Susan Van Camp is a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

, best known for her work on various

role playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) 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, eith ...

Biography

Van Camp was born on June 11, 1959, and raised in

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

. She began her commercial career in gaming by doing work for Steve Jackson's ''

Car Wars ''Car Wars'' is a vehicle combat simulation game developed by Steve Jackson Games. It was first published in 1980 in games, 1980. Players control armed vehicles in a post-apocalyptic future. Game play In ''Car Wars'', players assume control of ...

'' series. From there she proceeded to

comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

with Arrow Comics' '' Tales from the Aniverse'' in 1984, and ''Varcel’s Vixens'' from

Caliber Comics Caliber Comics or Caliber Press is an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, Caliber published over 1,300 comics in the decade following its inception and is ranked as one of Americ ...

. Comics led to

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction subgenre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of ex ...

s and the art shows held at the conventions, where she began painting and putting her paintings up for bidding by the public. In 1994 Van Camp began doing work for '' Magic: The Gathering''. She began selling her own

RPG RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...

game in 1996, ''

Dragon Storm Dragon Storm may refer to: * ''Dragon Storm'' (game), a role-playing game and collectible card game * Dragon Storm (astronomy) The Dragon Storm is a giant thunderstorm located in Saturn's southern hemisphere, which is labeled as the "storm alley ...

''.Greene, Ryan (April 15, 2005). "The play's the thing at local Game Con event", ''

South Bend Tribune The ''South Bend Tribune'' is a daily newspaper and news website which is based in South Bend, Indiana. It is distributed in South Bend, Mishawaka, north central Indiana, and southwestern Michigan. It has been named as a "Blue Ribbon Newspaper ...

''.

Role-playing game credits

*''Otosan Uchi'' (''

Legend of the Five Rings Legend of the Five Rings (often abbreviated ''L5R'') is a fictional setting created by John Zinser, Dave Seay, Ryan Dancey, Dave Williams, DJ Trindle, Matt Wilson (artist), Matt Wilson and John Wick (role-playing game designer), John Wick and ...

'') (2000),

Alderac Entertainment Group Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) is a publisher of family board game products. AEG was formed by Jolly Blackburn in 1993. Blackburn left the company in 1995 and the majority of the company is now owned by President & CEO John Zinser. The comp ...

; interior artist *''Doomtown or Bust!'' (''

Deadlands ''Deadlands'' is a genre-mixing alternate history role-playing game which combines the Western and horror genres, with some steampunk elements. The original game was written by Shane Lacy Hensley and published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group i ...

: The Weird West'') (1999),

Pinnacle Entertainment Group Pinnacle Entertainment Group is a publisher of role-playing games and wargames. History Shane Lacy Hensley wanted to create a 19th-century miniatures game so he contacted the company Chameleon Eclectic to get the game published. As a result '' Fi ...

; interior artist *'' Blood Enemies: Abominations of Cerilia'' (''Birthright'') (1995),

TSR, Inc TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been ...

; interior artist *''

Faeries A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

'' (''

Ars Magica ''Ars Magica'' is a role-playing game set in 'Mythic Europe' – a historically grounded version of Europe and the Levant around AD 1200, with the added conceit that conceptions of the world prevalent in folklore and institutions of the High Mid ...

'') (1995),

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...

; interior artist *''Houses of Hermes'' (''

'') (1994), Wizards of the Coast; interior artist *''

Earthdawn ''Earthdawn'' is a fantasy role-playing game, originally produced by FASA in 1993. In 1999 it was licensed to Living Room Games, which produced the ''Second Edition''. It was licensed to RedBrick in 2003, who released the Classic Edition in 200 ...

'' (1993),

FASA Corporation FASA Corporation was an American publisher of role-playing games, wargaming, wargames and board games between 1980 and 2001, after which they closed publishing operations for several years, becoming an IP holding company under the name FASA In ...

; interior artist *''Paranormal Animals of Europe'' (''

Shadowrun ''Shadowrun'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in an alternate future in which cybernetics, magic in fiction, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy, and crime fiction, crime, wit ...

'') (1993), FASA Corporation; interior artist *'' Citybook VI - Up Town'' (''

Catalyst Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...

'') (1992),

Flying Buffalo Flying Buffalo Inc. (FBI) is a game company with a line of role playing games, card games, and other gaming materials. The company's founder, Rick Loomis, began game publishing with '' Nuclear Destruction'', a play-by-mail game which started th ...

; interior artist *''Central Casting: Heroes Now!'' (1991),

Task Force Games Task Force Games was a game company started in 1979 by Allen Eldridge and Stephen V. Cole. TFG published many games, most notably including both '' Star Fleet Battles'' (currently published by the original designers, Amarillo Design Bureau) an ...

; cover artist *''Citybook V - Sideshow'' (''Catalyst'') (1991), Flying Buffalo; interior artist

Other game credits

*'' Clout Fantasy'', Base Set (2005), Hidden City Games; chip art *'' Tempest of the Gods'', core set (1995), Black Dragon Press; card art *''

Galactic Empires ''Galactic Empires'' is an out-of-print collectible card game with a science fiction theme. It was published by Companion Games in 1994 until the company's bankruptcy in 1997. Publication history Following the success of the first collectible ...

'', Primary Edition (1994), Companion Games; card art *''

Legends A legend is a historical narrative, a symbolic representation of folk belief. Legend(s) or The Legend(s) may also refer to: Narrative * A fictitious identity used in espionage Books, comic books, and theater * ''Legend'' (Gemmell novel), a 1 ...

'' (Magic: The Gathering) (1994),

; card art *''

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...

'' (Magic: The Gathering) (1993), Wizards of the Coast; card art

Magazine article credits

*"Animal Henchmen" in ''

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

'' #269 (Mar 2000); interior artist *"The City of Lofty Pillars" in ''Dragon'' #201 (Jan 1994); interior artist *"Dungeon Mastery: Talk of the Town" in ''Dragon Annual'' #2 (1997); interior artist *"Ecology (Love-Life) of the Lamia" in ''Dragon'' #192 (Apr 1993); interior artist *"PC Portraits: Gnomes & Halflings" in ''Dragon'' #262 (Aug 1999); interior artist *"The Wizard's Companion" in ''Dragon'' #246 (Apr 1998); interior artist

Short story credits

*"Dedrak's Quest" (

Sci-Fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

) in ''Dragon'' #250; interior artist

Notes

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Camp, Susan 1959 births American fantasy artists American game artists American role-playing game artists Living people