I for one, am a big fan of the new 3/3.5e art. I loved the full color, full page art in 2e. I even enjoyed the rather cartooned look that the old AD&D books (black cover with the demon idol and deal lizard men). Before I really got into D&D, I was into the art by the Brothers Hildebrant (the Sword of Shannara pose especially).
When I got into D&D, the PHB I had was the AD&D demon idol version. The black and white art on the overly thick pages was passing at best. The one picture that stands out in my mind as absolutely laughable was the old racial comparison. The “paladin in hell” was probably the best.
When I saw the 3e version I was astonished. Most of the book was full of colored pictures and what was presented was a vast improvement in a professional look. No longer did it look like TSR scoured the local middle school for “talent” but there was actual honest to goodness artistic talent.
Say what you will about how the art makes you feel, but the quality of the artwork is pretty good. Comic book, anime-inspired, (I’d say less than .5% of the art I’ve see in WotC books is really anime) - some, yes. I do not see the problem with the buckle on the human’s shirt nor the “spikes” on the elf’s tunic in the racial profile. I’ve always drawn my own elves with slightly leafy looking stoles, sleeves, and cuffs. I wouldn’t call that anymore spiky than I would call Redgar a bookish wizard.
Sweeping generalizations of “Dungeon Punk” and “Anime Art” isn’t cool. I think WotC’s art choices are not entirely geared towards the Elmore generation, but towards the people who have yet to experience the joy that is D&D (
). In a day and age where games are described with pixels, FPS, and min-system requirements; the art is going to be what attracts younger players.
Like it or not, people judge books by the pictures. WotC realizes it’s not going to find a market with the dilettante’s of the art world, but with the what the kids like these days – yup you guessed it – Anime and Comic Book Style “Punk and Spikes and Piercing… etc”. We’ve all been snared. We like the game based on the contents – maybe not the art.
Lockwood, WAR, Elmore – all have a different style. All of us have our favorites (I like the elegance of Lockwood and the grit and menace of WAR, while I find Elmore’s stuff that needs to be framed, not stuck in an RPG book). I’ve taken one too many art classes to not have an appreciation for art. It bugs me when people call art crap. Now I’ve seen crap art – and it is just crap because I don’t like it.
I think I’m rambling, so I’ll cut it short here.
Erge … rambling on to himself
