D&D 5E Art in 5e...?

[RangerWickett]

A friend on Facebook once posted a pic of Jeff Easley's he loved. I responded that I liked the guy's work when he wasn't drawing people, since their skin always looked too muddy and leathery to me. Jeff Easley popped in and thanked me for the feedback. Here I am some jackass who can barely draw, critiquing one of the icons of the gaming art world. Oy. I just about died from embarrassment.

(Still, this man has a terrible hernia.)

I need to try the same thing with Wayne Reynolds, though. See what he has to say about the "Wayne Reynolds Shuffle." He's an amazing artist with really dynamic compositions that are full of energy, but someone pointed out to me that almost all his characters walk forward with their knees both bent the same direction and their torsos hunched over. Now I can't unsee it.

 

[Evenglare]

I know it'll never happen but I really enjoy sketchings and not fully developed art. 3.x had a lot of this kind of stuff. It evokes the feeling of creation and planning that is unique to tabletop RPGs.

 

[Li Shenron]

I think artwork is very important for me in a RPG book. The rules need to be solid, functional and all that, but artwork is what often just inspires me to play something or write an adventure.

But I have no idea on what kind of artwork I really want. It's easier for me to say what I don't want: no sexualized characters, no excessive horror/gore, no pulp or anime.

Overall I suppose that artwork variety in general is a good thing. In late 3e years and then 4e years, I got the impression that "WAR" took over too much, I used to like his pictures but after a while I started to hate them, they just got used too much too often. I hope for the new edition to have no single artist to take over the rest.

OTOH, some consistency in style is needed as well. Mixing too wildly different styles may have a dissonant feel.

Finally, if they could bring Tony DiTerlizzi, Todd Lockwood and Sam Wood back, then I'd be really happy

 

[Hussar]

I'll second the idea of bringing back the weird. Great idea.

And moar action. Moar I say. No blank backgrounds. I want something doing something somewhere. Hopefully doing something moderately violent.

 

[Jeff Carlsen]

One thing that began to bother me about halfway through the run of 4E was that every cover was an action scene featuring a character with their mouth open in some kind of attack scream. Personally, I've seen enough action fantasy art to be over it in general. Sure, you need some, but I want more fantasy landscapes and art featuring the non-combat, non-adventuring parts of a fantasy world.

 

[DMZ2112]

(Still, this man has a terrible hernia.)

I have always loved that picture, because he clearly just /hip checked/ the door down. That is /style/.

someone pointed out to me that almost all [Wayne Reynolds'] characters walk forward with their knees both bent the same direction and their torsos hunched over. Now I can't unsee it.

One thing that began to bother me about halfway through the run of 4E was that every cover was an action scene featuring a character with their mouth open in some kind of attack scream.

WAR, man. I realize the dude's got to eat, but with all the other great options out there I just do not understand his success.

Personally, I've seen enough action fantasy art to be over it in general. Sure, you need some, but I want more fantasy landscapes and art featuring the non-combat, non-adventuring parts of a fantasy world.

There was some brilliant setting art created at the very beginning of D&D4. Some of the pieces revealed at PAX East were in a similar vein, but not nearly as epic in scale.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

View attachment 61570

Aleena! My 12 year-old D&D crush!

Ah, nostalgia.

 

[gweinel]

In late 3e years and then 4e years, I got the impression that "WAR" took over too much, I used to like his pictures but after a while I started to hate them, they just got used too much too often. I hope for the new edition to have no single artist to take over the rest.

OTOH, some consistency in style is needed as well. Mixing too wildly different styles may have a dissonant feel.

Finally, if they could bring Tony DiTerlizzi, Todd Lockwood and Sam Wood back, then I'd be really happy

I could agree on that. I don't have any personal issue with WAR, but I can't stand see another piece of art of him.

I would love to see these three too. I follow Todd's work and Sam Wood was one of my favorites in 3rd edition era.
Tony DiTerlizzi is my favorite dnd artist by far. He is someone who inspired our gaming group immensely and I would love to see his return. However, as far as I can understand, this is very unlikely since his books meet great success. If we see him again i suspect it would be in the form of a single tributary piece of art or something similar.

 

[Olfan]

Perhaps in a new edition of Planescape for 5th edition???

 

[gweinel]

Perhaps in a new edition of Planescape for 5th edition???

Then one of my RPG dreams would come true!