Zander said:
For the most part I disagree with you about the dragon illos. Lockwood's dragons have feline postures and over-muscled wings (in the region of the chest/back). Dragons should be more reptilian than anything else and you shouldn't worry about making it look like they have the necessary musculature to fly. They're fantasy creatures after all. I much prefer Elmore's dragons even though I think their forelimbs are too much like human arms.
Another art discussion. What fun.
Well, I disagree with your "issues" with Lockwood. Dragons are huge, flying creatures. It stands to reason that a creature that size (assuming it could develop such a physiology) would have tremendous chest, back, and wing muscles. Also, consider that dragons can't be reptiles anymore than Dinosaurs can't be reptiles. Too fast, no degree of lethargy, don't need to "warm up" (although one could argue that their size helps retain heat), and so on. Illustrating D&D dragons in a reptilian sense would present very sluggish looking beast... which D&D dragons aren't.
As for the rest of the list presented by U_K...
I agree with most of it.
I think WAR is one of the best artists out there and I think his Constructs and Outsiders are among the best. However, his Giants (in the Faerun MM) were fantastic, and I absolutely loved his Illithilich and Banelich in the same book.
Sam Wood is another fantastic artist who I think actually beats WAR with evil Outsiders. The best of his Outsiders appear as inkwashes in Green Ronin's
Legions of Hell. They are far more... disturbing looking than WARs. I also think he does fantastic dragons.
I have always, and will always, despise Jeff Easely. His textures are flat and heavy. His color tend to lean to brown and dirty. The facial features of his characters leave a lot to be desired. Why does virtually every character have clawed hands? Why are the images he creates always twisted and contorted looking? His dragons are among the worst in the genre. The wings tend to be too small; he pays no attention to detail; they often look like they're sculpted from clay rather than appearing like living breathing creatures. The only pictures of his I've ever liked was the cover of the 2ed DMG (with the dueling Wizard and Dragon) and Dragonlance painting that featured Dragonlord Verminaard and Ember pointing at Tas. Otherwise, I detest his art.
As for Elmore, he introduced to me to what I thought quality fantasy art was. Although he's not my favorite (Lockwood, WAR, Wood, Keith Parkinson tend to rank closer to the top for me), I greatly admire and respect his work. Clyde Caldwell created some great images over the years, although I think most of the best ones appeared in Dragonlance.
Kieth Parkinson is a master of textures; I love how you can feel the snow in the mural that depicts four of the five Draconians... I love how I can feel the ground tremble and the air turn cold in Lord Soth's Charge! I love how I can smell the ozone in the image of a blue dragon breathing on the head of a gold dragon. Great stuff!
{Stumbles around in shocked disbelief}
