D&D General One Piece of Art III (Magic Items)- What D&D Art Inspired You to Love a Magic Item

[Mannahnin]

Yeah, Willingham's blackrazor is probably #1 for me. Other notables:

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I still need to mull over my answer to the original question, but these two put me in mind of another sword illustration from Cook Expert that I've always loved.

 

[J.Quondam]

It's weird. Not sure why this question is so hard, but it is. Except for the one image that is burned into my brain, practically nothing concrete springs to mind when I hear "magic item."
But as for "the one image that is burned into my brain", it's not even strictly D&D, but merely D&D-adjacent:

Artist: Unknown (maybe Jim Rosloff, who did the box art for this particular release, I think?)
Source: Dungeon! board game (One of the early 1980s editions, not sure exactly which one I had.)
Item: Medallion of ESP
Rationale: This thingamajig does all the right things and ticks all the right boxes: It keeps you out of danger in dangerous dungeons. It looks vaguely like what it does, without being too obvious. It forces you to look at the rules. It stares back if you stare at it. It clashes with everything in your wardrobe, while simultaneously matching everything in your wardrobe. And it's worth a decent chunk of gold. Truly it is a miraculous object!



* The second pic that pops into my head after a lot of grunting is:

Spoiler

Artist: Larry Elmore
Source: cover of BECMI Companion Set
Item: a M**F**ING MAGIC SWORD!!
Rationale: One more time for the slowpokes: it's a M**F**ING MAGIC SWORD!! This is a great archetypal scene featuring a great archetypal magic sword meant for superheroic characters who have leveled up to shiny spandex full plate and flowing cape.

 

[Emirikol]

M.star

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

It's weird. Not sure why this question is so hard, but it is. Except for the one image that is burned into my brain, practically nothing concrete springs to mind when I hear "magic item."

This was actually a theory I had when I was posting this-

For various reasons, there is a lot of great and inspirational art when it comes to Classes and Monsters and other stuff in D&D ... but not magic items.

Heck, if I was to think of the most iconic magic item image in Fantasy, for me ... it's probably this ...

Not joking, either. There was a WHOLE GENERATION of D&D players confused when they looked at Appendix T in Unearthed Arcana.

Why is this? Why the lack of great magic item art? I'm not sure, but perhaps a 20,000 word essay might shed some light on the subject.

 

[J.Quondam]

Why is this? Why the lack of great magic item art? I'm not sure, but perhaps a 20,000 word essay might shed some light on the subject.

I wonder if its because memorable art tends to be "people doing stuff," at least in the context of an action-oriented game book? The items in those images are rarely the focus.
Because it's not how magical your thingamajig is, it's what you do with it.

 

[jmartkdr2]

The more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to accept Snarf's stealth hypothesis about a lack of inspiring magic item art. There's some nice-looking pieces, but nothing that made me consider an item I wouldn't have considered anyways, at least in DnD books.

Another potential theory: DnD magic items are kinda boring. They don't often come with cool backstories or exotic powers or do anything to stand out as something more than "a thing, but better." A +2 magic sword is still just a sword.

In other words, we need more Blackrazors.

 

[Sacrosanct]

This was actually a theory I had when I was posting this-

For various reasons, there is a lot of great and inspirational art when it comes to Classes and Monsters and other stuff in D&D ... but not magic items.

Heck, if I was to think of the most iconic magic item image in Fantasy, for me ... it's probably this ...

Not joking, either. There was a WHOLE GENERATION of D&D players confused when they looked at Appendix T in Unearthed Arcana.

Why is this? Why the lack of great magic item art? I'm not sure, but perhaps a 20,000 word essay might shed some light on the subject.

Heck, if we're reaching outside of D&D, the most iconic magic items that really stuck in my imagination and got me lost in adventure, it's these

Especially when it started glowing. To my 8-year-old mind, it was the most awesome and magic item ever.

Every single one of these, but especially the sword. I'd pay big money for an exact replica. IIRC someone actually made one at some point.

 

[Lidgar]

Well there's this...Thing.

 

[Nikosandros]

Artist: Darlene
Source: Dungeon Master's Guide 1979
Magic Item: Staff of the Serpent

As soon as I saw this drawing, I wanted to have one of those... except, I've never found one as a player...

 

[James Gasik]

This was actually a theory I had when I was posting this-

For various reasons, there is a lot of great and inspirational art when it comes to Classes and Monsters and other stuff in D&D ... but not magic items.

Heck, if I was to think of the most iconic magic item image in Fantasy, for me ... it's probably this ...

Not joking, either. There was a WHOLE GENERATION of D&D players confused when they looked at Appendix T in Unearthed Arcana.

Why is this? Why the lack of great magic item art? I'm not sure, but perhaps a 20,000 word essay might shed some light on the subject.

Yeah, while there are some memorable D&D items, like the Rod of Lordly Might or Daern's Instant Fortress, you rarely get the same kind of epic feel as you get from Glamdring, Excalibur, The Glaive, The Golden Lance, or The Sword of Omens. Hell, most people would be happy with Hank's Bow!