Robh Ruppel is an American artist best known for his work on

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

products. Critic Joseph Szadkowski of ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

'' has referred to him as a "horror genius".

Early life

Robh Ruppel grew up in

Bellaire, Texas Bellaire is a city in southwest Harris County, Texas, United States, within the metropolitan area.. Retrieved on January 24, 2010. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city population was 17,202. It is surrounded by the cities of Houston and West Un ...

, and attended

High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Kinder HSPVA, HSPVA or PVA) is a secondary school located at 790 Austin Street in the downtown district of Houston, Texas. The school is a part of the Houston Independent School District. ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

. His parents were Roger (an architect) and Judy Ruppel.Parks, Louis B. (April 2, 2007).
The art guy: Robh Ruppel learned a lot about movies while growing up in Houston. Now he has some Mickey Mouse job out in L.A. Meet the artist behind Meet the Robinsons
, ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

''. Retrieved July 15, 2010.

Career

Robh Ruppel worked for TSR for several years beginning in 1992, producing cover and interior art for products from the

Forgotten Realms ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') 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 a ...

Dragonlance ''Dragonlance'' is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived ''Dragonlance'' while driving i ...

, and

Ravenloft Ravenloft is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game. It is an alternate time-space existence known as a ''pocket dimension'' or demiplane, called the Demiplane of Dread, which consists of a collection of land pieces c ...

settings, among others. In 1994, he began producing artwork for the

Planescape ''Planescape'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, designed by Zeb Cook, and published in 1994. It crosses numerous planes of existence, encompassing an entire cosmology called the Great Wheel, as d ...

setting as well, which constituted the majority of this career with TSR. When TSR was purchased by

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidi ...

, he also illustrated cards for ''

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

''. Ruppel worked as a teacher at the

Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fr ...

in Pasadena, California, where he previously studied industrial design and illustration as a student. Robh Ruppel is a production designer and concept artist working in games and feature films. He art directed ''

Meet the Robinsons ''Meet the Robinsons'' is a 2007 American computer-animated science-fiction comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 47th animated film produced by the studio, it is loosely based on the ...

'' and ''

Brother Bear ''Brother Bear'' is a 2003 American animated musical fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 44th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert ...

''McCarthy, Todd (October 20, 2003). "Brother Bear", ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' 392 (10): 41. for Disney. He won Best Art Direction for ''

Uncharted 2 ''Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'' is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the second game in the ''Uncharted'' series and was released in October 2009 for PlayStation 3. Set two ...

''.

Works

Roleplaying games

*''

The Gothic Earth Gazetteer ''The Gothic Earth Gazetteer'' is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the '' Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, published in 1995. Contents ''The Gothic Earth Gazetteer'' is a supplement for ''Masque of the Red Death'' playe ...

'' (1995)

References

External links

* 1960s births High School for the Performing and Visual Arts alumni Living people People from Bellaire, Texas Role-playing game artists {{rpg-stub