WotC Artwork in books

[Von Ether]

I didn't forget Errol Otis; I only mentioned that type of thread in reference to my desire to avoid it and have a different kind of art thread; the up-and-comers that are doing work these days.

I didn't post any James Ryman, because most of his work is showing up in places that don't post their art galleries, but he's done some great stuff for Green Ronin, Privateer Press and Paizo. He's one to keep an eye on too. And I'm a huge Matt Wilson fan, but almost all of his work is with Privateer these days (not surprising; he's one of the co-founders I believe.)

http://www.jamesryman.com/

I really love the stuff he's done for the Warmachine game, plenty of steam without the punks.

 

[Chairman7w]

Westgate beat me to it! That Tarraasque picture ROCKS!!!

I love that picture. Great action, great composition... GREAT monster! I bought the book for no other reason than that picture was amazing. I think WOTC's recent art is really good.

 

[Pants]

For those that have the DMGII, is that WAR tarrasque illo a full pager?

 

[JoeGKushner]

If you like that one, check out his full page Shadowbane Inquisitor and Stalker in the Complete Adventurer. I have a feeling he used to do art for Games Workshop, some of the art in their 40K products is similar to his. Or maybe its just a false positive from how the CV illo reminds me of the Dark Angel Space Marines, and their Deathwing troops.

He did some work for Green Ronin in terms of their Assassin's Handbook, as well as the cover and some interior work on AEG's Mercenaries. He is definatly one of the best artists I've seen WoTC use lately.

 

[Psion]

For those that have the DMGII, is that WAR tarrasque illo a full pager?

Ayup.

 

[sjmiller]

I was looking at the artwork in the first post and I was trying to figure out what bugged me about them. It took me a minute but then it suddenly dawned on me. Just about all of them appear to me as figure studies with no context. There's no real background to speak of, no setting in which the characters are placed. The real exception to this, the one with the elf and the sky-ships, looks like it's not even finished. To me, art of this style should be able to tell a story without any words being added. I should be able to look at the picture, take the character in its surrounding, and come up with some context, some reason why this is occuring. The art that is shown left me going, "eh," instead of "wow!"

For the record, I am not always a fan of the "old school" artists either. I am more of a Renaissance masters fan myself. It's an acquired taste, I know.

 

[Desdichado]

I think that whole "no background" complaint is a bit of a straw man as well. Granted, I haven't done any type of comprehensive look at products across editions, and I couldn't very well anyway, not owning anything from 2e or even 1e anymore, but seem to recall that the vast majority of illustrations were simply figures standing around as well. Whereas now, there are plenty of pictures that are scenes, not just poses.

 

[Desdichado]

http://www.jamesryman.com/

I really love the stuff he's done for the Warmachine game, plenty of steam without the punks.

You rock! Thanks for the link! Sadly, none of his Warmachine stuff is there, although a fair amount of it is at the Privateer website.

Of course, I can also look at it in the books, luckily...

 

[sjmiller]

I think that whole "no background" complaint is a bit of a straw man as well. Granted, I haven't done any type of comprehensive look at products across editions, and I couldn't very well anyway, not owning anything from 2e or even 1e anymore, but seem to recall that the vast majority of illustrations were simply figures standing around as well. Whereas now, there are plenty of pictures that are scenes, not just poses.

Frankly, I was not comparing the pictures in the recent WotC books to previous incarnations of the D&D game. I am looking at them on their own. If anything, I would be comparing them to more classical artwork. Plus, I was just commenting on the artwork that was shown in this thread. I will have to go check out the old books when I get home, to at least get an idea of what older editions used.

 

[Wormwood]

I'm 35 years old, and whenever I look at my old D&D books it all looks like the crap I used to see airbrushed on the side of a van.

Maybe it's just me, but I no longer equate bong art with evocative fantasy imagery.

That said, I love WotC's D&D contemporary art and design choices. Bring on the spikes. Bring on the layered armor. Viva la dungeonpunk.