D&D 5E Lots Of Art (and some Warlock stuff)

[TwoSix]

Yeah, she looks pretty uncomfortable.

Actually, the art style reminds me a little of the style present in the cover. Wonder if it's the same guy. Wonder if it's an artist-specific thing with broken backs on flying mages? *shrug*

Aside from the pose, though, I like the piece. Good color. All elegant clothes and stuff. Nice.

Eh, that's just how elves stand. Why do you think they like open space and the outdoors? It's because you can't even fit 2 elves into your living room.

 

[Remathilis]

Yeah, she looks pretty uncomfortable.

Actually, the art style reminds me a little of the style present in the cover. Wonder if it's the same guy. Wonder if it's an artist-specific thing with broken backs on flying mages? *shrug*

Aside from the pose, though, I like the piece. Good color. All elegant clothes and stuff. Nice.

In the PHB, there is a new first level spell called Rubbery Spine. It provides resistance vs. bludgeoning attacks. Both these mages cast it.

 

[Vicar In A Tutu]

Someone mentioned Warhammer earlier in this thread. Although I don't play either Warhammer fantasy or 40k, I've noticed that Games Workshop tend to reuse at least a few iconic pieces of artwork in their core rulebooks. Dungeons & Dragons has a long line of amazing artwork and I wouldn't mind seeing Wizards reusing some of it (although not like they did in 4E, the only pieces of artwork they recycled was from 3E, to my knowledge nothing from 2E or 1E). I'm not just talking about artwork from books, Dragon and Dungeon had amazing artwork. Like THIS dragon, think how cool if a person new to D&D opened up the 5E PHB and saw this piece!

 

[DMZ2112]

Whereas Tika is boring-as-hell static pose, with a very crap face (what is she even supposed to be emoting, blankness? Jeez), and bog-standard posture (hilariously matching with a description of someone trying - and failing - to look menacing from Gene Wolfe's The Citadel of the Autarch), plus bonus sexism.

I love these art threads, because no one ever sees the same thing. I read equal parts terror and detemrination in Tika's face; her posture makes logical sense for someone lacking in experience who is about to enter combat with a one-handed sword; and frankly Caramon is showing more skin.

As a whole the piece makes them look like they're a third-rate (I mean seriously third-rate!) hair metal band trying to look cool for their self-published vanity album cover.

Yeah, see, that just screams high fantasy to me. Maybe I was born early enough to get the aesthetic but too late to earn the cynicism.

I don't know why you're trying a lack of cleavage to the first piece's failure, though. It seems like that has zero to do with anything, and really begs the question as to why you're even saying it.

I like boobs? And a nice set of pecs, come to that? I've gone on record before as saying that I don't think the answer to eliminating sexism in fantasy art is to wrap everyone in burlap. Looking good naked is a big part of being a hero!

But no, it has nothing to do with the piece's failure, although the attempt to enforce some femininity on the image with the bare shoulders does add a sense of desperation to the composition it would not otherwise have. My tongue-in-cheek point was only that if artists feel like design like this is the only way to add interest to images of fully clothed women, maybe we'd better have the skin back.

Actually, the art style reminds me a little of the style present in the cover. Wonder if it's the same guy. Wonder if it's an artist-specific thing with broken backs on flying mages? *shrug*

I'm still not bothered by the woman on the cover of the PHB. If you jump with all your might, your lumbar spine contracts; that's a thing.

The anatomy isn't bad. But because of the accursed white space in the elven wizardess picture I don't even know for sure that she's jumping. Her right foot could still be on the ground.

Which is really the source of my problem with the anatomy, come to think of it -- the butt thing is gross, but honestly what bothers me more is that her weight looks like it's on her right foot but she's twisting her waist to the right and projecting her left arm forward. She's in motion -- I get that -- but in which direction?

Aside from the pose, though, I like the piece. Good color. All elegant clothes and stuff. Nice.

...KM, it's the color of lawn refuse.

 

[Li Shenron]

Woah.

My thoughts exactly

Loved all these art pieces, even the WAR one.

 

[AJCarrington]

Really enjoyed this. Even though not all the art is 100% to my liking, I like the different styles they are showing.

 

[Dausuul]

Red Dragon: Huh. A little bit crude, kind of an old-school vibe off this one. Not bad.
Wood Elf City: I love this one. Reminds me a little of the Age of Conan MMO; a forgettable game in most respects, but the visuals were just stunning.
Mordenkainen's Sword: This one gets a resounding "meh" out of me, which is actually pretty good considering I normally can't stand WAR's artwork. It's not bad, but it doesn't do anything for me either.
Cloudkill: Doesn't really fire me up, but it's pretty well done. The cloud looks more like an explosion though.
High Elf Wizard: Ooh, that's a really nice piece. I think this is the first blond-haired yuan-ti I've seen. But why is there a slippered foot hanging off the snake tail when I scroll down?

Warlock Preview: Now this is interesting. Things I notice about that table:

• Observe level 18. This is an entirely dead level except for a new invocation. Clearly, invocations are a big deal for the warlock, if "new invocation" all on its own is good enough for a level-up benefit when you already have 7 of them.
• I agree with the general feeling that spell slots must be per-day, with Mystic Arcanum allowing you to cast heightened versions of spells.
• Pact boons are in. I wonder if it's going to be strict 4E-style (kill something, get a cookie), or if there will be a wider variety of pact boons.

 

[Bugleyman]

I am not, and have never been, a fan of WAR. Agree it looks totally XXTreme! But not everything has to appeal to me, and I love the rest of the art.

 

[Stormonu]

Those are bugbears? I thought they were hobgoblins (seriously) - I guess I'm too used to seeing a bit of a pot belly on bugbears.

I like most of the others, with the exception of the Warlock - looks like something from L5R gone horribly wrong (it's a Shadowlands baby!). Though the high elf could use a better pose (other than the pose, it's an excellent rendition).

 

[DMZ2112]

I like most of the others, with the exception of the Warlock

I left the warlock out of my assessment, but there is definitely something off about that picture. I just couldn't tell you what it is.

Oh, wait, that's it. It feels like manga to me. I don't say that lightly; I know that a lot of players start screaming about anime influence as soon as they see an asian character depicted, but I'm actually a fan of anime and manga, and I'm not concerned about that. It's not a style I enjoy in connection with D&D, but I don't see evidence of any kind of slippery slope.

Anyway, I think the warlock is beautifully painted but it just doesn't fit right.