William O'Connor (artist)
Encyclopedia
Early life and education
William O'Connor was born on Long Island, New York. He enrolled at the age of ten at the Huntington School of Fine Arts (HSFA), and after high school he attended Alfred UniversityAlfred University
Alfred University is a small, comprehensive university in the Village of Alfred in Western New York, USA, an hour and a half south of Rochester and two hours southeast of Buffalo. Alfred has an undergraduate population of around 2,000, and approximately 300 graduate students...
and also enrolled in illustration programs at the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
and Parsons School of Design in Manhattan.
Works
William O'Connor produced interior illustrations for many Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & 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...
books since 1995, as well as cover art for Living Greyhawk Gazetteer
Living Greyhawk Gazetteer
The Living Greyhawk Gazetteer is a sourcebook for the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Despite the title, the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer is not exclusive to the Living Greyhawk Campaign...
(2000). He has also produced artwork for other games including several game systems by White Wolf
White Wolf
White Wolf is a publisher of role-playing games, notably the World of Darkness.White Wolf may also refer to:*White Wolf , a location in Yosemite National Park*White Wolf , a Canadian heavy metal band...
such as Ars Magica
Ars Magica
Ars Magica is a role-playing game set in Mythic Europe, a quasi-historical version of Europe around AD 1200 with added fantastical elements. The game revolves around wizards and their allies...
and Trinity
Trinity (role-playing game)
Trinity is a science fiction role-playing game published by White Wolf Game Studio in 1997 , first in the Trinity Universe series of games sharing a common background and developing an alternate history of humanity through two centuries, and allowing players to play almost all genres of science...
.
He has also written instructional art books, such as Dracopedia: A Guide to Drawing the Dragons of the World.
O'Connor was nominated for a Chesley Award in 2002, for Best Gaming-Related Illustration, for Respite card art, "Legend of the Five Rings".