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He studied to be a commercial artist at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College before joining the army and serving in the Vietnam War.

After returning from the war, he began creating fantasy illustrations and also joined Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).

Sutherland died in 2005 of liver failure.

Career
While in the SCA, Sutherland met one of the players of Gary Gygax's and Dave Arneson's campaigns. He was then directed toward TSR, Inc. and soon was hired. He became TSR's artistic director but continued to draw his own illustrations. When TSR was purchased by Wizards of the Coast, Sutherland was not hired.

While at TSR, Sutherland was responsible for the cover art of the the first edition Dungeon Masters Guide and Monster Manual. He also was the creator of the wemic.