D&D 5E (2014) I hope this isn't 5E...(art that screams "not this, not this!")

[avin]

Which art style I don't want in DDN?

4E's tieflings and troglodites. Some outdated AD&D art. And OD&D art only justified by nostalgia, like this:

I love anime but I also don't think it belongs in D&D.

Gotta agreed, but I like mangá and there's always Record of Lodoss War

I would also like to avoid Larry Ellmore's T&A-with-big-hair style of ladyfolk, but I get that a lot of people regard his stuff fondly, and I do like how he draws dragons.

Ellmore works only by nostalgia. I would avoid it, unless I dont want to attract any new gamers....

Well, I don't really know that much about Anime or Japanese art, but I clicked through those galleries you listed...I think Yoshitako Amano is the only one I'd broadly like to see in a D&D book.

Yoshitaka Amano is fantastic.

 

[mkill]

I love 2e art .... but no bikini chainmail chicks! We want chaste, well dressed women who remind us of our mothers! Well ... many many of Larry Elmore's illustrations were extremely erotic. Exactly what some people are clamouring against. Reynold's 'low cut bikini line' is very tame in comparison.
https://www.reedcomics.com/images/photos/art_elmore/oldcrows_L.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XB7t89tRUGU/Tgq-8M78RdI/AAAAAAAAFtc/H49l-bRT6jg/s400/elmorebw056.jpg

I also think that women have a lot less trouble with sexy depictions of women in fantasy art than is usually claimed on RPG boards. Hell, I met a female player who used a Luis Royo picture for her character. Maybe it's because women are used to seeing naked breasts, all they need is a mirror.

 

[Klaus]

I love 2e art .... but no bikini chainmail chicks! We want chaste, well dressed women who remind us of our mothers! Well ... many many of Larry Elmore's illustrations were extremely erotic. Exactly what some people are clamouring against. Reynold's 'low cut bikini line' is very tame in comparison.
https://www.reedcomics.com/images/photos/art_elmore/oldcrows_L.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XB7t89tRUGU/Tgq-8M78RdI/AAAAAAAAFtc/H49l-bRT6jg/s400/elmorebw056.jpg

You do realize that those two images aren't from any D&D product, right? "Two Crows" is signed as being done in 2008.

 

[the Jester]

I also think that women have a lot less trouble with sexy depictions of women in fantasy art than is usually claimed on RPG boards. Hell, I met a female player who used a Luis Royo picture for her character. Maybe it's because women are used to seeing naked breasts, all they need is a mirror.

Possibly, but I suspect an equally likely reason for the prevalence of 'sexy pc portraits' is that almost all females in fantasy art are depicted in sexy, underclad, eroticized positions. The pics that female gamers use are limited to the pics available of female characters; if 90% of those pics sexualize them, most women aren't going to have a lot of choices for a picture that even slightly resembles their pc that isn't eroticized.

 

[Savage Wombat]

Possibly, but I suspect an equally likely reason for the prevalence of 'sexy pc portraits' is that almost all females in fantasy art are depicted in sexy, underclad, eroticized positions. The pics that female gamers use are limited to the pics available of female characters; if 90% of those pics sexualize them, most women aren't going to have a lot of choices for a picture that even slightly resembles their pc that isn't eroticized.

Do not discount the women that WANT their characters to be sexually attractive. They buy books too. (And play on MMORPGs. At least they claim to be women.)

What women want is OPTIONS more than anything.

 

[Libramarian]

Forgive me rudeness, but since everyone is feeling free to express their opinions about other people's art work, I'll express my opinion as well. This thread strikes me as a whole bunch of people who know little or next to nothing about art expressing their uninformed nostalgic opinions about what makes good fantasy art.

Wayne Reynolds is an incredibly skilled artist. He does all of that work in acrylic paint with brush. His ability to capture movement and the weight of a figure is brilliant. He has a unique style that you recognise instantly. People keep using the word cartoony as if that somehow his style not being realism made it of less value. BTW, pet peeve, I really despise people who say cartoon as though it was a dirty word.

If you want a crack at 4e art, sheesh seriously ... you're going to pick out Wayne Reynolds ...?

Also, for those who keep harping on about the size of the sword in the original image ... did you ALL skip over the post where someone posted the character description and the fact that it is a Frost Giant's sword? You do realise that the artist usually gets a brief of the image to be drawn? So if you don't like the fact that it's a static pose or in this case a really huge sword or whatever, rather than an action scene or a normal sized sword, don't blame the artist, blame the person who wrote the description of the image they wanted illustrated.

There also seems to be a certain amount of contradictions about what people want ...
I love 2e art .... but no bikini chainmail chicks! We want chaste, well dressed women who remind us of our mothers! Well ... many many of Larry Elmore's illustrations were extremely erotic. Exactly what some people are clamouring against. Reynold's 'low cut bikini line' is very tame in comparison.
https://www.reedcomics.com/images/photos/art_elmore/oldcrows_L.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XB7t89tRUGU/Tgq-8M78RdI/AAAAAAAAFtc/H49l-bRT6jg/s400/elmorebw056.jpg

In any case I didn't realise how many prudes play D&D. Or are you just making an attempt at standing up for women's rights? My wife would have an interesting discussion with you about that. Here is the image she chose for her elf ranger character:
http://www.advancedanime.com/pictures/normal_night_elf_babe.jpg

And now, so you can criticise my taste, here is an image I think is cool:
http://www.hdgamewallpapers.com/var/resizes/Game Woman (20).jpg?m=1313692489

With regard to the image in the OP, it's not that she's sexualized, it's that she's both sexualized and looks to be about 14 or 15 years old. Actually judging from the fat deposits in her cheeks she's about 3 years old.

That's what I find (mildly) disturbing--"sneaking" sexuality into the image by cloaking it in cuteness.

This is an anime thing. It's derived from the kawaii aspect of Japanese culture.

I'm not into it.

 

[TwinBahamut]

With regard to the image in the OP, it's not that she's sexualized, it's that she's both sexualized and looks to be about 14 or 15 years old. Actually judging from the fat deposits in her cheeks she's about 3 years old.

That's what I find (mildly) disturbing--"sneaking" sexuality into the image by cloaking it in cuteness.

This is an anime thing. It's derived from the kawaii aspect of Japanese culture.

I'm not into it.

There is nothing anime about that image. That character looks absolutely nothing like a 3 year old or a 14 year old. She's sexualized, sure, but not remotely in any way connected to your talk about your perceptions of Japanese art. I don't even really agree with your perceptions of Japanese art and culture.

So, I can't say I really agree with you on any of your points. I think you are just letting bias and rather offensive preconceptions get in the way of your train of thought.

 

[Libramarian]

Would you agree that her face is designed to be cute, while her mid-section and hips are designed to be sexy?

 

[TwinBahamut]

Would you agree that her face is designed to be cute, while her mid-section and hips are designed to be sexy?

No. What is cute about her face? WAR's angry expressions are quite the opposite of that. I find her face rather ugly, myself.

 

[Libramarian]

I would describe it more as pouty than angry.