Gerald Brom
Encyclopedia
Gerald Brom is an American gothic
fantasy
artist and illustrator, known for his work in role-playing game
s, novels, and comics.
. As the son of a U.S. Army
pilot he spent much of his early years on the move, living in many countries such as Japan
and Germany
(he graduated from high school in Frankfurt
, Germany), and U.S. states including Alabama
and Hawaii
. Brought up as a military dependent he was known by his last name only, and now signs his name as simply Brom: "I get that asked more than just about any other question. It's my real name, my last name. I got called Brom all the time as a kid, and it just stuck."
Brom has been drawing and painting since childhood, although he had never taken any formal art classes. "I wouldn't exactly call myself self-taught, because I've always looked at the work of other artists and emulated what I liked about it. So you can say they taught me." Brom cites the work of Frank Frazetta
, N.C. Wyeth, and Norman Rockwell
as influences on his style: "Okay... Rockwell isn't the kind of inspiration most people expect from me, but he just painted things so well. To me it's not so much the genre but the way it's done, and you have to admire his technique."
, IBM
, CNN
, and Columbia Pictures
. TSR, Inc.
hired Brom on full-time in 1989 at the age of 24. Brom contributed to all of TSR's game and book lines, particularly the Dark Sun
setting: "I pretty much designed the look and feel of the Dark Sun campaign. I was doing paintings before they were even writing about the setting. I'd do a painting or a sketch, and the designers wrote those characters and ideas into the story. I was very involved in the development process. I've been fortunate to be involved in the development end of a lot of projects I've worked on, from role-playing games to computer games." His paintings have been published in collectible card games such as Wizards of the Coast
's Magic: The Gathering
and Last Unicorn Games
' Heresy: Kingdom Come
. Brom's paintings, along with Frank Frazetta
's, were used in the development of the visual look of the game series Warlords
.
In 1993, after four years at TSR, Brom returned to the freelance market, still specializing in the darker side of the roleplaying game, card game, and comic book genres. His artwork also appeared on book covers from authors such as Michael Moorcock
, Anne McCaffrey
, and Terry Brooks
. Brom contributed conceptual work to computer games such as Heretic II
, and several top creature houses for films such as Stan Winston
Studios; he also co-created, art directed, and illustrated the Dark Age collectible card game. He has since worked as a movie
concept artist, and created illustrations for comics (by DC
, Chaos, Dark Horse
) and computer games (for id Software
, Blizzard
, Sega
and Activision
). Brom has also been active with a line of Brom fetish toys from Fewture and a series of bronze
s from the Franklin Mint
and paintings for novels (by Michael Moorcock, Terry Brooks, R.A. Salvatore, Edgar Rice Burroughs
).
Brom returned to TSR in 1998, doing paintings for the Alternity
game, the AD&D
role-playing game
and its Forgotten Realms
and Planescape
lines, and covers for Dragon
and Dungeon
magazines. His work is included in the book Masters of Dragonlance Art. He has also returned to painting for book covers for TSR's successor Wizards of the Coast
, including the covers for the War of the Spider Queen
series and reprints of The Avatar Series
.
Brom currently resides with his wife and two sons in the Seattle, Washington
area.
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
artist and illustrator, known for his work in role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s, novels, and comics.
Early life
Brom was born March 9, 1965, in Albany, GeorgiaAlbany, Georgia
Albany is a city in and the county seat of Dougherty County, Georgia, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. It is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia metropolitan area and the southwest part of the state. The population was 77,434 at the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the...
. As the son of a U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
pilot he spent much of his early years on the move, living in many countries such as Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(he graduated from high school in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany), and U.S. states including Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. Brought up as a military dependent he was known by his last name only, and now signs his name as simply Brom: "I get that asked more than just about any other question. It's my real name, my last name. I got called Brom all the time as a kid, and it just stuck."
Brom has been drawing and painting since childhood, although he had never taken any formal art classes. "I wouldn't exactly call myself self-taught, because I've always looked at the work of other artists and emulated what I liked about it. So you can say they taught me." Brom cites the work of Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for work in comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers and other media...
, N.C. Wyeth, and Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
as influences on his style: "Okay... Rockwell isn't the kind of inspiration most people expect from me, but he just painted things so well. To me it's not so much the genre but the way it's done, and you have to admire his technique."
Career
At the age of twenty, Brom started working full-time as a commercial illustrator. By age twenty-one, he had two national art representatives, and was doing work for such clients as Coca-ColaCoca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, and Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. TSR, Inc.
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
hired Brom on full-time in 1989 at the age of 24. Brom contributed to all of TSR's game and book lines, particularly the Dark Sun
Dark Sun
Dark Sun is a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting featuring the fictional desert world of Athas. The original Dark Sun Boxed Set campaign setting was released in 1991....
setting: "I pretty much designed the look and feel of the Dark Sun campaign. I was doing paintings before they were even writing about the setting. I'd do a painting or a sketch, and the designers wrote those characters and ideas into the story. I was very involved in the development process. I've been fortunate to be involved in the development end of a lot of projects I've worked on, from role-playing games to computer games." His paintings have been published in collectible card games such as Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
's Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
and Last Unicorn Games
Last Unicorn Games
Last Unicorn Games was a games publisher that was eventually absorbed by Wizards of the Coast.Last Unicorn developed the collectible card games Dune and Heresy: Kingdom Come as well as the 2000 role-playing game Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium...
' Heresy: Kingdom Come
Heresy: Kingdom Come
Heresy: Kingdom Come was a collectible card game developed and published by Last Unicorn Games in 1995. The game was based around religion-themed fantasy in a cyberpunk setting.-Publication history:...
. Brom's paintings, along with Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for work in comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers and other media...
's, were used in the development of the visual look of the game series Warlords
Warlords (game series)
Warlords is a computer game series created by Steve Fawkner, in which role-playing elements are combined with strategy in a fantasy setting. The series has been split into two different games lines, the traditional turn-based strategy Warlords series , and a newer real-time based strategy Warlords...
.
In 1993, after four years at TSR, Brom returned to the freelance market, still specializing in the darker side of the roleplaying game, card game, and comic book genres. His artwork also appeared on book covers from authors such as Michael Moorcock
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock is an English writer, primarily of science fiction and fantasy, who has also published a number of literary novels....
, Anne McCaffrey
Anne McCaffrey
Anne Inez McCaffrey was an American-born Irish writer, best known for her Dragonriders of Pern series. Over the course of her 46 year career she won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award...
, and Terry Brooks
Terry Brooks
Terence Dean "Terry" Brooks is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy, and has also written two movie novelizations. He has written 23 New York Times bestsellers during his writing career, and has over 21 million copies of his books in print...
. Brom contributed conceptual work to computer games such as Heretic II
Heretic II
Heretic II is a fantasy action-adventure game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision in 1998 continuing the story of Corvus, the main character from its predecessor, Heretic....
, and several top creature houses for films such as Stan Winston
Stan Winston
Stanley Winston was an American visual effects supervisor, makeup artist, and film director. He was best known for his work in the Terminator series, the Jurassic Park series, Aliens, the Predator series, Iron Man, Edward Scissorhands, and Avatar...
Studios; he also co-created, art directed, and illustrated the Dark Age collectible card game. He has since worked as a movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
concept artist, and created illustrations for comics (by DC
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, Chaos, Dark Horse
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
) and computer games (for id Software
Id Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
, Blizzard
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
, Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
and Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
). Brom has also been active with a line of Brom fetish toys from Fewture and a series of bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
s from the Franklin Mint
Franklin Mint
The Franklin Mint is a private corporation founded by Joseph Segel in 1964. The private mint operated from Wawa, Pennsylvania but that operation has now closed...
and paintings for novels (by Michael Moorcock, Terry Brooks, R.A. Salvatore, Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
).
Brom returned to TSR in 1998, doing paintings for the Alternity
Alternity
Alternity is a science fiction role-playing game published by TSR in 1998...
game, the AD&D
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
and its Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
and Planescape
Planescape
Planescape is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, originally designed by Zeb Cook. The Planescape setting was published in 1994...
lines, and covers for Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
and Dungeon
Dungeon (magazine)
Dungeon Adventures, or simply Dungeon, was a magazine targeting consumers of role-playing games, particularly Dungeons & Dragons. It was first published by TSR, Inc. in 1986 as a bimonthly periodical. It went monthly in May 2003 and ceased print publication altogether in September 2007 with Issue 150...
magazines. His work is included in the book Masters of Dragonlance Art. He has also returned to painting for book covers for TSR's successor Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
, including the covers for the War of the Spider Queen
War of the Spider Queen
War of the Spider Queen is a New York Times best-selling series of novels set in the Forgotten Realms universe published by Wizards of the Coast. The series contains six books focused on the drow and their principal deity Lolth. Each of the six novels in the series is written by a different author...
series and reprints of The Avatar Series
The Avatar Series
The Avatar Series, originally The Avatar Trilogy, is a series of fantasy novels in the Forgotten Realms setting, covering the event known as the Time of Troubles.The books were:...
.
Brom currently resides with his wife and two sons in the Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
area.
Books
- The Child ThiefThe Child ThiefThe Child Thief is a Dark fantasy novel by the artist and novelist Brom. A dark retelling of the stories of Peter Pan and The Lost Boys, Brom takes many liberties with the originals by J M Barrie. Brom incorporates monsters and faeries well alongside a poverty-ridden horrific heap of a sad populace...
(2009) - The Devil's Rose (2007)
- The PluckerThe PluckerThe Plucker is a 160 page novel both written and illustrated by Brom. There are three parts to the story, in 22 chapters, and over 100 illustrations in full color....
(2005) http://www.theplucker.com/ - Darkwerks: The Art of Brom (2000)
- Brom's Little Black Book
- Offerings
- Metamorphosis (2007) (beinArt) ISBN 978-0-9803231-0-8
Book covers
- War of the Spider Queen: DissolutionDissolution (novel)Dissolution is a fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers# It is the first book of the ##War of the Spider Queen## hexad, based on the ##Forgotten Realms## setting of the ##Dungeons & Dragons## ##fantasy## ##role-playing game###-Plot summary:...
(2003) - War of the Spider Queen: InsurrectionInsurrection (novel)Insurrection is a fantasy novel by Thomas M. Reid. It is the second book of the War of the Spider Queen hexad, a series set in the Forgotten Realms fictional universe of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:...
(2003) - War of the Spider Queen: CondemnationCondemnation (novel)Condemnation is a fantasy novel by Richard Baker, set in the Forgotten Realms setting, based on the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It is the third book of the War of the Spider Queen hexad.-Plot summary:...
(2004) - War of the Spider Queen: ExtinctionExtinction (novel)Extinction is a fantasy novel by Lisa Smedman. It is the fourth book of the Forgotten Realms series, War of the Spider Queen hexalogy. Like other books in the series, it is based on characters from the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game....
(2005) - War of the Spider Queen: AnnihilationAnnihilation (novel)Annihilation is a NY Times Best Seller fantasy novel by Philip Athans. It is the fifth book of the War of the Spider Queen hexad and, like other books in the series, it is set in the Forgotten Realms setting for Dungeons & Dragons.-Plot summary:...
(2005) - War of the Spider Queen: ResurrectionResurrection (Forgotten Realms)Resurrection is a Forgotten Realms fantasy novel by Paul S. Kemp and R. A. Salvatore. It is the sixth book of the War of the Spider Queen hexology.-Plot introduction:...
(2005)
Movies & TV (as concept artist)
- Van HelsingVan Helsing (film)Van Helsing is a 2004 American action horror film directed by Stephen Sommers. It stars Hugh Jackman as vigilante monster hunter Gabriel Van Helsing, and Kate Beckinsale...
(2004) - Scooby-DooScooby-Doo (film)Scooby-Doo is a 2002 American comedy film based on the Hanna-Barbera television cartoon series Scooby-Doo about a group of young detectives and their talking dog. It is the first installment in the Scooby-Doo live action film series...
(2002) - The Time MachineThe Time MachineThe Time Machine is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895 for the first time and later adapted into at least two feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It indirectly inspired many more works of fiction...
(2002) (uncredited) - Ghosts of MarsGhosts of MarsJohn Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars is a 2001 American science fiction action horror film composed, written, and directed by John Carpenter. The film stars Ice Cube, Natasha Henstridge, Jason Statham, Pam Grier, Clea DuVall, and Joanna Cassidy...
(2001) - Bless the ChildBless the ChildBless the Child is a 2000 supernatural thriller film directed by Chuck Russell, starring Kim Basinger, Jimmy Smits, Angela Bettis, Rufus Sewell, Christina Ricci, and Holliston Coleman...
(2000) - Sleepy HollowSleepy Hollow (film)Sleepy Hollow is a 1999 American period horror film directed by Tim Burton. It is a film adaptation loosely inspired by the 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving and stars Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, Marc Pickering, Michael Gambon, Jeffrey Jones,...
(1999) (poster art) - Galaxy QuestGalaxy QuestGalaxy Quest is a 1999 science-fiction comedy parody about a troupe of human actors who defend a group of aliens against an alien warlord. It was directed by Dean Parisot and written by David Howard and Robert Gordon. Mark Johnson and Charles Newirth produced the film for DreamWorks, and David...
(1999)
Video games
- Doom IIDoom IIDoom II: Hell on Earth is an award winning first-person shooter video game and second title of id Software's Doom franchise. Unlike Doom which was initially only available through shareware and mail order, Doom II was a commercial release sold in stores...
- Diablo IIDiablo IIDiablo II is a dark fantasy/horror-themed hack and slash, with elements of the role playing game and dungeon crawl genres. It was released for Windows and Mac OS in 2000 by Blizzard Entertainment, and was developed by Blizzard North. It is a direct sequel to the 1996 hit PC game, Diablo.Diablo II...
- HereticHeretic (computer game)Heretic is a fantasy first-person shooter video game created by Raven Software, published by id Software, and distributed by GT Interactive in 1994. It was made available on Steam on August 3, 2007....
- Heretic IIHeretic IIHeretic II is a fantasy action-adventure game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision in 1998 continuing the story of Corvus, the main character from its predecessor, Heretic....
- Skyborg: Into the VortexSkyborg: Into the VortexSkyborg: Into the Vortex was a CD-ROM science fiction computer game released in 1995 by the trading card company SkyBox International, Inc. and Fringe Multimedia. It was based on a series of trading cards by various artists created especially for the game, which were released simultaneously with...
- Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of DoomDungeons & Dragons: Tower of DoomDungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom is the first of two arcade games created by Capcom and based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The game was also released on the Sega Saturn, packaged with its sequel, Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara, under the title Dungeons & Dragons...
- Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over MystaraDungeons & Dragons: Shadow over MystaraDungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara is an arcade game developed and published by Capcom in 1996 as a sequel to Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom. It was also released on the Sega Saturn, packaged with Tower of Doom, under the title Dungeons & Dragons Collection. The game is set in the Dungeons...
Tabletop games
- Dark Age (concept artist)
- Magic: The Gathering (concept artist)
- Button Men:BromButton MenButton Men is a dice game for two players, invented by James Ernest of Cheapass Games and first released in 1999.Games are short, typically taking less than ten minutes to play. Each player is represented by a pin-back button of their choice...
(a series of 12 buttons for the Cheapass GamesCheapass GamesCheapass Games is a game company founded and run by game designer James Ernest, based in Seattle, Washington. Cheapass Games operates on the philosophy that most game owners have plenty of dice, counters, play money, etc., so there is no need to bundle all of these components with every game that...
collectible game)