Talon Dunning is an artist and illustrator whose work appeared in several supplements for the West End Games version of Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game in 1997 and 1998, and online supplements for the Wizards of the Coast version of the roleplaying game in 2008. His credits include:
Talon's relationship with West End Games began in 1996 when his high-school friend, author Paul Danner, was assigned to work on the Star Wars Roleplaying Game supplement, Wretched Hives of Scum & Villainy. Both avid roleplayers, when Danner was instructed by his editor to include "more NPCs," he called Talon and requested permission to use several of the characters he had created for their own Star Wars games in recent years. Talon, who was living in Alabama at the time, agreed and sent Danner copies of most of the characters he had created for his games, as well as several starship, droid and equipment designs. Danner subsequently used several of Talon's characters and designs in his book, including Norrin Vaxx, Var'Rotha Fin'Rotha, Sha'Dria, Sil Vaturha, Vallikor En-Vahdi (and his species, the Ipharian-Da'Lor), Arissa Fawn, Lynnori and Denell Kel'Vannon as well as the and the dark side creature, the Derriphan. In addition, the two starships detailed in the book, "The Chaser" (originally called, "The Tequila Sunrise") and "The Starbound Misfit" (the first YT-1930), were based on Talon's designs. Finally, although he didn't contribute to the art himself, several of the book's illustrations were based on character sketches that Talon had provided.
For contractual reasons, Danner was unable to list Talon as a contributing designer in the book's credits, so Talon asked his friend to make up for it by promoting his art to his WEG editors. As a result, Talon was given his first professional assignment, drawing for the supplement, Tapani Sector Instant Adventures. Talon went on to illustrate Hideouts & Strongholds.
Shortly after finishing the art for one of Danner's stories in the Star Wars Adventure Journal, West End Games announced its bankruptcy and lost the Star Wars license. Neither the story nor the art for it were ever published in print format.
In 2008, Talon was approached by Wizards of the Coast to produce four portraits for a series of articles to be posted on the Star Wars RPG website, titled "Bounty Postings." These portraits were rendered in color and appeared only in digital format. They included the characters Dool Pundar, Harno, Oorn Noth and Tyrnia Masak. Later that same year, Talon received a second commission to illustrate six more "Bounty Postings" characters, , Meekah Hozard, , Regera Girawn, and the . The "Bounty Postings" series of articles is Talon's only direct association with the Wizards of the Coast version of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game.
Samples of Talon's Star Wars art, as well as his work for other roleplaying games, can be seen on his website, The Art of Talon.[1]
Talon's relationship with West End Games began in 1996 when his high-school friend, author Paul Danner, was assigned to work on the Star Wars Roleplaying Game supplement, Wretched Hives of Scum & Villainy. Both avid roleplayers, when Danner was instructed by his editor to include "more NPCs," he called Talon and requested permission to use several of the characters he had created for their own Star Wars games in recent years. Talon, who was living in Alabama at the time, agreed and sent Danner copies of most of the characters he had created for his games, as well as several starship, droid and equipment designs. Danner subsequently used several of Talon's characters and designs in his book, including Norrin Vaxx, Var'Rotha Fin'Rotha, Sha'Dria, Sil Vaturha, Vallikor En-Vahdi (and his species, the Ipharian-Da'Lor), Arissa Fawn, Lynnori and Denell Kel'Vannon as well as the and the dark side creature, the Derriphan. In addition, the two starships detailed in the book, "The Chaser" (originally called, "The Tequila Sunrise") and "The Starbound Misfit" (the first YT-1930), were based on Talon's designs. Finally, although he didn't contribute to the art himself, several of the book's illustrations were based on character sketches that Talon had provided.
For contractual reasons, Danner was unable to list Talon as a contributing designer in the book's credits, so Talon asked his friend to make up for it by promoting his art to his WEG editors. As a result, Talon was given his first professional assignment, drawing for the supplement, Tapani Sector Instant Adventures. Talon went on to illustrate Hideouts & Strongholds.
Shortly after finishing the art for one of Danner's stories in the Star Wars Adventure Journal, West End Games announced its bankruptcy and lost the Star Wars license. Neither the story nor the art for it were ever published in print format.