The good ole days. Classic.
D&D 5E Good art and Really bad art in the 5e PHB
- Thread starter sgtscott658
- Start date
I'm not crazy about the art to be honest. Who ever drew those halflings need to be fired and their brushes taken away from them. There are way better artists out there who could have done a better job. Not sure why they went with this group to be honest.
Here's a good paladin.
I am a big fan of the art as a whole. I'm a fan of the fact that a major RPG company has deliberately created inclusive art; I enjoy the slightly more "real" take on the art, a style I've always preferred.
I'd agree that I enjoy a bit of whimsy, too - but there's that in there also. Just look at things like Conditions and the like.
Visually, my favourite D&D version yet.
I'd agree that I enjoy a bit of whimsy, too - but there's that in there also. Just look at things like Conditions and the like.
Visually, my favourite D&D version yet.
ambroseji
Explorer
I'm a big fan of the PHB art too, and I was very excited about how much space was dedicated to it.
The conditions in the back are excellent and whimsical, and I think the half-orc paladin is very cool. It's one of my favorite pieces from the book. Fierce, strong, and defiant. I have no problem with atypical class/race combos are used in the art, especially if the art has the potential to inspire an interesting character, which I feel it does.
Also, I know that the halfling look is was a choice explicitly made by the art team. I thought it was a bit wonky when I first saw it, but it's grown on me.
The conditions in the back are excellent and whimsical, and I think the half-orc paladin is very cool. It's one of my favorite pieces from the book. Fierce, strong, and defiant. I have no problem with atypical class/race combos are used in the art, especially if the art has the potential to inspire an interesting character, which I feel it does.
Also, I know that the halfling look is was a choice explicitly made by the art team. I thought it was a bit wonky when I first saw it, but it's grown on me.
Oryan77
Adventurer
That's crazy that you said this. I was going to post the exact same thing. Hell, I was thinking about starting this thread yesterday and was going to write just that, but I know how it is talking about art in D&D. Most of you guys claim to prefer the art from OD&D that looks like it was drawn by a child using his left hand when he's right-handed. Then I hear people complain about the Tony D art or WAR's art. Both of which I find to be fantastic and inspiring. So I didn't even want to go there with a thread like this.
But since I didn't start the thread....
The 5e art really is uninspiring to me. The art is exactly like what you find in a lot of children's book. It's bland and the portraits don't look "heroic". I'm sure the heroic part is ok with others that don't need a character to look "macho". It may indeed look heroic to you. But, I'm sure a lot of guys still picture their ranger looking like Errol Flynn's Robin Hood with tights and all. I'm also sure that some of you secretively want to see mullets and eraser hair on your portraits because those never go out of style.
The art would be perfectly fine if the book was released in the 80's. It's 2014 though. Look at the stuff professionals are pumping out these days. Everyone is an artist, and people are really good at it. I'm blown away by the amount of detail people put into their work. It just seems strange that this is the style of art WotC went with when it will be sitting on the same shelves with books that actually have modern day looking art styles in them. It's one thing for a grognard to be satisfied with that art, but I find it hard to believe that youngsters are going to flip through that book and think, "Wow, what is this book!?! I wanna pretend to be a housewife Tiefling or a Barbarian disguised as a commoner! That sounds like fun!"
Don't get me wrong. There is a lot of nice art in the book. But most of it still has that same washed out and simple look to it. I remember my wife looking at the 3.5 Barbarian picture in the PHB and wanting to play a barbarian just because of that image (ignoring the ridiculously over-sized anime sword). Tons of 3e/4e art inspired me & my friends to want to play certain type of characters. I guarantee none of us will feel the same way with this 5e style art.
Even going back and imitating the style of Larry Elmore with updated hairstyles would have been a step forward. The art seems to be the worst thing to come from 5e in my opinion. No offense intended to people that like it. It's not bad, it just doesn't feel like it should be 5e art. It's just hugely disappointing to me.
sgtscott658
First Post
Oryan77 I do agree with many of your points, The Gnome art in 5E is awesome as is the Druid art on page 67 where as the Druid on page 64 looks like a Twilight wannabe, Anyway, the art for the Druid for the most part really inspires me to want to play a Gnome Druid. Unfortunately being the DM it aint gonna happen : (
The Dwarf Cleric art also looks fantastic on page 56 and is another example (to me) of wanting to try a Dwarf Cleric. Sadly and I understand some think the art here is a 100% awesome, that is their opinion but almost all the art for the races (except the Gnome) looked very uninspiring to me.
Scott
The Dwarf Cleric art also looks fantastic on page 56 and is another example (to me) of wanting to try a Dwarf Cleric. Sadly and I understand some think the art here is a 100% awesome, that is their opinion but almost all the art for the races (except the Gnome) looked very uninspiring to me.
Scott
Olaf the Stout
Hero
I'm normally a function over form guy but, for me, I definitely find value in the PHB artwork. In particular I liked that there were several full page art pieces. From memory there wasn't much of that at all in the 3.5E PHB (I didn't buy the 4E PHB, so I don't know what that was like). It definitely helped me make reading the PHB more immersive, which was actually a surprise for me.
Olaf the Stout
Hero
The Halfling art is definitely a let down for me. The Halfling Bard on page 26 of the PHB looks like he decreases in scale as you go down his body. The size of his head compared to his hands and then his feet is just silly. I'm definitely no artist, but it just doesn't look anatomically correct.
AngryMojo
First Post
I love the varying styles in the book. 3.x and 4e both had a really distinct art style with little variation from the norm. Considering inclusiveness is a theme right now, having the multiple art styles really helps that out imho.
I also like the dwarf racial writeup having a woman in the picture, as well as the lack of hypersexualized images for both male and female. No bulging biceps or chainmail bikinis as far as I can see.
I also like the dwarf racial writeup having a woman in the picture, as well as the lack of hypersexualized images for both male and female. No bulging biceps or chainmail bikinis as far as I can see.
my 2cp:
Generally love the art.
Any art I don't love I think is pretty damn good at worst.
Love the amount of art.
While the 5e halfling is not exactly what comes to my mind when I think of a halfling, but I can go with it.
The 5e goblin is not what I used to associate with goblins, but now I much prefer it over the old green-skinned-caricature I used to think of.
Love the Half-orc paladin. Love that not all Paladins are LG.
Totally love the inclusiveness of the art direction and the lack of bimbos in chain mail bikinis.
This PHB is something I can go through with my kids and be happy that my daughter is given plenty of opportunity to associate with a powerful adventurer who stands on her own two feet without being reduced to body parts.
Good job WoTC!
Generally love the art.
Any art I don't love I think is pretty damn good at worst.
Love the amount of art.
While the 5e halfling is not exactly what comes to my mind when I think of a halfling, but I can go with it.
The 5e goblin is not what I used to associate with goblins, but now I much prefer it over the old green-skinned-caricature I used to think of.
Love the Half-orc paladin. Love that not all Paladins are LG.
Totally love the inclusiveness of the art direction and the lack of bimbos in chain mail bikinis.
This PHB is something I can go through with my kids and be happy that my daughter is given plenty of opportunity to associate with a powerful adventurer who stands on her own two feet without being reduced to body parts.
Good job WoTC!
Eh...not for me. Otus, Dee, Tramp, Willingham? Those are the styles that are evocative of D&D for me. DiTerlizzi is way too children's bookish for me. And before people get all upset and act like that's an insult, it's not. Tony himself on his blog said he is heavily inspired by old school childrens' books, and that's his dream job doing that style of work. He's a great artists for that style, but for D&D? Not for me. YMMV of course.
S
Sunseeker
Guest
I didn't pay too much attention too it, mostly looked at how classes and races were represented and I have to say I DID NOT like the halfling racial art. My problem is her boobs. They look like somsone stuck some freaking tennis-balls on her chest and not even proportional ones. On a normal-heighted woman those would easily be DD+, and I think that for how petite gnomes usually are, that just looks wrong. It also doesn't help that the shading on her jaw makes it look like she's got a beard.
Dragonborn art looks like it was ripped from some other piece or art. I think I saw it in a 4e book somewhere. It's not bad art. That's just really cheap, even had a nasty white outline around the head.
Dunno what's up with the midget ninja/samurai on page 110. Dunno if that's supposed to be an Asain dwarf, gnome or just some really badly proportioned human.
I really like the item art. It all looks very believable. I like the gnome teaching the volmunetric spells on 201, that's adorable.
I really like most of the art. I think a lot of my problems stem from the whole Dragonlance setting stuff. I did not like the way races and cultures were imagined in that series.
I have to second that those images do not evoke D&D for me, for much the same reason, they seem to fit a more absurd children's fantasy with a more fantastical approach to things than I like in D&D.
Dragonborn art looks like it was ripped from some other piece or art. I think I saw it in a 4e book somewhere. It's not bad art. That's just really cheap, even had a nasty white outline around the head.
Dunno what's up with the midget ninja/samurai on page 110. Dunno if that's supposed to be an Asain dwarf, gnome or just some really badly proportioned human.
I really like the item art. It all looks very believable. I like the gnome teaching the volmunetric spells on 201, that's adorable.
I really like most of the art. I think a lot of my problems stem from the whole Dragonlance setting stuff. I did not like the way races and cultures were imagined in that series.
I have to second that those images do not evoke D&D for me, for much the same reason, they seem to fit a more absurd children's fantasy with a more fantastical approach to things than I like in D&D.
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shadow
First Post
Why all the hate for the 5e halflings? I personally like the way the halflings are done in 5e. Disproportionate? Of course! But, that's what makes them look distinct. I hated what 3e and 4e did with halflings. I could never tell if a 3.5/4e halfling was a halfling or a human unless there was another character in the picture for size reference. Even to this day, I still envision Lidda, the iconic halfling rogue, as a full sized human every time I flip through the 3.5 PHB.
Stormonu
Legend
Overall, I like the 5E art; the washed-out details give me the impression I'm getting a glimpse through the page into another world and I really like it. It's evocative of taking Parkinson's or Elmore's work and looking at it through an old glass window.
But put me in the camp that hates the halflings proportions. I would have preferred them done by Di'Terlizzi (not the whole book, just the halflings, and maybe gnomes).
My favorite piece? The barbarian yelling down the town guard.
And does anybody know what the princess/maiden with the ring peeking out from the sidebar is supposed to represent on the condition page (obscured, maybe)?
But put me in the camp that hates the halflings proportions. I would have preferred them done by Di'Terlizzi (not the whole book, just the halflings, and maybe gnomes).
My favorite piece? The barbarian yelling down the town guard.
And does anybody know what the princess/maiden with the ring peeking out from the sidebar is supposed to represent on the condition page (obscured, maybe)?
Olaf the Stout
Hero
There's disproportionate anf then there's "OMG I can't stop myself from toppling over because I have a bobble head and tiny feet"!
S
Sunseeker
Guest
There's disproportionate anf then there's "OMG I can't stop myself from toppling over because I have a bobble head and tiny feet"!
Right, I mean I always imagined halflings to either look like "normal people" but small, or to basically look like a midget. There's some reasonable level of disproportionality that is acceptable while still maintaining the feeling that they are functional beings.
Personally I always thought the "bobblehead" spot was to be held by gnomes. Being that they are more on the fey side of creatures they are less tied to the realities of reality than halflings.
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