D&D 5E (2014) Good art and Really bad art in the 5e PHB

[AngryMojo]

I love the varying styles in the book. 3.x and 4e both had a really distinct art style with little variation from the norm. Considering inclusiveness is a theme right now, having the multiple art styles really helps that out imho.

I also like the dwarf racial writeup having a woman in the picture, as well as the lack of hypersexualized images for both male and female. No bulging biceps or chainmail bikinis as far as I can see.

 

[abelmort]

I am a really big fan of the burning hands illustration on page 220. The concentration on her face & the unkempt hair; you can practically see the sweat on her brow. You know some is going down.

 

[Nebulous]

Someone mentioned "playing it safe" with the art. i guess i can see that. It could have been edgier and grittier and they opted to not do that. It's not bad, but i can't think of many that "holy **** that's awesome!" I do like the Primsatic Spray spell art, that is sweet.

 

[bolo__]

my 2cp:

Generally love the art.
Any art I don't love I think is pretty damn good at worst.
Love the amount of art.

While the 5e halfling is not exactly what comes to my mind when I think of a halfling, but I can go with it.
The 5e goblin is not what I used to associate with goblins, but now I much prefer it over the old green-skinned-caricature I used to think of.

Love the Half-orc paladin. Love that not all Paladins are LG.

Totally love the inclusiveness of the art direction and the lack of bimbos in chain mail bikinis.
This PHB is something I can go through with my kids and be happy that my daughter is given plenty of opportunity to associate with a powerful adventurer who stands on her own two feet without being reduced to body parts.

Good job WoTC!

 

[Sacrosanct]

WotC shoulda hired Tony DiTerlizzi, his artwork is very evocative of D&D. Here is a proper version of a Tiefling that does not resemble a klingon:

http://diterlizzi.com/home/games-gallery/#!lightbox[games]/13/

Or a Pally that looks like a Paladin:

http://diterlizzi.com/home/games-gallery/#!lightbox[games]/19/


Scott

Eh...not for me. Otus, Dee, Tramp, Willingham? Those are the styles that are evocative of D&D for me. DiTerlizzi is way too children's bookish for me. And before people get all upset and act like that's an insult, it's not. Tony himself on his blog said he is heavily inspired by old school childrens' books, and that's his dream job doing that style of work. He's a great artists for that style, but for D&D? Not for me. YMMV of course.

 

[Sunseeker]

I didn't pay too much attention too it, mostly looked at how classes and races were represented and I have to say I DID NOT like the halfling racial art. My problem is her boobs. They look like somsone stuck some freaking tennis-balls on her chest and not even proportional ones. On a normal-heighted woman those would easily be DD+, and I think that for how petite gnomes usually are, that just looks wrong. It also doesn't help that the shading on her jaw makes it look like she's got a beard.

Dragonborn art looks like it was ripped from some other piece or art. I think I saw it in a 4e book somewhere. It's not bad art. That's just really cheap, even had a nasty white outline around the head.

Dunno what's up with the midget ninja/samurai on page 110. Dunno if that's supposed to be an Asain dwarf, gnome or just some really badly proportioned human.

I really like the item art. It all looks very believable. I like the gnome teaching the volmunetric spells on 201, that's adorable.

I really like most of the art. I think a lot of my problems stem from the whole Dragonlance setting stuff. I did not like the way races and cultures were imagined in that series.

Eh...not for me. Otus, Dee, Tramp, Willingham? Those are the styles that are evocative of D&D for me. DiTerlizzi is way too children's bookish for me. And before people get all upset and act like that's an insult, it's not. Tony himself on his blog said he is heavily inspired by old school childrens' books, and that's his dream job doing that style of work. He's a great artists for that style, but for D&D? Not for me. YMMV of course.

I have to second that those images do not evoke D&D for me, for much the same reason, they seem to fit a more absurd children's fantasy with a more fantastical approach to things than I like in D&D.

 

[shadow]

Why all the hate for the 5e halflings? I personally like the way the halflings are done in 5e. Disproportionate? Of course! But, that's what makes them look distinct. I hated what 3e and 4e did with halflings. I could never tell if a 3.5/4e halfling was a halfling or a human unless there was another character in the picture for size reference. Even to this day, I still envision Lidda, the iconic halfling rogue, as a full sized human every time I flip through the 3.5 PHB.

 

[Stormonu]

Overall, I like the 5E art; the washed-out details give me the impression I'm getting a glimpse through the page into another world and I really like it. It's evocative of taking Parkinson's or Elmore's work and looking at it through an old glass window.

But put me in the camp that hates the halflings proportions. I would have preferred them done by Di'Terlizzi (not the whole book, just the halflings, and maybe gnomes).

My favorite piece? The barbarian yelling down the town guard.

And does anybody know what the princess/maiden with the ring peeking out from the sidebar is supposed to represent on the condition page (obscured, maybe)?

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Why all the hate for the 5e halflings? I personally like the way the halflings are done in 5e. Disproportionate? Of course! But, that's what makes them look distinct. I hated what 3e and 4e did with halflings. I could never tell if a 3.5/4e halfling was a halfling or a human unless there was another character in the picture for size reference. Even to this day, I still envision Lidda, the iconic halfling rogue, as a full sized human every time I flip through the 3.5 PHB.

There's disproportionate anf then there's "OMG I can't stop myself from toppling over because I have a bobble head and tiny feet"!

 

[Sunseeker]

There's disproportionate anf then there's "OMG I can't stop myself from toppling over because I have a bobble head and tiny feet"!

Right, I mean I always imagined halflings to either look like "normal people" but small, or to basically look like a midget. There's some reasonable level of disproportionality that is acceptable while still maintaining the feeling that they are functional beings.

Personally I always thought the "bobblehead" spot was to be held by gnomes. Being that they are more on the fey side of creatures they are less tied to the realities of reality than halflings.