Planescape artwork what if...

[Desdichado]

So, the other night I'm talking to my friend about D&D artwork over the years, and he makes the somewhat offhand comment that he wishes Brom had been the illustrator for Planescape instead of DiTerlizzi... he's got that dark, exotic, H.R. Giger-esque fantasy style that would have worked very well for the setting while DiTerlizzi has a very whimsical, fairytale type of style.

To be honest with you, I had never thought about that before, but I thought it sounded like in incredible idea, and I started wondering; if he had illustrated Planescape, would it have changed the tone and feel of the setting, I wonder, even if the text of the books was exactly the same? I tend to think maybe it would.

 

[Magic Slim]

(an example of Brom's work, please...)

I loved the Planescape setting. I really liked DiTerlizzi's interpretation of it. He had a particular style, but I don't qualify it as being whimsical or fairytale-like. He drew some mean-looking bastards, IIRC.

It was also refreshing to see an artist (or actually, it was fun to see TSR / WotC letting an artist) distancing himself with the traditional fantasy, pseudo-realistic feel.

my 2 cents, of course.

Slim

 

[bekkilyn_rpg]

Planescape is one of my favorites and I also enjoyed the artwork. It seemed unique which fit very well with such a unique setting.

Brom does good artwork though and it's possible he could have been a good choice for the setting, though I'd probably have to see it happen first.

At the same time, I doubt that I would have liked the setting any more or less regardless of who did the artwork. It was the concept and presentation of the written content which drew me in the most. Well that and playing Planescape: Torment.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

We would have had to live with a lot less art for Planescape!

Brom was lead for Dark-Sun, remember. He only did covers though. Baxa did most interiors.

Since we are playing "what if" though, I can definitelky see many of the naysayers that could not take PS seriously due to the art giving it a chance. It would have been very cool

- but how much more popular could it have been? I suppose art would work both ways - some TD fans might never have gotten into the setting

TD did a GREAT job with PS, and he was damned prolific too.

Smokeblower ( or whomever you are ) : You know Brom:

 

[Psion]

I loved Planescape, but it was despite TD, not because of him. I really didn't appreciate his style outside of his famous cat lord and tiefling pics.

I much preferred the look of the line later under rk post. Didn't Brom do one or two of the later covers as well?

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

I thought TDs stuff was great. It was a nice break away from "traditional" RPG art.

I mean, nothing wrong with the traditional stuff. But sometimes you have to change things out and Planescape was just the setting to do that.

 

[RenoOfTheTurks]

Brom did the cover to the Planescape supplement The Inner Planes, and while it was quite nice I certainly would not choose Brom over DiTerlizzi as the setting's early, primary illustrator. To me, DiTerlizzi's dark pen and ink/watercolor material in many of the Planescape books typifies the "tone", "feel", and "wonder" (the three most important concepts of PS campaigns) of the setting. I would not characterize Diterlizzi's work *on the setting* as too whimsical for the setting, though some of his other projects are more light-hearted.

And while Brom would have been great trading off covers with TD, I don't know that he'd have the stamina to illustrate the insides of all the books. He seems to want all his characters to look so polished and 'uber-dark/cool' that, aside from such a thing becoming tedious eventually, he might have a hard time filling all those PS books! I haven't seen his quicker, more sketchy pieces, if any, but I know that I loved the tone and great variety of DiTerlizzi's!

So those are my thoughts. I like Brom too, but wouldn't change anything about the art on the inside of the Planescape books.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Brom did a cover for a Planescape product, it was Inner Planes...

And most of art in Dead Gods was done by RK Post. What I wasn't too keen on in PS was the Adam Rex illustrations that appeared later.

 

[hellbender]

They should have gotten Simon Bisley to do Planescape. While I like Diterlizzi, his lower planar creatures aren't that scary.

hellbender

 

[Desdichado]

Brom did the cover to the Planescape supplement The Inner Planes, and while it was quite nice I certainly would not choose Brom over DiTerlizzi as the setting's early, primary illustrator. To me, DiTerlizzi's dark pen and ink/watercolor material in many of the Planescape books typifies the "tone", "feel", and "wonder" (the three most important concepts of PS campaigns) of the setting. I would not characterize Diterlizzi's work *on the setting* as too whimsical for the setting, though some of his other projects are more light-hearted

But which came first, the chicken or the egg? If Brom had done the interior art -- granted, that assumes he works quickly enough to have done it -- would the feel and tone of the game have been different? Would the game play like a dark, Giger-esque setting because it had dark Giger-esque art? How much does the art influence the setting anyway, I wonder?