[Black Company] Thoughts about the Art?

[Justin D. Jacobson]

I just got my copy, and I'm blown away by the scope of the product. You can really tell the designers had a deep passion for the primary works.

I don't want to be impolite, but did anyone else think that the majority of the interior art was sub-standard? The cover by WAR is top-notch, and there are certainly some good pieces in the book. But there are more than a few --ahem -- less good ones. I just wonder if they had to skimp on the art budget given the sheer number of pieces involved in a book of that size.

Mind you, this won't detract from the utility of the book, but it did catch me off guard given the stellar looking products put out by Green Ronin. Exhibit A being M&M, of course.

 

[Psion]

I haven't done a thorough examination of the book yet, but I do remember seeing more than a bit of Kent Burles art, who has been one of my favorite interior artists since Testament.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I thought it was pretty good overall. The picture of the dude getting his guts slashed out, even without the book in hand, stands out in my mind.

And yes, Kent Burles rocks. He's one of the reasons I enjoyed a lot of the Palladium Fantasy books.

I thought some of it was too dark, a problem I think I have too much of. (Iron Kingdoms and a few others have this issue.)

 

[Khayman]

I liked it. I thought that the style suited the subject matter.

 

[hellbender]

Most of the interior art is okay, the MacBin and Burles pieces are quite good, I rather like all of the Kirtz pieces, some of the others are a bit lacking here and there, a few appear incomplete, which just might be my critical eye, having experience in that neighborhood. The interior of the Lady in the characters section stands out as one of the more lacking pieces to me, I would have expected a major character to have been rendered a bit better. All in all it isn't bad by any means.


One of the upcoming sections on the fansite will be illustration along with a total overhaul of the look of the site. Keep an eye out for it.

 

[Wrathamon]

I happen to agree that the art could have been better. Some of the art was excellent, some average and some I wouldnt have printed.

But, you can pretty much say that about any book.

:\

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

I haven't seen the book yet. Can anyone give a listing of all the interior artists?

 

[hellbender]

I haven't seen the book yet. Can anyone give a listing of all the interior artists?

Sure thing:
Ilya Astrakhan
Toren "Macbin" Atkinson
Drew Baker
Kent Burles
Jonathan Kirtz
Pat Loboyko
Ben Risbeck
Mike Vilardi
Lisa Wood

 

[Justin D. Jacobson]

I happen to agree that the art could have been better. Some of the art was excellent, some average and some I wouldnt have printed.

But, you can pretty much say that about any book.

:\

I went back and looked through the book in greater detail after seeing the other posts. I have to agree with the above generally. There are plenty of great pieces in the book. In hindsight, I think it's the fact that there are so many total pieces that the percentage of mediocre ones just represents a higher raw number than what I'm used to from a GR book. If that makes any sense.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Sure thing:
Ilya Astrakhan
Toren "Macbin" Atkinson
Drew Baker
Kent Burles
Jonathan Kirtz
Pat Loboyko
Ben Risbeck
Mike Vilardi
Lisa Wood

Thanks! I am not as familiar with some of them but I will definitely look more carefully when I get a chance to see Black Company.