good art / Bad art

[James Heard]

Personally I think it all looks a bit boring actually. Historical accuracy is wonderful I'm sure, crucial for history books, but...there's very little soul in those sketches I'm afraid. I'd much rather see an illustration of a weapon in use or in context than these. It's like looking through a cutlery catalog.

 

[James Heard]

Double post

 

[reanjr]

Actually, these are for a series of PDF's (which will probably also be made into a book) which do focus on weapons as well as armor. They are all copies of photographs of original weapons or accurate reproductions (about 80% are original surviving weapons). They are all very accurate portrayals. For example, compare the langen messer drawing (topmost of the three messers) with this photograph of one of the surviving 450 year old original swords it is based on:

http://www.myarmoury.com/albums/albums/aa_antique/normal_13421_a.jpg

or compare the italian bastard sword ('spadona') above with these photographs of two surviving originals here

http://www.myarmoury.com/albums/albums/userpics/normal_spadona_brescia.jpg
http://www.myarmoury.com/albums/alb... Spadona in Collezione Marzoli, Brescia 1.jpg

DB

Actually, I had noticed the realism and that is part of the reason for my comment. I didn't really see a purpose in having artwork when you can have a photograph of the thing.

 

[reanjr]

Thanks. That was wierd how those links got changed.

What do you think of this crossbow?

http://bellsouthpwp.net/d/e/deodand23/preview/xbow2.jpg

DB

I can't determine exactly why, but the perspective looks weird. It looks like an Escher drawing. Maybe an enhanced edge or two would do it some good.

 

[Drifter Bob]

Actually, I had noticed the realism and that is part of the reason for my comment. I didn't really see a purpose in having artwork when you can have a photograph of the thing.

Well, for several reasons.

1) the photographs of existing weapons are all of varying quality. Some photo's are excellent, others are fuzzy and dim. Not much can be done about this because many even famous weapons were photographed in the 1940's or 1950's and then disappeared into private collections so there is basically no way to photograph them again. (More and more get bought up every day, even bronze age stuff, it's amazing....) To this day we see about 10 times as many authentic battle weapons in private auction houses as in museums, for example. And ironicaly, in the case where items are in museums, the museum often copyrights their own photographs, wheras the auction houses are often willing to allow modern spathologists to photograph the weapons, often in exchange for some help in pinpointing their exact identity.

2) The available photographs of the weapons are also all of different scales making it sometimes hard to get a sense of it's real size.

3) Some of the weapons themselves are more deterioarted than others, so in some cases the artist is removing things like rust and pitting.

The ultimate idea of drawing them is to have them all at the same scale, done by the same artist, so you can get something really not available in any weapon book for RPG's or even for sword experts: a comprehensive overview of the most commonly available weapons at the same scale, where they can be easily compared and contrasted.

I also personally feel that the drawings convey a bit more of a sense of mystery, and I think the real weapons look immensely better than the oversized, improbably spike encrusted phony looking cartooon ones often depicted in RPG books, although I freely grant that is a matter of personal taste.

(Give me Ramone's longsword or claymore over that picture of the greatsword in the PhB any day!)

DB

 

[orbitalfreak]

Let me add one thing to this: I do really like the pictures, especially if they're laid out similar to the PHB's equipment chapter; giving a side-by-side comparison to various weapons, sorta like ordering them from a catalogue. However, I would also like to see additional forms of art included, such as characters posing with the weapons, and more dynamic shots. Good stuff, just disappointing if this style is used exclusively.

 

[Drifter Bob]

Let me add one thing to this: I do really like the pictures, especially if they're laid out similar to the PHB's equipment chapter; giving a side-by-side comparison to various weapons, sorta like ordering them from a catalogue. However, I would also like to see additional forms of art included, such as characters posing with the weapons, and more dynamic shots. Good stuff, just disappointing if this style is used exclusively.

Yes, we do have 'action' type illustrations, not to mention all the depictions of all the forms of armor. We also have drawings depicting the various maneuvers depicted by the feats, some from the fechtbuchs, some more simple.

We also have several combat sketches done by two other (different) artists.

I don't have access to the early production drawings from the armor or feat illustrations at the moment, and I don't want to put the whole series of completed illustrations online since we are hoping to sell it (cheap, mind you!) but I'll try to get some samples up soon for you to peruse in a few days, after we finish this job we are doing for another RPG system.

DB

 

[ledded]

Nice, and more importantly, well-researched work .


The finals should be very good if these are any indication.

 

[Drifter Bob]

Nice, and more importantly, well-researched work .


The finals should be very good if these are any indication.

Thanks for your comments. I appreciated your comment in the other thread as well. Let me know if you would be interested to be part of our beta program.

DB