Monster Manual II Art Gallery!

[Hakkenshi]

Normally I'd say yes to anything by Sam Wood, as he's my favorite artist in the biz, but I have to admit, Lockwood's dragons are absolutely untouchable. Wood's brown and fang dragons were a bit disappointing. Especially after flipping the page and seeing Lockwood's shadow dragon! The gem dragons are completely sub-par relative to Lockwood. Or Wood, even, for that matter.


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And is there any DiTerlizzi art in there? I didn't notice any, but then I looked very quickly...
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I saw one. I haven't liked anything he's done for 3e yet, though. And only about half (if that) of what he did for 2e, for that matter.

As to the first part, my point exactly

And Tony DiTerlizzi's 2e stuff wasn't the best, I agree, but his Dragons look amazing. His website has some. He has some pretty incredible pieces, and certainly better than some of the art I've seen from MM2 so far (don't get me wrong, some of it is great!).

 

[Grazzt]

Will the revisions be available online for those who do not want to buy the book again? (Sorry if it is too early to say anything definite about this issue, but I'm curious.)

Not revisions. A reprint of the book (like a second printing). I assume it goes to the printer or distributors when the first run sells out (not sure how SSS is gonna do it).

 

[Tiefling]

WAR doing monster artwork is one of the best things WotC has going for them.

I must humbly disagree.

 

[Psion]

Originally posted by NeghVar
Anyone else think the art quality is not as consistent in this book? Some of the stuff is phenomenal and other stuff sux.

Y'know, if you took the way-back machine to when the MM1 came out, this statement would seem laughable. People were grousing about "X is great but Y suck" back then as well.

I think that it may just be a case that people are familiar/comfortable with the MM1.

 

[Upper_Krust]

The artwork is great!

I don't understand some of the dissentious posts regarding the artwork. Monster Manual 2 looks amazing.

Obviously everyone has their favourites and least favourite artists.

Though I for one don't empathise with those blasphemers who say they dislike Wayne Reynolds. Wayne Reynolds, more than any other artist epitomises 3rd Ed. In fact many of those who work in WotC mention him to be their favourite artist! Of all the D&D artists he unquestionably brings the most character to his illustrations!

I think a problem with some of the Dragon Illustrations is that they are too small (you can tell Glenn Angus and Todd Lockwood were restrained by illustration size. Anyone who has seen Deities & Demigods will know how good Glenn Angus unleashed can be!). Maybe its just me (?) but I would love to see Colossal size monsters represented by larger illustrations. I remember being very impressed by 'Kadum's Leviathan' in the Creature Collection 2. That illustration spanned two pages.

Sam Wood is brilliant, but some of his recent work seems rushed? Certainly not as good as his opening salvo in the Core Rulebooks (notably the Monster Manual). Compare the detail of his D&DG work with pretty much any of his fantastic MM illustrations - no comparison.

Generally I also like DiTerlizzi, though I remember being very disappointed by his 'Lolth' in Deities & Demigods.

 

[Desdichado]

I must humbly disagree.

As long as you keep that disagreement humble!

Seriously, though, I think WAR is an incredibly popular artist. A lot of gamers (myself included) come back to books we're not sure of just because his stuff is in it. From that respect, I think he's one of the best things WotC has going in the art department.

I also think, as U_K says, he really epitomizes what D&D has become: his Marc Silvestri influence is unmistakable, for example, and the just plain fantasy feel to all his work is unmistakable.

 

[Nightfall]

Will the revisions be available online for those who do not want to buy the book again? (Sorry if it is too early to say anything definite about this issue, but I'm curious.)

In an interview with Ian Watson of Wolfspoor.org, Joseph Carriker already stated that in 2003, there WILL be a Creature Collection Revised book. In it, it will have not only fixed mechanic errors BUT templates (Hag will be one of them) and also ELCs/Stat modifiers for some of the creatures that can be used in both a SL game AND outside of the Scarred Lands.

Nightfall: I think you're seeing things regarding the Blade Demon (or maybe you just want to see things? )

Maybe! But I still say there's GOT to be a few Creature Collection monsters in there. Just not quite sure where.

 

[Nightfall]

Not revisions. A reprint of the book (like a second printing). I assume it goes to the printer or distributors when the first run sells out (not sure how SSS is gonna do it).

Right Scott. The way Joseph explained it in his interview upcoming products for 2003, it will happen like this. When the book runs out, Creature Colllection Revised go to the stores and I don't believe that will happen UNTIL early in 2003. But again I'd have reread the interview to be certain.

 

[Tiefling]

It's hard (I'm no art critic), but I've done my best to pin down exactly what I hate about Reynolds's art. Overall his pictures strike me as crowded; there are so many tiny little details that it distracts from the whole. I know that I always hate the way he does feet. He couldn't draw a realistic foot to save his life. He tends to rely on the same pose for a lot of monsters: one foot off the ground, moving forward, hunched over to some degree (see the bugbear, kyton, mummy, and wight in the MM). His color art is better than his B&W, because it helps him hide another of his weaknesses, shading. Looking through the class books, his B&W shading is abyssmal; it lacks gradiation, just a couple shades of gray that are clearly seperated. He seems to draw in a more angular fashion than other artists, with fewer blended curves, and his lines tend to be sharp and unblended as well.

 

[Jeff Grubb]

MM2 and CC

Nightfall is not insane (Well, that's a relief).

There are one or more CC monsters in MM2. During the initial design I and Rich Redman targetted three potential candidates from CC, and Rich did full development work on them. Which ones made the final cut? How much have they changed? After all the work Skip Williams did during the Development phase, I literally can't say.

So I'm going to be surprised with everyone else (Skip's on vacation right now, so I can't ask him).

Jeff G.