Thank you. This is some stuff I can engage with.
1. I think whatever you want to call it "Blue/Purple/Pink" everywhere, is over done, and I personally dont associate it with a 'Fantasy' palette, but perhaps a "Fantasy Sci-Fi" one. This is a personal issue, as a preference, I want more...pastoral tones?
Okay, fair enough. I do associate it with fantasy, but I also don't have as hard lines between fantasy subgenres, but I probably wouldn't like a Lord of The Rings book with the aesthetic of "bisexual lighting" in crystaline forms, and very magical oddball creatures like modrons (yes, all modrons), so again, fair enough.
2. I see the usage of that palette, in combination with an active push towards being 'safe' (no Bikini Chainmail, no brutal violence, no 'edgy'ness and instead pushing to be 'cute') as a way to be as broadly appealing as possible, not for any kind of artistic sake, but to literally be as corporately cynically 'cool', safe, and popular as possible, in a bluntly obvious desire to maximize profits.
This is the place where I differ with you the most. They are reflecting what the new audience likes in fantasy art and content. It's much more She-Ra reboot and Steven Universe than it is Conan. In fact, I think the new adventure pretty much looks like a place you might go in a game set in the She-Ra universe. There is probably some level of cynicism in the decision to go that route, but no moreso than the early-5e decision to appeal as much as possible to the old guard in order to bring lapsed players back into the fold.
I don't think that anything made for DnD since around the launch of 2e can reasonably be assumed to
not have that motivation. DnD is a corporate product, and has been for multiple decades.
That being said, the designers have more freedom than ever, right now. They are the primary profit source for their parent company, and their old boss is taking over the head role of said parent company.
If anyting they've ever done in 5e is "for artistic reasons", it's the stuff happening
now, not the stuff at the start of the edition.
3. Before anyone (not you
@doctorbadwolf but in general) bleats at me that they (WotC) are a corporation that is either desiring to make money, or god forbid, mandated to make as much money as possible, my own view on corporate America is not, and never will be, one of tolerance or appreciation for their position, practices, or integrity, aka: I dont care.
I agree completely. I can't even express my views on the subject without sparking an immediate political debate and probable thread-lock, though, so I'll leave it at that.
4. Do I feel the art reflects a desire to have the broadest desire possible? Yes. Do I personally feel that detracts from the product? Yes.
So, if someone could prove that the aesthetic of Radiant Citadel was chosen by the writers and artists that worked on the book, with virtually no input or interference from "suits", would the aesthetic still detract from the product?
5. Look at the Planescape style from largely (competely?) DiTerlizzi. It may not be to everyone's liking, it may not be dark, or edgy, or violent, but its absolutely something which speaks to that time, and makes itself unique to that setting. I find the art from these other recent books all just bleeding together into...a Blue/Purple/Pink mass, just like the art I called out yesterday, and the DM screen I pointed out today. Heck, I could find the same style as these recent D&D works, in MTG probably with minimal effort, and you can certainly find it online.
It's very much an artistic aesthetic that fits the current time, and is what fantasy artists are often making, which has always been basically what dnd art is, just for different times. Like I said above, it looks like She-Ra and to a lesser extent Steven Universe, because that is the aesthetic that a huge swath of the gen z and younger gen y players are into.
Personally, I find a lot of the older art a giant mush of brown and brown adjacent shades of green and yellow, and most of the memorable bits either starkly contrast with that trend or stand out because of how bad they are.
Looking through recent books, there are definitely more images with one or more of those colors, mostly blue by far, but also a ton of warm-tone images. I think it's a case of not so much that aesthetic taking over, as it just used to not be prevalent and now it is one of the prevalent styles in the books.
