David C. Sutherland, III

David C. Sutherland, III (April 4, 1949 - June 6, 2005) was an artist whose artwork greatly influenced some of the first Dungeons & Dragons products. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he is perhaps best remembered for provided the cover art for the original 1979 Dungeon Masters Guide.

Sutherland moved up into management when some of the world-class artists arrived at TSR. He was also a proponent of Tékumel: Empire of the Petal Throne, a fantasy world created by Professor M. A. R. Barker.

He died of chronic liver failure on June 6, 2005 at his home in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and was buried on June 22, 2005, with full military honors at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Partial Source: Wikipedia, "David C. Sutherland III," available under the CC-BY-SA License.

Note: This does not appear to be same person as David Sutherland, a British comic artist who created the adventure strip Billy the Cat.