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After five years working at TSR, Parkinson left and pursued a freelance career for seven years. During this time, most of Parkinson's work was painting covers for the New York publishing market. His clients included [[Bantam Books]], [[Palladium Books]], [[Penguin Books]], and [[Random House]]. Some of the authors that he painted covers for include [[Terry Goodkind]], [[Margaret Weis]], [[Tracy Hickman]], [[Terry Brooks]],<ref name="kpbio"/> and [[David Eddings]].{{cn|date=July 2020}}
During the 1990s, Parkinson created many of the book covers for the multi-genre role-playing game ''[[Rifts (role-playing game)|Rifts]] and its supplements.<ref name=mahg />
===Game design and books===
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Parkinson was hired as the art director and co-founder of [[Sigil Games Online]],{{when|date=July 2014}} and worked there on the [[MMORPG]] ''[[Vanguard: Saga of Heroes]]'' until his death in late 2005. Although Parkinson became ill before he could create the box art for ''Vanguard: Saga of Heroes'', he did create the game's three 'mascot' characters: Jeric, Eila, and Idara. According to Brad McQuaid, when Parkinson knew he could not finish the box art for ''Vanguard'', he hoped that his friend [[Donato Giancola]] would complete it. The left side of Donato's painting emulated Parkinson's personal style, as a tribute to him (the left was used for the box art, similar to ''EverQuest''). Moving to the right, the painting transitions into Giancola's style. As a further tribute to Keith Parkinson, Giancola put a character resembling him into the painting.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.silkyvenom.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3722 |title=Vanguard Box Art Revealed|date=11 May 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220851/http://www.silkyvenom.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3722|archive-date=March 3, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thesafehouse.org/mugshots/e32006may10/IMG_2543 |title=Vanguard: Saga of Heroes|access-date=13 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218005545/http://www.thesafehouse.org/mugshots/e32006may10/IMG_2543 |archive-date=18 February 2007 }}</ref>
==Reception==
In his 2023 book ''Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground'', RPG historian Stu Horvath reviewed the role-playing game ''Rifts'' and commented, "[''Rifts''] should be a mess, but the art holds it all together. Keith Parkinson, an iconic '80s ''D&D'' mainstay, delivered many of the best covers for ''Rifts'' books, including the core rulebooks, and it is gratifying to see the game's weirdness fuel the artist's expansive vision. His cover for ''World Book 16: Federation of Magic'' (1997) exemplifies how ''Rifts'' pushed his art well beyond the fantasy standards of ''D&D''.<ref name=mahg>{{cite book| last = Horvath| first = Stu| title = Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground| publisher = MIT Press| date = 2023| location = Cambridge, Massachusetts| pages = 208 | isbn =9780262048224 }}</ref>
==Death==
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In August and September 2008, Parkinson's alma mater [[Kendall College of Art and Design]] at Ferris State University, honored him and his TSR contemporaries [[Larry Elmore]] and [[Jeff Easley]] with a gallery exhibit called "Out of the Dungeons". Director of Exhibitions Sarah Joseph stated, "We wanted to honor Parkinson [...] It seemed fitting to include Elmore and Easley, since all three of them worked together for a number of years."<ref>{{cite web |title=Fantasy artists are focus of show |date=24 August 2008 |url=http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2008/08/grand_rapids_science_fiction.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120904152046/http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2008/08/grand_rapids_science_fiction.html|archive-date=4 September 2012}}</ref>
In 2014, Scott Taylor of ''[[Black Gate (magazine)|Black Gate]]'', named Keith Parkinson as #7 in a list of The Top 10 RPG Artists of the Past 40 Years, saying "He was never one that got Elmore or Easley props, but he had a style that he continued to evolve and hone until it turned from very, very good into simply outstanding. He was lost too soon to the industry and yet his legacy is something many artists have used to try to model their own careers."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.blackgate.com/2014/02/12/art-of-the-genre-the-top-10-rpg-artists-of-the-past-40-years-2/ | title=Art of the Genre: The Top 10 RPG Artists of the Past 40 Years – Black Gate | date=12 February 2014 }}</ref>
==References==
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[[Category:1958 births]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Deaths from leukemia in California]]▼
[[Category:Game artists]]
[[Category:People from West Covina, California]]
▲[[Category:Role-playing game artists]]
▲[[Category:Deaths from leukemia in California]]
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