The third of the rebranded covers for the three main rulebooks (you can see the new covers for the Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters guide in entries number, 239 and  243 respectively) this Jeff Easley painting depicting some Pegasi fighting a Red Dragon joins the Monster Manual II of the same year, making all the main rule and reference books for AD&D feel like part of a cohesive whole more in line with the realistic drawings which have become increasingly popular at TSR.

By the end of 1983 most art will follow this style, led by artists like Easley, Caldwel or Elmore as the three big names contributing painterly art for the company, Keith Parkinson was also starting to contribute some great art which would increase in coming years. 

Unfortunately this means that many artists which were just as good but worked in a distinct idiom, with a more cartoonish or impressionistic style like Erol Otus, or a personal favorite of mine, David Trampier, would fall by the wayside.