D&D 5E D&D Next weekly art column!

Another rough, general idea for a dragon-ampersand:

[IMG]http://www.enworld.org/forum/[ATTACH]51383._xfImport[/ATTACH][/IMG]

(Please forgive the lack of artistic skills.)
What I was going for here was to have the breath-effect as the crossbar of the "T," and the dragon's tail-loop as the upright of the "T"; then the dragon's body forms the lower loop of the "E," while arching, Disney-style Chernobog-wings form the upper loop of the "E."

What is more important?
Stylization, that defines the attributes of the world, or realism?

Example: WoW & Brink stylization more important that realism

Jon Schindehette said:

What is more important?
Stylization, that defines the attributes of the world, or realism?

Example: WoW & Brink stylization more important that realism

Click to expand...

Stylization built on top of a solid base of realism... if that makes any sense?


I prefer to feel as if the artist started with a real concept then layered fantastic stylized elements on top of it, as opposed to just staring with something fantastic and assuming that because the world is fantasy there would be an explanation.

(Which is odd, because I don't have that same preference when dealing with the rules overall.)

Jon Schindehette said:

What is more important?
Stylization, that defines the attributes of the world, or realism?

Example: WoW & Brink stylization more important that realism

Click to expand...

I think I'd most likely favour a point somewhere in the middle where the two are balanced. Overly stylised can be severely off-putting (and is one of the main complaints my friends make about video games like WoW and Team Fortress 2). On the other hand D&D is a fantasy game, and I want art to show that this is the case - bringing an element of the fantastic in to the real.

Scribble said:

Stylization built on top of a solid base of realism... if that makes any sense?


I prefer to feel as if the artist started with a real concept then layered fantastic stylized elements on top of it, as opposed to just staring with something fantastic and assuming that because the world is fantasy there would be an explanation.

Click to expand...

This is precisely what I wrote in my mile-long response to Jon in the other D&D art-related thread. Fantasy needs to grow from something realistic, just starting at some fantastic point makes it easy to lose sight of the goal.

Just to chip in about the logo:

The graphic design of this edition should look classic, but not "retro." So an ampersand like the AD&D ampersand would be awesome, but reproducing exactly the AD&D logo would be disastrous.

I believe one of the biggest mistakes of D&D's art department recently was the design of the Red Box. It looks like some retro re-print of the original red box. It has the old logo, and the old painting (which has not aged well). It does not look like a modern RPG product, and certainly nothing like the RPG to which it is supposed to be an introductory product.

Then you open the box and, what's this on the cover of the booklet? It's a redesign of the original red box, with the same general graphic design but with the current edition logo and a new painting (which looks good by modern standards) of the same subject matter and composition as the original painting. It looks classic but modern. That's what they should have put on the front of the box.

I have to admit, GX.Sigma - I do like the covers of the re-release AD&D books.

Talking about color this week. I just want to say Brown rules!

Seriously, brown is real. Brown is subtle. Brown is complex. You can have reddish browns, yellowish browns, violet browns. Changing the value as needed for composition and lighting, you can do entire paintings in brown. And yes, tan, beige, ivory, khaki, and all those light neutral colors, you can call them all brown too. Skin colors are also in that same family. You can make a brown color wheel if you wanted. I paint miniatures and brown is one of my favorite things to study. Here is a quick link to a group I did in neutral ivory and gold (link). Here are a few more studies in brown, scattered about the townsfolk (link).

Here is another quick experiment on color. Google "Fantasy Art" and go to Google Images. Now click on the various color filters on the left. Click on red, observe the general themes discussed in the article. I think purple is the most impressively cohesive one. It's like every purple hued image has magic (or faeries but there are a lot of faeries in any hue). Pink is what you would expect. Brown hues are easily my favorite, with Orange a close second (not too surprising, as they are closely related).

Have you noticed how magic weapons are often depicted with a blue glow? Why is that? It's because blue is one tone that brown can't have. So a blue glowing sword is always going to stand out, on any brown dominant painting. I think brown has been, and should be the dominant color of D&D. Of course red fire demons, green trolls, and house elves in purple and yellow polka dot pillow cases are always welcome, but the iconic scenery and character portraits should contain an over 50% composition of browns and tans. And it would be fitting for the D&D logo to depict this property.

Link please?

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Brown Is Nothing but Dark Beige)

I agree that Brown adds a real-ness to the world. Lots of things in a D&D world are made of wood, stone or leather, so brown (and its variations) tend to be prevalent.

As for the logo, I'd go with Golden/Brass. It works against a white and black backgrounds, is an outline away from working against any background.

I am looking at the packaging of the Fury of the Feywild Fortune Cards, and the D&D logo is a bit hard to read in it. The black shading muddies the red letters, and the beige (damn you, beige!!!) hides the Ampersand so much, you can't make out a dragon.

Someone over the WotC site mentioned using different colors, as befits the product. That isn't a bad idea, but it has to be planned to avoid losing the characteristic. Maybe have four variations (gold, red, b/w, blue), but not "any color".