Old School Inspirational Art Thread

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LotFP used to have some pretty epic art that stayed in the same vein. Their newer artwork is... different. Very cartoony, stylized, and kinda... amateurish.

Speaking of the good old days, now that Raggi says he will stop catering to his critics will he be reprinting the Lego Maniac's titles?
 
Reynolds has "the rule of cool" down just fine and there's nothing wrong with his technique, but his compositions are "floaty". Characters always seem like they are striking a pose, even in a dynamic scene, and there's never any "weight" or grit to anything. It's all basically medieval(ish) superheroes. Not my cup o' tay, but for this generation it seems to be what they are drawn to or inspired by (I guess?).
 
Neon said:
LotFP used to have some pretty epic art that stayed in the same vein. Their newer artwork is... different. Very cartoony, stylized, and kinda... amateurish.

Speaking of the good old days, now that Raggi says he will stop catering to his critics will he be reprinting the Lego Maniac's titles?
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I heard recently that he is going to be working with him again, but I can't remember who told me that, so take it with a grain of salt.
 
there's one author that refuses to work with Raggi again, some guy who did a Willy Wonka pastiche for LotFP
 
Nick J said:
Reynolds has "the rule of cool" down just fine and there's nothing wrong with his technique, but his compositions are "floaty". Characters always seem like they are striking a pose, even in a dynamic scene, and there's never any "weight" or grit to anything. It's all basically medieval(ish) superheroes. Not my cup o' tay, but for this generation it seems to be what they are drawn to or inspired by (I guess?).
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And yet this is also Wayne Reynolds, and to me at least seems much better than his Pathfinder stuff.

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Baulderstone said:
I heard recently that he is going to be working with him again, but I can't remember who told me that, so take it with a grain of salt.
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Can the whole "art punk" rpg scene we have today be traced back to ZS work on LotFP?

I used to own all his stuff at one point and considered his style novel. I dont recall seeing anything like that in the rpg sphere before him.
 
Neon said:
Can the whole "art punk" rpg scene we have today be traced back to ZS work on LotFP?

I used to own all his stuff at one point and considered his style novel. I dont recall seeing anything like that in the rpg sphere before him.
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I don't see Mork Borg or Troika as being particularly influenced by Vornheimort
 
raniE said:
And yet this is also Wayne Reynolds, and to me at least seems much better than his Pathfinder stuff.

View attachment 55262
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That's better, but there's still something kind of "bloodless" about the whole scene. (I say this is a hack illustrator who gave up on my dream of being a paid artist pretty early on, so bully for him for being able to make a career out of it).
 
I must admit this is better than his Pathfinder stuff.
Apart from the fact that the foremost footmen wielding lances are the clones of one man (and hence, a man at war with himself ! I sense a mystery... :wink:).
 
Nick J said:
Reynolds has "the rule of cool" down just fine and there's nothing wrong with his technique, but his compositions are "floaty". Characters always seem like they are striking a pose, even in a dynamic scene, and there's never any "weight" or grit to anything. It's all basically medieval(ish) superheroes. Not my cup o' tay, but for this generation it seems to be what they are drawn to or inspired by (I guess?).
Click to expand...
The weird thing with Reynolds is that he’s done some work for Osprey in a realistic/historical mode that is perfectly fine in a technical sense - the anatomy and poses are realistic, the weapons and armor and clothing are all historically accurate, the backgrounds look like real locations, etc. So he clearly can do art in that style - it’s not great, but totally serviceable, like pretty much all Osprey art.

And yet, as soon as the subject turns to fantasy all of that goes out the window - all anatomy and poses and gear all become exaggerated and cartoony and non-proportional, the compositions become way too cluttered and busy, and it all looks (to my taste) like utter crap. Seeing his art (or other art in the same style, like most of the 5E art) on the cover of a book makes me significantly less interested in buying it.

I pine for the return of “grounded” fantasy art, and knowing that Reynolds could produce work in that style frustrates me.
 
raniE said:
And yet this is also Wayne Reynolds, and to me at least seems much better than his Pathfinder stuff.

View attachment 55262
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When talking about commercial artists, you always need to factor in that they are working from a brief given to them by an art director. They then send back sketches, get feedback, and this goes back and forth until a final image is created. Wayne Reynolds might be just as sick of that style as other people, but it pays the bills. It's like being a rock band that's been playing the same basic set since the '70s.
Lychee of the Exchequer said:
I must admit this is better than his Pathfinder stuff.
Apart from the fact that the foremost footmen wielding lances are the clones of one man (and hence, a man at war with himself ! I sense a mystery... :wink:).
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Another factor is how much time an employer gives them and how much they are willing to pay. You want a battle scene in a week at my base rate? Okay. Don't expect me to spend a lot of time on faces.
 
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Baulderstone said:
While I can admit that Zak has technical skill, his art has never made me feel an emotion.
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Yeah on a technical level it's alright, but most of it just feels like it's trying to be edgy.
and then there's the crabs with fists, which is down right silly.
 
Giganotosaurus said:
Yeah on a technical level it's alright, but most of it just feels like it's trying to be edgy.
and then there's the crabs with fists, which is down right silly.
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That's not Zak. I like the handy crabs better than anything of Zak's.
Neon said:
Can the whole "art punk" rpg scene we have today be traced back to ZS work on LotFP?

I used to own all his stuff at one point and considered his style novel. I dont recall seeing anything like that in the rpg sphere before him.
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I don't find anything particularly punk about Zak or his work, other than his hair style. Maybe it's my proximity to the New York art scene, but he just seems like an aging art school kid.

Now, going back the '90s, Hōl is punkier than anything Zak has ever done.
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Baulderstone said:
TristramEvans said:
I feel like the RPG world needs a new H.O.L.
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Now, going back the '90s, Hōl is punkier than anything Zak has ever done.
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Human Occupied Municipal Enclave

The entire world is a nursing home. The tiles are cracking and fading and the structural supports are bowing from the addition of more and more condo units atop the original foundations. The halls are terrorized by chair wheeler gangs. In the lounges the ambulatos creep through the rows of the sleeping catatonics for a view of the telly knowing if they are awakened their cries will bring the dreaded orderlies in their spotless white uniforms and syringes of passivitity. Above the orderlies in this hiearchy of hell are the nursing staff with their pills and dietary restrictions. There is no hope, there is no future, only the endless reruns of Bradey Bunch and the slow chipping and peeling of the paint.
 
Nick J said:
Reynolds has "the rule of cool" down just fine and there's nothing wrong with his technique, but his compositions are "floaty". Characters always seem like they are striking a pose, even in a dynamic scene, and there's never any "weight" or grit to anything. It's all basically medieval(ish) superheroes. Not my cup o' tay, but for this generation it seems to be what they are drawn to or inspired by (I guess?).
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I actually like Reynolds, but a lot of his stuff looks like that "Complete Adventurer" miniature who can barely be seen under all of his gear.

JG
 
T. Foster said:
The weird thing with Reynolds is that he’s done some work for Osprey in a realistic/historical mode that is perfectly fine in a technical sense - the anatomy and poses are realistic, the weapons and armor and clothing are all historically accurate, the backgrounds look like real locations, etc. So he clearly can do art in that style - it’s not great, but totally serviceable, like pretty much all Osprey art.

And yet, as soon as the subject turns to fantasy all of that goes out the window - all anatomy and poses and gear all become exaggerated and cartoony and non-proportional, the compositions become way too cluttered and busy, and it all looks (to my taste) like utter crap. Seeing his art (or other art in the same style, like most of the 5E art) on the cover of a book makes me significantly less interested in buying it.

I pine for the return of “grounded” fantasy art, and knowing that Reynolds could produce work in that style frustrates me.
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I find his RPG work to be in the 'all spikes, all the time' school, even when there aren't any spikes in the picture, somehow. I miss the Lockwood and Wood art of D&D 3.0. That said, I wish Lockwood's dragons hadn't been quite so influential - just about everyone's dragons these days are clearly descended from his, and some are very close derivations, and not just in D&D art. I like his dragons a lot, but a bit more variation would be nice.
 
Baulderstone said:
When talking about commercial artists, you always need to factor in that they are working from a brief given to them by an art director. They then send back sketches, get feedback, and this goes back and forth until a final image is created. Wayne Reynolds might be just as sick of that style as other people, but it pays the bills. It's like being a rock band that's been playing the same basic set since the '70s.
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On the other hand, I've seen comments by art directors about how hard it is to get just what you want from some artists - you say you want changes, the artist sends back a new version that's almost exactly the old version just at the deadline so there's no time for more revisions, and thus the artist basically gets their way.

Baulderstone said:
Another factor is how much time an employer gives them and how much they are willing to pay. You want a battle scene in a week at my base rate? Okay. Don't expect me to spend a lot of time on faces.
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Apparently Steve Jackson was once asked why he kept using Smif when Smif's art was 'crap'. [questioner's opinion] His response was that Smif was easy to work with, worked for a reasonable price, and turned in work on time. So GURPS was full of Smif art.
 
Sharrow said:
I think some of Elmore's work is great, and a lot is pretty average. His earlier work is better, IMO - he had more sense of fun.
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Some of his pieces to me are absolutely iconic - like when I think D&D, it's one of his paintings that pops into my head (or an amalgamation of some of his paintings). Some are just kinda meh. But I mean, that's part of being an artist.

I can't recall seeing any of his I actually hated.
 
Here is the death of Sturm for those few who may ve unfamiliar with it.

elmore_deathofsturm.jpg

My personal favourite is this one as it has a little story and an 80s hippie cleric.

Avalyne-The-Life-Giver.jpg

The B&W interior art he did for BECMI is often really good.

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31691acbb0d6a9d631bbde74505fc053--classic-rpg-art-google.jpgelmore_clerics.jpg
 
The first set of Elmore illustrations really cause my gorge to rise. (“Gorge” isn’t what you think, perv!)

The second set are pretty good.

I prefer Keith Parkinson to all of the above, but sadly no more is in the pipeline.
 
Arminius said:
The first set of Elmore illustrations really cause my gorge to rise. (“Gorge” isn’t what you think, perv!)

The second set are pretty good.

I prefer Keith Parkinson to all of the above, but sadly no more is in the pipeline.
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Oh man, Parkinson had some of the great iconic RPG covers, not mentioning all the EQ stuff.
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