I have no idea if this is a hot take or not, but...

[Reynard]

The art of a game does help you get a feel for it, and captures the imagination. AD&D (both editions) had better art overall than 3.x (most of which was kind of meh). 4e mostly focused on characters, but was a clear improvement over 3.x. 5e is kind of a mixed bag; while most of it is fine, there's not a lot that really pops.

Example from 4e's Divine Power:
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I would submit that the settings actually have most of the "style" in general and think the 3.5 Eberron art is some of the best, most evocative art D&D has ever produced -- even if I agree that by and large the 2nd Edition era has more good art. Especially those dragon covers. Man.

 

[TwoSix]

I have trouble viewing commentary on events of 30 years ago as a "hot take".

 

[James Gasik]

I would submit that the settings actually have most of the "style" in general and think the 3.5 Eberron art is some of the best, most evocative art D&D has ever produced -- even if I agree that by and large the 2nd Edition era has more good art. Especially those dragon covers. Man.

I will definitely give you Eberron art as being spectacular. 3.x art isn't all bad, but it didn't start great, especially with Mialee. Yikes!

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I have trouble viewing commentary on events of 30 years ago as a "hot take".

Hot take- Siamese Dream is an abandonment of the implicit promise of Gish.

Yeah, that's right. Feel the HEAT!

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I will accept you hot take, and I will go HAWTER TAEK:

Elmore was the beginning of the end- the soul left TSR when Otus, Easley, Dee, and Sutherland were no longer doing the primary work.



Or, go Galaxy Brained-

The best art was in the LBBs. It's all been downhill since then.

I'm sure there's someone out there saying that the soul went out of D&D when Wayne Reynolds stopped illustrating it.

What's the saying about how the Golden Age of anything is when you were 12?

But his landscapes were always fantastic and evoke a world that feels so much different from WotC D&D.

Looking at Elmore's work, it's clear he loves painting landscapes and skies. If you removed all the fantasy elements from his paintings, you could probably hang them in a museum and no one would notice anything amiss.

 

[Delazar]

I loved how back in the days a setting had a definite art style, created by a specific artist.

like, for me it will always be Brom’s Dark Sun, Elmore’s Dragonlance, DiTerlizzi’s Planescape, Fabian’s Ravenloft, Szcuzdlo‘s Birthright.

 

[ThorinTeague]

How can you not love this picture?
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Yeah I mean... This isn't just an illustration. It's a story. And that was true of so many of the paintings of those days, and so few (not paintings) that came along thereafter.

Just something really inspired and frankly divine about imagery of this caliber.

 

[ThorinTeague]

Hot take- Siamese Dream is an abandonment of the implicit promise of Gish.

Yeah, that's right. Feel the HEAT!

These references went over my head sadly.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Hot take- Siamese Dream is an abandonment of the implicit promise of Gish.

Yeah, that's right. Feel the HEAT!

Nooooo!!!!!!!

 

[ThorinTeague]

The heart and soul of D&D is the original beholder sketch.

View attachment 276289

This was one of my favorite images of yesteryear too. Still just an illustration for informational purposes though. Side note: there's a cool STL mini of this floating (hah) around the internet.