Darlene Pekul

Darlene Jean Pekul, (born 1954 in Wisconsin, USA), now known as DARLENE (she legally dropped her surname in 1984) is an American artist and calligrapher whose artwork appeared in early Dungeons & Dragons works published by TSR. Her best-known piece, the full-colour map of the Flanaess that accompanied the 1980 folio edition of the World of Greyhawk by Gary Gygax, was used as the basis of all subsequent Greyhawk publications and maps until Greyhawk publications were discontinued by Wizards of the Coast in 2008.

DARLENE, the third of seven children, grew up on a farm near Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Her mother was an artist, and DARLENE followed in her footsteps, becoming a member of the Geneva Lake Arts Association at a young age. She made her first professional gallery sale before the age of 16. After graduating from Elkhorn High School in 1972, she enrolled at Beloit College and majored in art. In 1975, as part of her studies, she spent a term in London, England, where she also studied calligraphy. She graduated cum laude in 1976 with a B.A. in Studio Art, and moved to Lake Geneva, where she eked out a living as a graphic artist by holding down three part-time jobs simultaneously. In 1979, she helped co-found The Wisconsin Calligrapher’s Guild and served as the first editor of its newsletter.

In 1977, Mike Carr, one of the first employees of TSR, met DARLENE, when he went to a local graphics shop to order brochures for Gen Con. He and DARLENE started dating, and Carr used his influence at TSR to get her some freelance art assignments. One of her first assignments was to design and produce an outdoor sign for TSR's building in Lake Geneva. She made the sign in the shape of a medieval shield and painted a dragon on one side and the TSR logo on the reverse.

In 1979 and 1980, she received many freelance art and calligraphy assignments, including artwork for:

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