D&D artwork which captures something for you

[hong]

Easy to find out: find a bunch of people who started with 2e or 3e. Show them 1e art. Ask them what they think.

Hmm. Come to think of it, one of the guys in my Britannia 3E game has never played 1E....


Hong "a CUNNING PLAN is forming in my AMAZING HEAD" Ooi

 

[ColonelHardisson]

The pic on the title page of S4: Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, by Jim Holloway, of an adventurer leaping to safety as her friends trip a pursuing stone giant into a chasm. That's what D&D is all about.

Arnie Swekel's art - in particular his work in Return to the Tomb of Horrors (evoking a strange, dark, and sometimes oddly humorous mood) and his work in the 4 volumes of Encyclopedia Magica (evokes the mood of pictures you might find in some strange old book from a 100 years ago)

Wayne Reynold's art in general - whirling action; there always seems to be something "going on" in his art

Dave Trampier's art in the 1e Monster Manual, and his pic of Emerikol the Chaotic in the 1e DMG - his stuff has a look reminiscent of woodcuts, evoking a dark, ancient feel.

 

[WizarDru]

Re: Re: Art that grabs me

i dont mind comic books.. i particullarly liked the books of magic, but most comic books bore the crap outta me. just not interested in hulking heroes. like the spiderman-type bodies better.. strong, flexable...

I also prefer my women fully clothed and not sexy. I like seeing women who look like women, just like i like seeing men who look like men. this preference, concerning women, is a development (for me at least) from a juvinile mindset to an adult mindset. i dont want to look pretty anymore.

joe b.

Then you merely need to broaden your comic reading. It sounds like you equate mainstream superhero comics to be the only comics. Try 100 Bullets, Transmetropolitan, Powers, Hellblazer and the Invisibles (in collections), for a start. And those are all mainstream titles from large publishers. There are plenty of genres, and many comics that don't feature the classic superhero archetypes. However, if you're looking for something that does, but goes in mature directions with it, I can recommend a few there, too.

As for the artwork, again, I suggest you try some other titles. Brian Michael Bendis, justifiably famous for his writing, also does some very interesting graphic work (I recommend 'Torso', his tale of Elliot Ness and a serial killer based in fact). Jeff Smith's Bone is influenced by the great Carl Barks, but is both cartoonish and stunning in turns, depending on the mood he's trying to convey. Check out Alan Moore's 'League of Extrodianary Gentleman', 'From Hell' or 'The Courtyard' to see some artwork that is definitely not what similar to the mainstream superhero comics. I think you'll be well rewarded.

 

[Maggan]

How could I forget?

That guy that did a lot of the Gazeteers and Ravenloft Campaign-setting stuff... very distinct... what was his name... wait a sec...

(checks google)

Stephen Fabian. His art for the Ravenloft setting is the best. Evocative, distinct, atmospheric... scary...

And thanks for the clarifications on "comic-ish" art.

Cheers!

Maggan

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Yes, Stephen Fabian and George Barr are both very good D&D artists who are rarely given enough credit.

 

[jgbrowning]

Re: Re: Re: Art that grabs me

to answer two posters....

Hong: here's some of what i dont like
page 61 psionics handbook
page 138 psionics handbook
page 74 Deities and Demigods
page 67 Deities and Demigods
page 28 OA
most of enimies and allies.. mainly that guy who cant draw people without dark circles around their eyes. same thing with the standing stone and forge of fury

unfortunately the book i found a lot of proportional problems with i dont own. the WotC one about fighter types. if i remember correctly there was on picture in particular about a guy sundering through a shield or something?

the art gets much worse when you get to non-WotC stuff. perhaps the worst example i can think of is from AEG's war.. page 86.

I dont want to turn this into a bash on the artwork as much of it is good and obviously i've bought alot of stuff so it hasn't hampered sales. And i'd rather not speak ill about the people who give me a lot of extra time and spend their energies doing something i appreciate.

Looking through what i dont like it comes down to two artists i guess, which i never noticed before. In general as well, i'm not into the body piercing/kewl armor stuff. Having been through enough fads of style i see through them and even the current style leaves just as bad a taste in my mouth as the old stuff. It doesn't matter to me if its fresh, fresh in my mind is already dated. But honestly.. i'm one of the rare people who wouldn't mind d20 products that had NO art. Not that i dont like art, i do, its just that art adds no value to my purchases.

Wizardru...
I agree there are many different styles of comic book art now than there were when i was a young'en. I musta read 100 some plus issues of Cerebus, because of the good story and the amazing backgrounds. Anyway...

I'm not really interested in most of the newer comics because they are becoming more literary. ie. they're dealing with internal conflicts represented by external action or by self-dilemma/self-exploratory distruction.

I'm not interested in that either. I dont find "edgy" things interesting. I dont care about someones personal internal demons and am not interested in reading stories that show the process occuring. To me its like watching a car wreck. I DONT have that need many people do to look. I look away.

I long ago realized that within us, everyone of us, are demons of such distructive and evil power, that everyone either triumphs over or succumbs to. The stories differ. I've made my peace and cleansed my demons.

I dont want this post to sound negative. I understand all the positive things that can come out of shared ty experiences. Which is really what reading a lot of literature and newer comic books is about. People read the book/comics and vicariously experience a negative experience, which are hopfully turned around into a positive experience in the end. I prefer positive people who dont struggle with themselves anymore because they've dealt with it. which is the reason i stopped reading cerebus.. didn't like the guy modeled off of Oscar Wilde.

If you want to talk more about it, im game. I just want to make certain that, if i am coming off as negative to you, i hope you'll give me the benefit of the doubt about it. Its just hard to talk about what you don't like without seeming that way.

thanks,

joe b.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

A Paladin in Hell from the 1e DMG is my favorite D&D pic

The covers of the original 1e DMG & PHB. The looting of the dungeon cover was great. Those two guys who are picking the gem out of the statues eye, I always figured the trap would go as soon as they had it free. The battle of Raistlin & Fistandantilus from the Art of Dragonlance book. I think Keith Parkinson did it. Great shot.

I'll post more when I get home from work. But they are all 1e as I don't really care for the style of 3e and I don't have anything from 2e. I don't care for the super spikey art much. It reminds me of the art of Image comics like others have said, and that's not good in my book. The Sorcerer is close to being pasted over so I don't have to look at it ever again. Send him back to Dragonball Z man!!

I miss the art of Dragon as it was way back when. All the great painted covers instead of the dreck they do know. Oh how that mag has fallen.

 

[Darrell]

Some of my favorites:

Elmore's 'Dragon Slayers' pic showing the group standing around the small dragon they've slain.

Robh Ruppel's cover to the 'Night of the Walking Dead' module...creepy.

Todd Lockwood's 'Invisible Stalker' pic on p.123 of the 3e MM.

Tordek hacking away at a red dragon who's trying to swallow him (3e PH, p.123).

A pic from a Dragon cover, by Kevin Davies; a really shadowy sorta thing, sunlight filtering down through thick trees, illuminating a skeletal corpse pinned to a tree as a unicorn grazes in the background.

Two pics by Kevin Walker in the 3e DMG: a planning session between Tordek, Lidda, Jozan, and Mialee on p.15, and a 'tavern' pic of the same group on p.143, with a barmaid bringing tall mugs of ale to their table.

Another Dragon cover, this one by Robh Ruppel, rendered in black and silvery tones and depicting a thief lifting the money pouch off of a distracted bar-room patron.

There are more, but it would take all day to list them...

Regards,
Darrell King

 

[Stone Angel]

For me it has to be the Dragonlance covers (the originals). Espicially the Chronicles Maybe because they were the first "D&D" books I read or that I was young and they sparked my imagination. Still to this day those dragons are my favorite. As for 3e the art is fantastic, but they just don't evoke the same feelings. My favorites from 3e so far are:
Tordek in the Dragons mouth.
The monk catching the arrow in S&F
The Epic level Shadow Dancer

Also my fave, Dragon cover is one from halloween a few years back with the Zombie and the meat cleaver.

 

[Wiley]

I enjoyed the picture of the group fighting the Gorgon and his ally, while someone rescues the damsel in distress. I always wondered how the guy got an arrow in his back.