Tony M. DiTerlizzi (born September 6, 1969) is an American

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, children's book creator, and motion picture producer. In the gaming industry, he is best known for his work in the

collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards. The genre was introduced with ''Magic: The G ...

'' Magic: The Gathering'' and on the ''

Planescape ''Planescape'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, designed by David Cook (game designer), Zeb Cook, and published by TSR, Inc., TSR in 1994. Description ''Planescape'' encompasses numerous Plane (Dun ...

'' product line for the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

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 player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

. DiTerlizzi created ''

The Spiderwick Chronicles ''The Spiderwick Chronicles'' is a series of children's fantasy books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. They chronicle the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into the Spider ...

'' series with

Holly Black Holly Black (; born November 10, 1971) is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the ''New York Times'' bestselling young adult ''Folk of the Air'' series. She is also well kn ...

, and was an executive producer on the 2008 film adaptation of the series. He won a Caldecott Honor for his adaptation of '' The Spider and the Fly''.

Early life

Tony DiTerlizzi was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1969, the first of three children. The name DiTerlizzi means "from Terlizzi", a village in Italy's

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

region. He grew up in South Florida where he attended South Fork High School. He went to college at the Florida School of the Arts and The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale where he earned a graphic design degree in 1992.

Influences

DiTerlizzi cites a variety of artists including

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

and Dr. Seuss as major creative influences.Tony DiTerlizzi's website
/ref> "Many good fantasy artists will tell you their influences are Frazetta or

Boris Vallejo Boris Vallejo (born January 8, 1941) is a Peruvian-American painter who works in the science fiction, fantasy, and erotica genres. His hyper-representational paintings have appeared on the covers of numerous novels in the science fiction, sword ...

. Realizing this, I went for more diverse influences, since it seemed to me that most current fantasy work has that same oil-painted feel." DiTerlizzi was influenced by artists such as

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...

and

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

to early 1900s magazine artists (

Maxfield Parrish Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966) was an American painter and illustration, illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. His works featured distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. The ...

, Heinrich Kley) to classic children's book illustrators (

Arthur Rackham Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...

, Ernest Shepard,

John Tenniel John Tenniel (; 28 February 182025 February 1914) was an English illustrator, graphic humourist and political cartoonist prominent in the second half of the 19th century. An alumnus of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, he was knight bachelor ...

) to offbeat modern fantasy artists ( Brian Froud, Moebius,

William Stout William Stout (born September 18, 1949) is an American fantasy artist and illustrator with a specialization in paleontological art. His paintings have been shown in over seventy exhibitions, including twelve one-man shows. He has worked on over ...

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

). Another inspiration was David Trampier, who illustrated much of ''AD&D'''s first '' Monster Manual'', which DiTerlizzi recalled as his favorite book as a child: "I would copy Trampier's drawings over and over." DiTerlizzi was a fan of role-playing game art long before entering the field. DiTerlizzi is also a fan of the work of

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , , ; 12 January 162816 May 1703) was a French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales, published in his ...

and the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

. Illustrators such as Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, Kay Nielsen and Ernest Shepard all had an impact, as well as author/illustrators like

Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was impacted by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Send ...

Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, cartoonist, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before being drafted into ...

and Richard Scarry.

Career

Upon graduating, DiTerlizzi moved to New York with his wife Angela and began a freelance illustration career working for TSR's ''

'' role-playing game. "I was so psyched when I got a chance to work on he 1993 ''Monstrous Manual'' tome">Monstrous_Manual.html" ;"title="he 1993 ''Monstrous Manual">he 1993 ''Monstrous Manual'' tome My entire goal was to 'blow away' the other artists. It helped me in getting the job for the

setting." DiTerlizzi worked on the 1994 ''Planescape Campaign Setting'' and its supplements, redesigning the look of the Outer Planes, "Not only buildings but the people had to have a rusted, organic look. This seemed to come naturally in my art style. When I went to work on Planescape, I looked at

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

and Japanese fantasy art like

Yoshitaka Amano is a Japanese visual artist, character designer, illustrator, a scenic designer for theatre and film, and a costume designer. He began his career in 1967 at Tatsunoko Production working on anime such as '' Speed Racer'' and later became the c ...

." According to Shannon Appelcline, the artist's work was the backbone of the setting. DiTerlizzi continued to work for TSR, as well as

White Wolf Publishing White Wolf Entertainment AB, formerly White Wolf Publishing, was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant (game publisher), Lion RampantChangeling A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found throughout much of European folklore. According to folklore, a changeling was a substitute left by a supernatural being when kidnapping a human being. ...

'' and ''

Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

'' Storyteller games, and illustrated many cards for '' Magic'', '' Blood Wars'' and '' Rage''. He also illustrated books such as 1997's ''Giant Bones'' by Peter Beagle, and 1998's '' Dinosaur Summer'' by

Greg Bear Gregory Dale Bear (August 20, 1951 – November 19, 2022) was an American science fiction writer. His work covered themes of Interstellar_war, galactic conflict (''The Forge of God, Forge of God'' books), parallel universes (''The Way (Greg Bear ...

. The first project where he both wrote and illustrated a book was the 2000 publication ''Jimmy Zangwow's Out-of-this-World Moon Pie Adventure'', followed in 2001, by ''Ted'', which received the 2002 Zena Sutherland Award. Mary Howitt's classic poem '' The Spider and the Fly'', which became a ''New York Times'' Best Seller, was his next project and for which he was awarded the 2003 Caldecott Honor Medal. DiTerlizzi and

created ''

'', bought by

Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

and Nickelodeon Movies in 2002 and published in 2003. It was subsequently translated into 30 different languages. In 2005, '' Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You'' was published, with

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

releasing a live-action movie adaptation of the series, DiTerlizzi acting as co-executive producer. A sequel series, ''Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles'', began publication in September 2007, and continued through 2009. In 2010,

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

published the first book of a trilogy, '' The Search for WondLa'', written and illustrated by DiTerlizzi. ''A Hero for WondLa'' was published in 2012, and ''The Battle for WondLa'' followed in 2014. Dark Horse Books published ''Realms: The Roleplaying Art of Tony DiTerlizzi'' in 2015, with words from DiTerlizzi and a collection of artwork and photographs spanning his early career. “Tony's work has a distinct flair, a love for monsters if you will . . . His creatures have the charm of Henson or Rackham but they carry with them hints of their own ecosystem . . . Tony stands alone as a world creator and a weaver of tales, may you treasure these art pieces as much as I do,” quoted

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

. DiTerlizzi wrote and designed ''Star Wars: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight'', published in 2014 by Disney Lucasfilm Press (an imprint of

Disney Publishing Worldwide Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Experiences, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints include Disney Edition ...

). Accompanying his words were illustrations by Ralph McQuarrie. Author/illustrator Mo Willems partnered with DiTerlizzi to illustrate the book '' The Story of Diva and Flea'', inspired by Willems' year living abroad in Paris. Disney-Hyperion published the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' bestselling book in 2015.

Reception

In his 2023 book ''Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground'', RPG historian Stu Horvath reviewed the fantasy role-playing game ''

'' and noted, "DiTerlizzi shifted the look of fantasy RPGs — no exaggeration. To this point, ''D&D'' (and therefore the rest of the fantasy-minded folks in the industry) were escalating a sort of clean tightly rendered, and classical realism. ... DiTerlizzi is entirely different. He goes back farther for his inspirations, to the golden age of illustrators ... Like all of those artists, his work has elements of realism, but also leaves plenty of space for the whimsy and emotion afforded to the cartoonish and strange. His loose watercolors wash over ink, subverting expectations and changing the way many players saw fantasy in their mind's eye."

Personal life

DiTerlizzi lives and works in

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. Amherst has a council–manager form of government, and is considered a city under Massachusetts state law. Amherst is one of several Massach ...

with his wife and manager, children's book author Angela DiTerlizzi and their daughter, Sophia.

Bibliography

Written and Illustrated

*''Jimmy Zangwow's Out-of-This-World Moon-Pie Adventure'', 2000 *''Ted'', 2001 *''

'' (co-created/written with

), 2003–2004 *''Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You'', 2005 *''Care & Feeding of Sprites'', 2006 *''G Is for One Gzonk'', 2006 *''Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles'' (co-created/written with Holly Black), 2007–2009 *'' Kenny & the Dragon'', 2008 *''Adventure of Meno!'' (co-created/written with Angela DiTerlizzi), 2009 *'' The Search for WondLa'', 2010 *''A Hero for WondLa'', 2012 *''The Battle for WondLa'', 2014 *''The Broken Ornament'', 2018

Illustrations

*'' Dinosaur Summer'', 1998 *''Ribbiting Tales'', 2000 *''Alien & Possum: Friends No Matter What'', 2001 *''Alien & Possum: Hanging Around'', 2002 *'' The Spider and the Fly'', 2002 *''Dragonflight'', 2002 *''

Peter Pan in Scarlet ''Peter Pan in Scarlet'' is a 2006 novel by British author Geraldine McCaughrean. It is the Continuation novel, official sequel to J. M. Barrie's ''Peter and Wendy'' (1911), as it was authorised by Great Ormond Street Hospital, which was granted ...

'', 2005 *'' The Story of Diva and Flea'', 2015

References

External links

Tony DiTerlizzi's website
* * *
Magic cards illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diterlizzi, Tony 1969 births American children's book illustrators American children's writers American fantasy artists American game artists American people of Italian descent American role-playing game artists Artists from Los Angeles Artists from Massachusetts Caldecott Honor winners Living people People from Amherst, Massachusetts Writers from Los Angeles Writers who illustrated their own writing