D&D 5E D&D Next weekly art column!

[TarionzCousin]

Let's try to bring the topic back to the kind of art you want to see in D&D Next.

Michael Komarck's website is here: Michael Komarck Illustration.

I would recommend this Claudio Pozas guy's artwork, but I think he's mostly a freelance writer for WotC now.

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[Quickleaf]

I'm a big fan of Chen Wei (aka Lorland Chen), particularly because he bridges East/West themes and styles in his art. When you look at some of his paintings there really is a sense of another world being created. I guess I would consider him a versatile fantasy artist.

lorlandchain's deviantART gallery

A great article was written up on him over here: Artist Spotlight: Chen Wei by J.T. Glover | Fantasy Magazine

Here's a sample of his work:

 

[dd.stevenson]

Another vote for variety. Would love to see a whole bunch of different styles and settings side by side in the PHB. Show us how flexible and inclusive 5E really is!

And for goodness' sake, don't let the art be boring.

 

[Mattachine]

Show us how flexible and inclusive 5E really is!

Excellent point. In 1e, art ranged from comic-strip line drawings to extremely detailed, painted covers. As a reader, you got a sense that the game could be played fast and loose, with a dose of humor, or with extreme detail and seriousness, or anything in between.

I know that artwork isn't the same as rules and text explaining the game, but it often sets the tone and plants the seeds of new ideas.

 

[Rel]

Klaus's suggestion about the direction this thread should be going is a good one.

Follow it, please.

 

[Tortoise]

Here's the link to an artist WotC should look into for some of the 5e art. Site is in Spanish or Portuguese.

AJ Manzanedo

He is capable of a wide style, but does some really great fantasy D&D type work and has done some for a fantasy rpg already.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I would like to see less cover poses for internal and external art. If I want to buy a copy of Men's Fitness or a newstand magazine with the latest celebrity on it, I'll do that.

 

[Libramarian]

I hope they consider Icewind Dale II artist Justin Sweet:

Gallery

He really channels Frazetta.

Also his drow are awesome.

 

[Incenjucar]

While I respect Sweet's skill, and I think he'd be great at drawing the Shadowfell or equivalent, his art looks extreeeeemely muddy, like it was painted with clay, and that has limited applications outside of gloom-oriented scenes.

 

[Hussar]

Hey Tortoise, I like that guy you linked to. Nice stuff.

I'll simply parrot what a lot of people have been saying. More diorama type scenes with something going on and a lot less portrait pictures.

One point I would disagree with is the Cantina art. I LIKE the mixed race (as in D&D races, not real world) pics like the Lockwood barfight scene leading up to 3e. Very cool. Hey, it reflects how most groups are going to look anyway. Why should the art be all this or the other race when the average group is going to include three or four different races? Why shouldn't an elven court scene have a smattering of "minority" races in the gallery? It's not like it's totally beyond belief.

And, it's interesting, at least to me. Just what is that well dressed orc doing in the gallery at the Elven court.

But, all that aside, the one, biggest thing that I want to see in 5e art is a return to whimsy. Look, it's fantasy. Go weird. Erol Otus, lots of tentacles, surrealism, trippy, go for it. Flying castles on the backs of sky whales lording over the land while purple clouds hang in the sky dropping red rain. Why in heck not?

Hey, with the recent release of John Carter, it's not too hard to get "weird" in the art.