Which single RPG book, regardless of whether its core, adventure, sourcebook or the likes (as long as its an actual RPG book and not just an "art of rpgs book") do you think stands out to you as the one with the absolute best art ever?
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I dont think many will agree, but I thought the Stephen Fabian art in the van richten guidebooks was great. It is more about style than execution but just some of my favorite black and white illustrations for an RPG.
I'm torn between WHFRP and I think it was the second Ars Magica book, beautifully haunting work. Its hard to beat Warhammer Fantasy though, what I love about it are the little details, a needless balcony with underwear drying on it, a drawbridge with fiddly rickety looking supports, thought and consideration went into everything, and not a little research. I'd take a good Warhammer sketch over most glossy CGI efforts these days.
B/X Expert book (edited by Cook and Marsh)
Erol Otus's cover and creepy interior work, Willingham's heavy shadows, Dee's clean lines,... Every illustration in that book still appeals to me to this day.
Quote from: RPGPundit;579153Which single RPG book, regardless of whether its core, adventure, sourcebook or the likes (as long as its an actual RPG book and not just an "art of rpgs book") do you think stands out to you as the one with the absolute best art ever?
I'm very impressed by the art and design in the new Shadows of Esteren (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1176616619/shadows-of-esteren) book, especially now that I have the physical book. There are a lot of games I have with excellent pieces of art in them, but I can't think of any off-hand that work as well as a whole art and design package.
Actually, one other also recent book that has a very high concentration of excellent evocative art is Dungeon Crawl Classics (http://www.goodman-games.com/5070preview.html).
Ian Baggley's art for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (http://www.swordsmen-and-sorcerers.com/) just rocks the worlds of my imagination.
Quote from: John Morrow;579162Actually, one other also recent book that has a very high concentration of excellent evocative art is Dungeon Crawl Classics (http://www.goodman-games.com/5070preview.html).
Agreed.
Quote from: John Morrow;579162Actually, one other also recent book that has a very high concentration of excellent evocative art is Dungeon Crawl Classics (http://www.goodman-games.com/5070preview.html).
Is it just me, or has Jeff Dee's art gotten a lot worse than it was in the 80s? I've noticed this a while ago. It just seems more sloppy now.
Any D&D/AD&D book with Elmore work, and VtM as I'm a sucker for Tim Bradstreets work.
Also a big fan of Elmore, so basically anything with his artwork is great.
If I had to pick a single product, though, I'd go with the Complete Book of Humanoids. There's others that are similar, but basically it included a number of 'full-page' art with full color and all that jazz, and then several illustrations. I'd take more 'full paintings', if I could, but I think it had the right balance of art to text, and it really did stimulate my imagination.
Hrmmmm let's see..
Mouse Guard and Artesia are both very pretty books.
Qin the Warring States.
The original Mutants and Masterminds was quite nice.
Any L5R 4th edition or Eclipse Phase books.
Mouse Guard, definitely.
But Castle Falkenstein really stands out to me as well.
Eclipse Phase is the best (and probably most genre-appropriate) use of digital art in RPGs, in my book.
DCC has the best old school B&W art I've ever seen.
I have a distinct fondness for White Wolf WoD art. oWoD had lots of crap but some great pieces; nWoD is generally more understated but interesting as well.
For me, hands down the best art was by Janet Aulisio in the Earthdawn books. All of that was awesome and I still crack open those books to admire it.
God, that's hard. Best ever? For me so much of it is tied to setting. Some of it is so iconic, I cannot imagine the setting without the lead artist. For me Crom is Dark Sun, DiTerlizzi is Planescape, etc. (just like Jeff Dee is Melniboné, and everyone has overdeveloped calves and Elric's high cheekbones :p).
I will say I favor lush compositions, especially if they can find that magical Frazetta hazy-lush suggestive look. I love Bell & Vallejo and their attention to detail, but sometimes on the periphery, less is more. AS&SH retains several pieces that achieve this hazy-lush look I seek: focal point is detailed, enough periphery hazing for imagination to fill out.
However, though I do/did like Richard Kane-Ferguson M:tG work (as an example), I found it overly busy through the years. Seeing this aesthetic seemingly consume CCG art, it's an aesthetic I find like oregano -- a little goes a long way. Something like Larry Elmore however has such a classical golden mean composition that their oeuvre lasts far longer in a positive light in my memory.
Wow, that was a totally unproductive non-answer... :o
I'm a fan of the Chris Foss style starship art, so I was very enthused to see his work come into Traveller 4 in full color plates.
Too bad about the game...
I like Kent Burle's artwork in various Palladium books; Dragons and Gods, Land of the the damned 1 and 2. I like his charcoal drawings that depict scenes - usually weird but not disturbingly so.
I'm a big fan of Ramon Perez's comic-style artwork as well. He puts a lot of small details and jokes into his art.
Best book is hard to say though. Twilight 2000 2nd edition had consistently good artwork that evoked the mood of the setting. That's my choice off the top of my exhausted and drained head.
Technically it's only about 50% a true RPG, but... The original two Warhammer Realms of Chaos books. At the time (1988 & 1990), it felt like they were just taking gaming art to a whole new level. Even my non-gamer friends who usually dismissed "All that elf shit" were blown away when I accidently left one out and they started pawing through it.
Quote from: Sacrosanct;579161B/X Expert book (edited by Cook and Marsh)
Erol Otus's cover and creepy interior work, Willingham's heavy shadows, Dee's clean lines,... Every illustration in that book still appeals to me to this day.
Agreed. The AD&D books are my faves, as trite as it sounds. The Monster Manual is filled with Trampier work, which is never a bad thing.
Quote from: Sacrosanct;579167Is it just me, or has Jeff Dee's art gotten a lot worse than it was in the 80s? I've noticed this a while ago. It just seems more sloppy now.
I've kept track of his Deviantart page. The lines are definitely heavier, less confident perhaps. His work at re-creating his old TSR stuff does have a different feel because of it.
Quote from: Sacrosanct;579161B/X Expert book (edited by Cook and Marsh)
Erol Otus's cover and creepy interior work, Willingham's heavy shadows, Dee's clean lines,... Every illustration in that book still appeals to me to this day.
Agreed. The AD&D books are my faves, as trite as it sounds. The Monster Manual is filled with Trampier work, which is never a bad thing.
Quote from: Just Another Snake Cult;579300Technically it's only about 50% a true RPG, but... The original two Warhammer Realms of Chaos books. At the time (1988 & 1990), it felt like they were just taking gaming art to a whole new level. Even my non-gamer friends who usually dismissed "All that elf shit" were blown away when I accidently left one out and they started pawing through it.
I have heard a lot of praise for those books, too bad they are so rare and coveted.
Cheers
Quote from: John Morrow;579162I'm very impressed by the art and design in the new Shadows of Esteren (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1176616619/shadows-of-esteren) book, especially now that I have the physical book. There are a lot of games I have with excellent pieces of art in them, but I can't think of any off-hand that work as well as a whole art and design package.
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I have to agree strongly with this. Someone gave this book to me as a gift recently and the first thing I noticed is how well the art, layout and design all comes together as a whole. This book really makes a great first impression.
Quote from: BedrockBrendan;579342I have to agree strongly with this. Someone gave this book to me as a gift recently and the first thing I noticed is how well the art, layout and design all comes together as a whole. This book really makes a great first impression.
Yeah I was looking at that as well at GenCon and looked good.
Also Alpha Omega looked awesome but played a demo of it at Gencon a couple of years back and it didn't float my boat.
But the books sure were pretty
I agree its a tough call. I don't think I'd put any of the Old (A)D&D books in the running; I think arguing that is really being sort of partisan. Its pretty clear to me that there are gamebooks, including for games I personally don't care for, that have stunning art.
The DCC book may qualify as "in the running", though, I'd have to see it in person to be absolutely sure, and right now my copy is still lost in the mail.
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I always really liked the Shadowrun 1e art, especially Tim Bradstreet's stuff. It's hard to pin down one book. I like different books for different styles. I like BASH's style of art. Despite not being a big fn of the games, the VtM books had good art. Paranoia's art is amusing. Ars Magica's art is very evocative of the game itself, and so IMO is very good. I always loved the cover of Dragonquest 2e. Also, much of the DnD art is very nostalgic for me, and some was pretty good in it's own right as well. Especially in the 1e Monster Manual.
Vince Martin is probably my all time favorite (RIFTS: Japan, Nightspawn, etc).
Big fan of Ramon Perez, Freddie Williams for their comic style art (not surprisingly, both moved on to drawing comic books from Palladium), and Mike Mumah gets mad props from me right now...
Quote from: RPGPundit;579760The DCC book may qualify as "in the running", though, I'd have to see it in person to be absolutely sure, and right now my copy is still lost in the mail.
So, you are still under the delusion that it's "lost in the mall" and not permanently in the possession of a sticky-fingered Uruguayan postal worker then?
For me, its Planescape core box + "Planes of" boxes.
QuoteI always really liked the Shadowrun 1e art, especially Tim Bradstreet's stuff
I agree with this. I would just add 2e to the package - Bradstreet+Aulisio+Laubenstein+Jim Nelson formed up a great team. From 3e forward the art took a change in direction that, I think, lost part of the originals appeal.
Quote from: John Morrow;579931So, you are still under the delusion that it's "lost in the mall" and not permanently in the possession of a sticky-fingered Uruguayan postal worker then?
I'll admit its becoming increasingly unlikely.
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