D&D 5E Art direction and 5th edition

[Dausuul]

What are some of your thoughts on D&D 5e and its potential use or misuse of art?

Hey, a 5E-related topic that hasn't been argued to death already! Awesome.

In general, I think 2E had the best art of any edition, although I could have done with less, or at least less blatant, cheesecake (yes, Larry, old boy, I'm looking at you). I also second the call for more landscapes, both as backgrounds for the characters and as art in their own right. For all its many faults, 2E was really good at evoking a sense of setting, and the art was part of that.

That said, 2E is not quite my ideal artistic style. My dream is for something less Elmore, more Frazetta; vivid scenes with a lot of light and shadow play, and characters who combine heroic stature with realistic proportions. Someone above mentioned Tyler Jacobson, and I'd be very much down with that. From M:tG artists, Jaime Jones would also be excellent to bring on board.

 

[RangerWickett]

This. But no WAR and no anime, please.

I particularly like the works of Ron Spencer.

Ha, I personally can't stand Ron Spencer. I dug his black & white work back in Talislanta, but his colored pieces are just garish. He only really works for me if you want to show a mindflayer with its intestines spilling out on the ground.

So many D&D illustrations show people with either 'angry' or 'mysterious' expressions. I like the occasional emotional nuance, to show that there are stories in this game, not just 'being bad-ass.'

Then again, sometimes bad-ass works out:

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

Hey, a 5E-related topic that hasn't been argued to death already! Awesome.

In general, I think 2E had the best art of any edition, although I could have done with less, or at least less blatant, cheesecake (yes, Larry, old boy, I'm looking at you). I also second the call for more landscapes, both as backgrounds for the characters and as art in their own right. For all its many faults, 2E was really good at evoking a sense of setting, and the art was part of that. I don't think it's coincidence that, aside from Eberron, all of D&D's most famous and compelling settings came out of the 2E era.

That said, 2E is not quite my ideal artistic style. My dream is for something less Elmore, more Frazetta; vivid scenes with a lot of light and shadow play, and characters who combine heroic stature with realistic proportions.

Sounds like we have similar taste in RPG art

I really liked (and miss) the pencil sketches and the blue & white "inklings" throughout the 2e core books.

 

[Kaodi]

I love WAR's aesthetic. It was right for the time, and still does wonders for Pathfinder. But I do believe that what is needed now for D&D is a huge dose of realism. We need an art style that really allows you to place yourself in the picture.

I also think though that you have to extend this thinking to the entire visual style of the product. You cannot, for instance, take a 4E style cover layout and slap it on a realist painting, because the cover layout itself uses the same aesthetic as the 4E art. I think, for instance, that 5E should have a logo that looks like it has actual dimension. Maybe even something with the look of the hanging signs that are the mainstay of the inns, taverns, and other businesses in fantasy art. The covers themselves should either harken back to the original AD&D covers (the City of Brass, the Wizard, the Dragon and Pegasi), or in contrast to the faux tome 3e covers be modelled on the old style of cloth hardcovers, to give it more of a "real book" feel. And use the same sort of off-white colour for the pages.

If you ask me, the one word that should sum of the art and visual style of 5E it is " texture " .

 

[Dausuul]

The covers themselves should either harken back to the original AD&D covers (the City of Brass, the Wizard, the Dragon and Pegasi), or in contrast to the faux tome 3e covers be modelled on the old style of cloth hardcovers, to give it more of a "real book" feel. And use the same sort of off-white colour for the pages.

I think the 5E Player's Handbook should be a variation on the "thieves and idol" picture from the original AD&D PHB. That piece was a bit amateurish--the lizard man in particular looks clumsy--but it captured the flavor of the classic old-school dungeon crawl in a way I have never seen on any other PHB. (Although the two "red box" illos by Otus and Elmore come close.) A similar piece by someone more technically skilled would be an awesome thing.

 

[Mercutio01]

I think the 5E Player's Handbook should be a variation on the "thieves and idol" picture from the original AD&D PHB.

Not that David Petersen's "Mouse Guard" style is in any way appropriate for basic D&D, but I like his take on it.

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[Kaodi]

I think the 5E Player's Handbook should be a variation on the "thieves and idol" picture from the original AD&D PHB. That piece was a bit amateurish--the lizard man in particular looks clumsy--but it captured the flavor of the classic old-school dungeon crawl in a way I have never seen on any other PHB. (Although the two "red box" illos by Otus and Elmore come close.) A similar piece by someone more technically skilled would be an awesome thing.

I do not profess to say what sort of image would be on them. What I meant was the style or type of cover: the grainy ("texture") wrap-around art.

 

[howandwhy99]

A pointillist like Trampier would be nice as would some more whimsical and humorous pieces. Art that tells a story, but also art that conveys concepts from the text would be nice. You could toy with secrets and ciphers and treasure maps and goodies that spur the imagination. Anything that invokes feelings of "I want to be her", "I want to be there", "Ew! Just let me have one of those", and even "run away!"

 

[Lum The Mad]

My personal favourite is the "ancient tomes" look of the 3e books, although I'm not so keen on the whole dungeonpunk thing. Even so, I'm certainly not advocating a return to that for 5e - they should go for something new.

I do advocate the return of the "ancient tomes" design. It was just the most fitting style that could be chosen. And I would argue it still is.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

I do advocate the return of the "ancient tomes" design. It was just the most fitting style that could be chosen. And I would argue it still is.

I thought that the 3.x era covers were gaudy. The concept was cool, but the execution I felt was more "dollar store arts & crafts" than "ancient tome."

I would generally rather see plain (read: no picture) covers than cheesy artwork, but only if well done.

The 2e Encyclopedia Magica would be a good start.