The late Keith Parkinson (1958 – 2005) is a well known name among the many talented fantasy and sci-fi artists of the 1980s and 90s. He did work for Dungeons & Dragons products and many other role-playing games in addition to a prestigious career as a book cover illustrator.
This gem was used as the cover for Palladium Books Adventures in the Northern Wilderness, published in 1989. I love it because it’s wildly fantastical. You’ve got this wolf-like being, but instead of your typical savage werewolf, he’s wearing robes and using some serious dark magic to summon zombies! It looks like there’s going to be some real trouble, and it begs a great story just looking at it. The detail given to the gloomy, wintry background is also incredibly well done.
I found a great quote from Keith himself on this piece on his website and from his book, KnightsBridge: The Art of Keith Parkinson:
I had the publisher ask me how elaborate my modeling set up was on this project. They thought I had set up skeletons in costume then photographed them. Actually, I made up all the figures with no reference shot for any of it. Ordinarily, I like to shoot as much reference as possible. On this project, though, the images came from my imagination.
Thank you, Keith. Your imagination still inspires me almost thirty years later!
Aethereal Engineer 
Keith Parkinson was one of my favourite illustrators in teh 1990s. Always loved his work, because of the details and because of the use of colours.
I’ve never seen this pic before. Seriously awesome!
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I love hearing stuff like this when I share an old inspiration! Happy to have brought it to you. Keith was indeed a great artist who left the world too soon but left a legacy behind.
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