D&D General One Piece of Art II (Monsters)- What D&D Art Inspired You to Love a Monster?

[Richards]

Can't find a link just yet (will keep looking) but the 3.5 Elemental weirds (Monster Manual II, pp 90-93) always stuck with me and I can recall the second image (fire and earth weirds) at any moment.

Here you go:

Johnathan

 

[Sacrosanct]

I know I've been posting old school art (because that was my most formative years), but some of the 5e concept art really struck me as excellent

 

[Yaarel]

I love this picture. The image depicts a 3e large constrictor snake. However, this is what most dragons look like in my settings. Wyrmlings tend to be born as horned snakes, shed skin to develop forearms when young, and again to develop wings when ancient.

 

[WarDriveWorley]

A LOT of monster specific art work over the ages made me fall in love with D&D. Some more than others. So many evocative prints, regardless of if they have color or not. I remember being awed by the Giants and Dragons, frightened by the Githyanki and Sons of Kyuss, viscerally loathing the demons and devils, and imagining myself in the sweeping vistas and set pieces provided by Easley and Elmore. And my love wasn't limited to any specific edition or artist. Reynolds, Brom, Caldwell, Trampier, DiTerlizzi (especially DiTerlizzi sincne I loved Planescape), and Wildermann all pulled me into what would become the best hobby I've ever played.

But nothing really grabbed me as much as the Jeff Easley cover for the Greyhawk Adventures Book. The "heroic" adventurer with the magic sword on the back of a hippogriff rushing to fight a dragon perched atop a sinister mountain.

THIS spoke to me in ways my hero starved soul was craving. This was a cool drink for a starving kid and I couldn't put it down.

 

[RoughCoronet0]

While I always found the Couatl and interesting creature, it was this 4e art that made me fall in love with it.
View attachment C6D4F7F2-B75D-4837-874E-9BE00BB16793.webp

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Source: FR1 Waterdeep and the North
Artist: Keith Parkinson
Title: The Xanathar Guild

I saw this image when I was still a young lad drawing dungeon maps and filling every room with monsters, traps, and treasures. That was game for me. But this suddenly made me realise that the worlds we imagined could be so much more interesting and entertaining.

Think about how novel it was to believe that a thieves' guild was secretly run by a beholder?! What kind of people would be willing to serve such a foul, alien being? And how about a couple intellect devourers for pets? Did anyone think those could be domesticated?

This image redefined what the world of D&D could be like. It was more than just dungeons and monsters waiting for adventurers to come steal their loot after dispatching them to the next plane of existence. This was a lot more fun, and a lot more surprising than I had previously imagined!

 

[Tallifer]

This.

 

[Richards]

I'm pretty sure that particular monster will love you right back, Tallifer.

Johnathan

 

[Scott Christian]

 

[Cadence]

So much art in B/X is burned into my memory.

The first adventure I ever wrote had some Carrion Crawlers, but the stars were the Kobolds.

Erol Otus from Moldvay Basic. They always be scaly dog-men instead of doggy lizardmen to me.