British fantasy illustrator Wayne Reynolds has drawn a series of eight monsters to appear on Royal Mail stamps to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Although the game was invented in the US by Gary Gygax in 1974, it has enjoyed enduring popularity around the world and still has legions of players across the UK.
“I’ve been playing D&D since the early 80s and have had the privilege of illustrating many D&D books since the late 90s,” says Wayne. “It was a great honour to be asked to design the D&D stamps for Royal Mail. As a British artist, it was a wonderful opportunity to contribute artwork to what I consider to be an iconic institution and to have it featured on a stamp!”
One of the things that has made D&D so popular over the years is undoubtedly its strange, genre-bending monsters. Alongside the silhouette of King Charles III is an original image by Wayne depicting a gelatinous cube, a mimic, a mind flayer, an owlbear, and the character Vecna - a Lich King. Three other images were chosen from his existing D&D portfolio, which includes a red dragon, a beholder, and a displacer.
“I have to say the Mimic is my favorite, as it was the first time I had the opportunity to illustrate this particular monster,” says Wayne. “Mimics take the form of everyday objects – mainly treasure chests – and use them to try to lure unsuspecting adventurers so they can launch a surprise attack with their multi-toothed mouths. I even added the clasp and lock to the Mimic because these creatures are very detail-oriented.”
In addition, Wayne has painted a key image to accompany some of the Royal Mail’s limited edition stamps. This forms a miniature sheet from which stamps can be pulled out featuring key characters from the game, including a Tiefling rogue, a human bard, a halfling cleric, an elf fighter, a dwarf paladin and a dragonborn wizard.
You can buy a whole range of special edition D&D stamps and postcards featuring the artwork on the Royal Mail website. Framed editions are available and Wayne has signed some of them.
“My art is entirely hand-painted – pencil and acrylic on drawing board – I don’t use any digital techniques at all,” says Wayne. “I start with a very loose sketch that might just show an outline or shape of what I’m going to paint. Then I add details until I have a very precise sketch. The final step is painting over the sketch with acrylic paint. I tend to work in detailed sections rather than painting the whole thing at once. I’m not sure if this is a good thing, but it works for me.”
The project had deep personal meaning for Wayne. His father Terry was an avid stamp collector, but shortly after Wayne accepted the commission he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He was able to see his son’s sketches for the project, but sadly passed away before the final stamps were issued.
“I knew it would mean a lot to him to know that his son had created artwork for stamps, so I am dedicating the artwork I created for these stamps to my father’s memory,” Wayne adds.
Wayne’s other work includes graphics for Magic: The Gathering and the role-playing game Pathfinder.
