D&D 5E The 5E Art is Awesome

[Jefe Bergenstein]

This statement is pretty emblematic of responses to the art in the book. 85-odd noteworthy pieces of art in the book and all everyone can talk about is the five they don't like, the 6% of the artwork that isn't as good...

(Nothing personal though @ehren37, you just voiced the oft repeated sentiment most recently after I counted the pieces of art.)

To be fair, I've gotten more enjoyment out joking around about those two halfling pieces than any other specific piece of 5E art. Plus its a a nice unifying moment. No matter what edition you prefer, whether you view hit points as meat or not, whether you want damage on a miss... almost everyone seem to agree that they're grotesque little abominations.

 

[Fralex]

I really love the art in all these books.

The cartoonish modrons marching across page 66 of the DMG feel a bit out of place, but that drawing is so adorable I don't actually care. It's cool that they're not afraid to use wildly different drawing styles.

And yeah, I'm also very happy with the amount of diversity shown in the artwork (looking at the last edition's PHB, there was exactly ONE black person and maybe four sort-of-tan people in the entire book). Like, even beyond it simply being a good thing to be inclusive, diversity just looks nicer. A homogenous cast of characters is boring to me. I want to see a variety of races and cultures each add their own flavor to fantasy archetypes. It's fun to experience different things.

The halfling picture is a little jarring, but I feel like different species should look slightly strange to each other. Otherwise they're just very short humans, or humans with pointy ears, or...short humans again.

 

[Fralex]

I'm liking the art. I'm especially liking the fact that it isn't all stylistically the same. For a good example, take the tapestry piece in the PHB fighter class section. There is nothing else like that in any of the core books, but it feels perfectly at home right there by itself saying, "Hey, I belong too!"

Fun fact: I translated the runic text at the bottom, and it came out to "THIS IS PHOTOSHOP'S VERSION OF LOREM IPSUM [rest of lorem ipsum text]" As a Gravity Falls fan, it's weird to see coded messages in the background of things that really are just for decoration.

 

[Queer Venger]

I love that painting! It's a great scenic moment that emphasis the rewards of teamwork. Plus the twisted side of my mind reads it that a party of Neutral/Evil aligned characters ganged up and killed a gold dragon wyrmling.

Since we are discussing art, and art is highly personal and subjective, I'll add my 2 cents about Elmore's iconic pic: awful. A group of adventurers posing to celebrate killing a baby dragon. Nothing is more castrating, uninspiring, unadventurous. This party should have waited 5 more years, they might have had a slightly bigger box of loot.

I love Elmore's work, but citing this piece is not citing D&D.

4/8/15:
Edit: Ok, I was too harsh of Elmore's painting. I do love it but I don't love its representation of 'heroism'. Maybe as some have pointed out, Elmore intended it to be critical of some adventurers, like those 19th century photo's of big game hunter's with their now extinct kills.

 

[redrick]

Since we are discussing art, and art is highly personal and subjective, I'll add my 2 cents about Elmore's iconic pic: awful. A group of adventurers posing to celebrate killing a baby dragon. Nothing is more castrating, uninspiring, unadventurous.

I love Elmore's work, but citing this piece is not citing D&D.

I'd say that piece captures what is, for me, a central part of D&D: many (though not all) adventurers are murderous dirt-bags. That is why, as a Dungeon Master, it is my duty to bring these degenerates to justice.

They might not see it that way, but I can come home and look at that picture and say, "see? these 'heroes' are monsters."

 

[Cristian Andreu]

better than the crazy dreadlock halflings of 4e IMO

Over all, I am really liking the 5e art. Its not the "Bondage Gear" look of 3.x, nor is it the "ACTIONALLTHETIMEADHDD&DSQUIRREL!1" art of 4e/Pathfinder.

Of the WoTC editions, its probably my favorite. None of it stands out as to what I see as D&D still though.

That is still D&D to me. Nothing by WoTC has come close to inspiring as this one simple piece of art.

I agree. To this day, whenever I teach/press gang new players into D&D, I pick up my AD&D 2e PH and show them that very same picture. It's perfect. Though I've always wondered about the red-hooded mage on the right; he looks like either he stashed part of the treasure some where else for himself, or he has just farted and no one noticed.

Still, I think 5e's art is fantastic. The tone they've set in terms of look and flavour has really managed to enthrall me (I was never satisfied with the art from 3e, PF, or 4e).

The art of the planes in the DMG and the full-frontal Prismatic Spray in the PH are some of the best.

 

[Aurelio]

I don't understand the problem that people seem to have with halfling art in the PHB. Of course, I'm not going to tell anyone that they're wrong for disliking it, and I certainly hope that no one is going to tell me that I'm wrong for liking it. I just wish that they were a bit more varied. I mean, the two most notable examples are doing the exact same thing: rocking out. On the other hand, I do think that both portraits show a fantastic amount of personality and vibrancy that the halflings of D&D are apparently known for in-universe.

 

[Reynard]

I'd say that piece captures what is, for me, a central part of D&D: many (though not all) adventurers are murderous dirt-bags. That is why, as a Dungeon Master, it is my duty to bring these degenerates to justice.

They might not see it that way, but I can come home and look at that picture and say, "see? these 'heroes' are monsters."

Yes, just like sport fishermen and hunters.

People seem to regularly conflate the terms "adventurer" and "hero." They are not the same. Our world, past and present, is far more rife with examples of adventurers than it is heroes (though certainly the latter exist). The kind of folk that would risk their lives for the wealth and prestige of taking down a dragon, even a young one, are just the kind of people who would spend half the hoard to hire a painter to immortalize the moment.

As a Adam who tends to run sandbox games, I much prefer "adventurers" to "heroes" as PCs. There are are only so many villages under threat by the local bandit chief or Orc tribe, but the place is just lousy with opportunities to make a buck. Characters interested in fame, fortune and the thrill of deadly peril are far easier and more interesting to create adventures for than characters who will only act for the "greater good."

 

[redrick]

Yes, just like sport fishermen and hunters.

People seem to regularly conflate the terms "adventurer" and "hero." They are not the same. Our world, past and present, is far more rife with examples of adventurers than it is heroes (though certainly the latter exist). The kind of folk that would risk their lives for the wealth and prestige of taking down a dragon, even a young one, are just the kind of people who would spend half the hoard to hire a painter to immortalize the moment.

As a Adam who tends to run sandbox games, I much prefer "adventurers" to "heroes" as PCs. There are are only so many villages under threat by the local bandit chief or Orc tribe, but the place is just lousy with opportunities to make a buck. Characters interested in fame, fortune and the thrill of deadly peril are far easier and more interesting to create adventures for than characters who will only act for the "greater good."

Hey, I actually like the piece a lot for those very reasons. As others have stated, the painting shows characters engaged in very much Neutral (or possibly Evil, depending on what kind of dragon that is) behavior. This isn't the after-math drawing you find so much these days, where the bloodied, exhausted hero leans against a tree near the body of a gargantuan foe. These adventurers all look pretty uninjured, posing next to a creature about the same size as them, in a way that suggests, "We killed this thing for sport and glory." Comparisons to fishing photos are apropos, and I imagine Elmore had that at least in part of his mind when he painted it. On the other hand, dragons are far more intelligent and sentient than trout.

Personally, I want my campaigns to allow for player characters to fill the dirtbag adventurer role as easily as the hero adventurer role. The one thing I don't want in my campaign is for players to play dirtbag adventurers, but feel as if they're playing total heroes. The LG heroic murder hobo is a delusional psychopath, and, if I'm doing my job, the campaign world relates to him or her as such. (Within the bounds of ultimately having fun, of course. I don't want to keep some sort of moral and ethical score and use my DM screen as a pulpit to impose a draconian morality on my players, at least not beyond some ground rules that are accepted up-front.)

 

[Fralex]

I don't want to keep some sort of moral and ethical score and use my DM screen as a pulpit to impose a draconian morality on my players, at least not beyond some ground rules that are accepted up-front.

Yeah, the Draconians are notoriously bad at morality. I prefer a Dragonborn morality.