There are only two things I don't like about Pathfinder art...

Silly big swords. Like the Barbarian class illustration.
But, mostly, goblins/hobgoblins. They look stupid and cartoony.

Quote from: Nexus;906407Online art discussions/debates are almost always heated, IME.

Edit: I don't have any skin in this particular game. I've never seen the guy's work. I have liked artists that many have claimed to be objectively bad and hated ones that allot of people thought were geniuses.

1: Ive done some art teaching and one of the most frustrating things is hammering into some artists heads the idea of proper perspective and how it can throw off an otherwise good or great piece. How even a little bit off can skew a whole piece. Proportions arent as much a problem as long as theres some consistency. But some artist just fail even basic anatomy FOREVER. The human head does not swivel that far around! Spines to not contort like that and unless you are my niece, human limbs do not bend in those directions.

2: Hers one example of his stuff. Placed in spoiler box as its a bit large. Good example of his strengths and weaknesses.

Spoiler

Quote from: Omega2: Hers one example of his stuff. Placed in spoiler box as its a bit large. Good example of his strengths and weaknesses.

Spoiler

Oh, I think I have seen some of his stuff then. I've liked what I've seen and I don't see the glaring problems in that one. But I'm not an artist.

Quote from: Nexus;906426Oh, I think I have seen some of his stuff then. I've liked what I've seen and I don't see the glaring problems in that one. But I'm not an artist.

Its nearly allways little things. Perspecta off kilter somehow. Or one I notice a few times from him is that things held have a tendency to not follow the flow of the hand or object. I was looking at anonther piece of his and the character was holding a sword. Except the hilt was at such an angle and elevation that it was passing through the fingers if it could be seen, and he covered that spot with a basket hilt. Another one is that he likes drawing rather flat nosed characters. Though thats a style rather than a problem. I know at least two artists who use a very similar style.

But as noted above. His art is really good and usually really crammed with details. Its akin to Larry Elmore's art with all the little details. His art is also usually very dynamic and he is really good at expressing high kinetic action in several of his pieces.

Quote from: Nexus;906407Edit: I don't have any skin in this particular game. I've never seen the guy's work.

OK, seriously you play RPG's, you post on an RPG forum. You've never seen any Pathfinder RPG product cover ever? Really? OK....

Quote from: Ronin;906432OK, seriously you play RPG's, you post on an RPG forum. You've never seen any Pathfinder RPG product cover ever? Really? OK....

Not so much that I know the artist by name and sight or have much of an opinion. Now that I've an example attached to a name I think I've seen a couple of other pieces by him but I'm not sure. But no I don't play Pathfinder, I don't read Pathfinder material, I have pretty 0 interest in the genre Pathfinder emulates or the system uses so I didn't even go into the section it was in when I went to the game store (I order online these days) so if I did see it it was a glance in passing. I've never played Pathfinder, I don't read threads about Pathfinder. I wouldn't claims to have seen any romance novel cover artist either but I read a great deal.


Does he do all the art in all the Pathfinder books? I've never heard of the guy before now.

Quote from: Nexus;906434Why would I lie about not having seen or recognizing a rpg illustrator?

Just seems improbable given this hobby

Quote from: Nexus;906434Does he do all the art in all the Pathfinder books?

Probably not all artwork. But every cover they have.

Quote from: Ronin;906437Just seems improbable given this hobby

There's people in this hobby that are only vaguely aware the games aside from whatever version of D and D they're playing exist

Touché

Quote from: Christopher Brady;906362Man, this is going to read so damn elitist, and I'm honestly sorry for it, but it's clear you don't actually draw.  But from someone who does, he short cuts way too much without actually mapping things out like perspective, body proportions and distance and size in general.  He obfuscates his issues with bright, bold and effective colour work that makes the images pop.  Unfortunately, those of us who know see right through it.

Chris, you make some great points esp if you were teaching a drawing class, but at the same time I do not agree with your conclusions. The matter of perspective and distance makes me think each character was designed to be a standalone piece of really high quality clip art and resizing stuff on Photoshop layers isn't a real substitute. When I look at his images with many characters, I visualize the layers.

What makes good art? You can attach 'good' to just about anything. For many artists, the best art is the art that makes them the most money, or enables them to command higher salaries because their particular style is now in demand. In that case, someone who designs something like the notorious Instagram icon is "good". I think what he does is intentional in his designs for Pathfinder, and if he were suddenly to apply different style metrics to his art, it would look less Paizo - and that's not good for the client.

Quote from: Ronin;906437Just seems improbable given this hobby

Probably not all artwork. But every cover they have.

1: Guess what. Up untill  about 4 months ago I'd never seen a single Pathfinder product or looked at a cover. Nor heard of the artist. Like Nexus I've probably seen his art here and there. But also nothing really drawn to my attention to look at till recently to connect.

2: Mostly covers but from what I am seeing on a quick search also a fair amount of interior pieces. How much or where? Who knows. I assume hes Pazios in-house artist?

Quote from: Christopher Brady;906372The whole point of drawing, sketching and comic style art is to fool the viewer into thinking a 2D image is 3D.

Really? That's news to me...  

QuoteBut if you can pick out the flaws while looking at it, then it's terrible.  It's sloppy.

You sound like one of those people at art shows who proudly announce, "Heck, my kid can draw better than that!"

I'm not a huge fan of this guy's stuff but I find it a whole lot more interesting than Elmore, despite Elmore striving for a more realistic style his stuff is just fucking bland to me.

Quote from: Simlasa;906451Really? That's news to me...  
You sound like one of those people at art shows who proudly announce, "Heck, my kid can draw better than that!"

Not married, no kids, and no, I'm not that good.  I might have had a chance to be once, but not anymore.

Quote from: Simlasa;906451I'm not a huge fan of this guy's stuff but I find it a whole lot more interesting than Elmore, despite Elmore striving for a more realistic style his stuff is just fucking bland to me.

I will agree with that.  But maybe I'm biased, I'm more of a Frazetta fan, I liked the way he posed his characters dynamically.  Elmore barely poses at all.  Even Boris Vallejo does more dynamic work than Elmore does.  And Vallejo is often blasted for his static posing, although his work is beautiful,

As for my comment on 'Objectively bad' I meant in terms of mechanics, like perspective, there are several differing types, but Mr. Reynolds doesn't seem to know what they are, limb lengths for human (not humanoid, you can get away with a LOT with Fantasy creatures like Elves and Halflings) and how they're attached to the body, what I've been told are some of the basics (others include lighting and shading.)

But again, I will give him credit where it's due, he has a great sense of dynamic motion and a keen eye for colour.  His images are impactful and memorable.

Quote from: Omega;9064452: Mostly covers but from what I am seeing on a quick search also a fair amount of interior pieces. How much or where? Who knows. I assume hes Pazios in-house artist?

He was, he's done work outside, like D&D 4e's atrocious Darksun cover.  But he mostly works for Paizo, or so it seems.

His art isn't something I'm hanging in the living room.  I like his interesting take on things.  TBH, I don't find 'traditional fantasy art' to be interesting.

Quote from: Crüesader;906514His art isn't something I'm hanging in the living room.  I like his interesting take on things.  TBH, I don't find 'traditional fantasy art' to be interesting.

For me it depends on the mood im in i like it some times but not at other times i want something that looks like the cover of a dragon lance book.