TheRPGSite

I miss the art of Clyde Caldwell and Larry Elmore. They did so much to evoke such a fantastic and epic feel to D&D in those days.

Quote from: Darrin Kelley;1045641I miss the art of Clyde Caldwell and Larry Elmore. They did so much to evoke such a fantastic and epic feel to D&D in those days.

Both are still around. Just not as active it seems. And both got into doing book covers for a span. Others I know personally or from business with them have dropped out due to health problems.

Quote from: Darrin Kelley;1045641I miss the art of Clyde Caldwell and Larry Elmore. They did so much to evoke such a fantastic and epic feel to D&D in those days.

Amen to that.

Elmore's "Ancient Red" is the very essence of D&D to me.

Dude loved orange, I tell you what.

I liked Elmore/Caldwell, because I liked the various 1970s fantasy novels with covers by Vallejo and Frazetta, but sometimes Elmore/Caldwell's hairstyles were a bit too much 1980s. While I guess fantasy worlds probably have mouse, probably not hair spray.

I probably liked Caldwell a little more, because his pieces were slightly more mysterious and a little less comic-y than Elmore's. But TSR sure knew how to play to their strengths.

Love the old school art. Huge fan of Tony Szczudlo work on Birthright, Tony Diterlizzi and Planescape.

The original greats like Elmore, Caldwell and Parkinson felt so full of character, less sanitised.

I much prefer the weird, like Otus. Caldwell and Elmore felt like generic airbrushed pin-up fantasy.

Let's not forget Christos Achilleos

http://illustratorslounge.com/concept-art/the-legendary-christos-achilleos

Cover of Fighting Fantasy Titan, Cover of MERP purple box, the green Stormbinger rpg  book.

Elmore's art is technically fantastic I've always been a fan...

Elmore's covers bring back some good memories. He's also a super nice, down-to-earth fellow, happy to relax and chat with folks. If you ever bump into him at NTRPG Con, Gary Con or Gamehole, introduce yourself. You won't regret it. :)

I love Elmore and Caldwell art.  Don't forget Parkinson either!  But Elmore stuff was my favorite.

To me, THE classic 80s rpg artist is actually Angus McBride (MERP, Rolemaster), even though he never (to my knowledge) made art for D&D.
examples:
https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iur/?f=1&image_host=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F94%2Fd0%2F3a%2F94d03a7e996724112bb5b32155710d7a.jpg&u=https://i.pinimg.com/736x/94/d0/3a/94d03a7e996724112bb5b32155710d7a.jpg

https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsensdeladigression.files.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F12%2Fangus-mcbride-smaug.jpg&f=1

Quote from: Omega;1045643Both are still around. Just not as active it seems.

That happens when people get old. :D

Quote from: Trond;1045768To me, THE classic 80s rpg artist is actually Angus McBride (MERP, Rolemaster), even though he never (to my knowledge) made art for D&D.
examples:
https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iur/?f=1&image_host=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F94%2Fd0%2F3a%2F94d03a7e996724112bb5b32155710d7a.jpg&u=https://i.pinimg.com/736x/94/d0/3a/94d03a7e996724112bb5b32155710d7a.jpg

https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsensdeladigression.files.wordpress.com%2F2012%2F12%2Fangus-mcbride-smaug.jpg&f=1

Well Angus is GOAT of course. From Osprey to MERP, the king hands down. Not D&D tho, fam.

I was never a big fan of Elmore's stuff, he's very stiff and statically poses his characters, rather than have active/dynamic ones.  His composition is pretty good, though, I'm not taking away from his apparent skill.  But I don't think he does fantasy very well.  However, I DO like Cladwell's stuff.  One of my favourite pieces of his was the Babette the Barbarian cover for a Dragon Magazine, the one that covered Skullport for Undermountain, I forget the number.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;1045859I was never a big fan of Elmore's stuff, he's -

(https://media.tenor.com/images/1e5985f611e8c7e33210074fc42ed459/raw)

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;1045903(https://media.tenor.com/images/1e5985f611e8c7e33210074fc42ed459/raw)

Poor dear.  :D  If you're looking for pin ups, he's OK.

Yeah, you like art with side boob. That makes you sad and lonely. I can say that because you are unfashionable. [/twat]

Caldwell did those great "compilation" pieces, that really set the mood for an individual book's contents. Look at all the GAZ-Series stuff.

Quote from: Nerzenjäger;1045921Caldwell did those great "compilation" pieces, that really set the mood for an individual book's contents. Look at all the GAZ-Series stuff.

Yeah but there is an inch of side-boob on the cover of Minrothad Guilds so we must chuck it in the bin and laugh at anybody who keeps at as purveyors of soft porn. [/twat]

But seriously, I love the GAZ series and judging from the prices they fetch on ebay, I'm not alone.

 Some underrated old school artwork is featured in the Gighting Fantasy series.

Caldwell's GAZ covers are great, as are the GAZes! I also like Elmore a lot, though both artists have their flaws - it's interesting that both tended to do their best work earlier, though they still do good stuff. As with many other artists (thinking eg Luis Royo) there is a tendency for flaws to become accentuated with age, eg Caldwell's crotch-centric compositions and Elmore's static poses.

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1045922Some underrated old school artwork is featured in the Gighting Fantasy series.

Russ Nicholson is probably my all-time favorite fantasy artist. His style is unique and no-one does grotesque like him. Martin McKenna is also great, and some lesser-known names who worked on the series also did sterling work, such as Tony Hough (example below)
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5c/8f/f1/5c8ff1011cf120af5a3155bad4cfc9ae.jpg)

Well, Brits of course are masters of b/w fantasy art. There's a lot of great American ink RPG illustrators, too. Easley for example. His inks are much better than his colour pieces, IMO.

But can they really compete with something like this?

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(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/e8/fe/9e/e8fe9e6ed7b2a0a54e991a263a61408e--skeletons-martin-omalley.jpg)

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Martin McKenna, in case you wondered.

@The Shadow: Russ Nicholson is amazing and unique!


@Nerzenjäger : you just posted two of my favourites! (1st and last)

For interior art, I think Stephen Fabian is often underappreciated.

Of Manual of the Planes and GAZ interior? Yeah love that style. Really evocative and surreal.

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1045944Of Manual of the Planes and GAZ interior? Yeah love that style. Really evocative and surreal.

  Yes, although I know him more for his Ravenloft art, which he didn't enjoy as much (and it shows at times--plus, I think the sheer volume demanded of him caused a diminishment of quality), but which really set a great tone and mood for the Dread Realm.

Stephen Fabian: good stuff, but a little too gray for me. Needs more contrast.

I liked Jeff Easley's art.

Angus McBride is a favourite of mine

Some good pics in this thread.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1045941For interior art, I think Stephen Fabian is often underappreciated.

His work on the Ravenloft series is what sold me on the setting.

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(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/a1/09/03/a109037d77839e9ba1d6132cfff0fe16--warrior-queen-fantasy-warrior.jpg)

Phwoar!:p

Seriously, though, chainmail that shows cleavage is daft. Not lewd or crude. Just silly.

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Now that is an iconic piece of MERP art!

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1046738Phwoar!:p

Seriously, though, chainmail that shows cleavage is daft. Not lewd or crude. Just silly.

Well, yeah. I just accept this kind of thing as kind of a fun artifact of a different era. It doesn't need to be called out constantly.

I like cheesecake. What I like even more is black-and-white (inked) art with its antecedents in woodcuts, creative use of positive and negative space, and various hatchings and textures. Mostly lost in run-of-the-mill color art.

Other things I like in fantasy RPG art:
-a sense of the grotesque and gothic in the original sense of the terms
-the rustic, pastoral, and homely, juxtaposed with the above.

I want to see idyllic landscapes and comforting hearthsides that make me yearn to be there. Until I see the terrifying creatures that also dwell in those realms.

Quote from: The_Shadow;1046747Well, yeah. I just accept this kind of thing as kind of a fun artifact of a different era. It doesn't need to be called out constantly.

I like cheesecake. What I like even more is black-and-white (inked) art with its antecedents in woodcuts, creative use of positive and negative space, and various hatchings and textures. Mostly lost in run-of-the-mill color art.

Other things I like in fantasy RPG art:
-a sense of the grotesque and gothic in the original sense of the terms
-the rustic, pastoral, and homely, juxtaposed with the above.

I want to see idyllic landscapes and comforting hearthsides that make me yearn to be there. Until I see the terrifying creatures that also dwell in those realms.

OMG I think you nailed it for me utterly.

This is one of the reasons I love Jon Hodgson's stuff. Contemporary, but there is a timeless, almost nostalgic quality to his work.

He did covers for TOR, Dragon Warriors, BtW and Crypts & Things as well as some Runequest (Hearts in Glorantha)

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1046738Seriously, though, chainmail that shows cleavage is daft. Not lewd or crude. Just silly.

To be fair, that's lampshaded in the book. The redhead is Alias, from Azure Bonds, where it's explained that's a set of silly dress-up armor someone puts her in, not what she normally wears. Of course, they also made it a permanent part of her wardrobe, by enchanting it so it provides as much protection as armor without a target between her tits. So the lampshading ultimately just reinforces stupid.

So that would make Kate Novak the ownser of that stupid. Did she mean it as satire?

I think it was a reaction to inappropriate cover art.

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1046738Seriously, though, chainmail that shows cleavage is daft. Not lewd or crude. Just silly.

I'd certainly judge that it offers little protection. I think the quintessential example of this kind of thing would be Red Sonja's scale bikini. But I don't think of it as practical or impractical. (Although almost all female track and field athletes wear little more than a bikini these days so there must be some benefit to performing in your briefs.) Instead I think of it as how the character presents herself to the wider world. Heroes need a recognisable look to cash in on their renown. In game mechanics, I wouldn't count it as scale armour, I'd count is as unarmoured. As a barbarian, in 5e at least, you need to be unarmoured anyway to make use of Unarmored Defense.

Welp, we made it to four pages before someone starts whining about 'inappropriate' armour.  Here I was hoping we'd hit a new record...

Just daft, really.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;1046779Welp, we made it to four pages before someone starts whining about 'inappropriate' armour.  Here I was hoping we'd hit a new record...

It got mentioned. You're the only one whining like a bitch.

Much as I love Angus McBride's work, I think Eowyn's fresh from the stylist for a perm hair is as silly as any chainmail bikini.

That people think fashion won't affect armor choices is also a bit silly, though boob plate seems to make a lot more sense than a cleavage window.  Still, transparent aluminium maybe?  I like breasts and cleavage, I guess that makes me a monster.


I did have a line I was going to use in a science fiction game sometime, for an all female mercenary company.  "Sure, the armour's a bit silly, I could never fill those suckers out.  But, this is a male dominated industry, full of dumbass sexist pigs, and we want them to know who's kicking their asses."

Quote from: David Johansen;1046801I did have a line I was going to use in a science fiction game sometime, for an all female mercenary company.  "Sure, the armour's a bit silly, I could never fill those suckers out.  But, this is a male dominated industry, full of dumbass sexist pigs, and we want them to know who's kicking their asses."

What is a bigger cliche at this point - male gamers salivating over "boob windows" in 30-year old art, or male gamers proudly showing their "I'm one of the good guys" credentials by talking about female players/characters laying down the violence on uppity males in-game? Or is the latter just as much of a sexual fetish as the former?

Quote from: The_Shadow;1046802What is a bigger cliche at this point - male gamers salivating over "boob windows" in 30-year old art, or male gamers proudly showing their "I'm one of the good guys" credentials by talking about female players/characters laying down the violence on uppity males in-game? Or is the latter just as much of a sexual fetish as the former?

The latter is trying to prove they're dating material to women who will never really want them.  But you know what?  ART!  By Julie Bell!

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I don't know who did this:

(http://www.swapsale.com/FantasyArtBook1.jpg)

BEASTMASTER!  The KING of 80's S&S cheese!

(https://i.imgur.com/nb4qYY8.jpg)

Quote from: The_Shadow;1046802What is a bigger cliche at this point - male gamers salivating over "boob windows" in 30-year old art, or male gamers proudly showing their "I'm one of the good guys" credentials by talking about female players/characters laying down the violence on uppity males in-game? Or is the latter just as much of a sexual fetish as the former?

Or, you know, just funny.  The problem is that people are all up in arms about the issue.  You can't not care, or think the whole issue is ridiculous, without being some kind of a monster.

Speaking of beastmastery, that odd 80s mini-fad, here's a little something I picked up from eBay, largely for the (possibly plagiarised) cover art.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2591[/ATTACH]

Quote from: Christopher Brady;1046804The latter is trying to prove they're dating material to women who will never really want them.  

No, it's not.

Let's look at what started this pathetic little whinefest of yours. Mike the Mage said a hole in armor between your tits is daft/silly (https://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?39180-classic-80-s-D-amp-D-fantasy-art&p=1046738&viewfull=1#post1046738). Which it is. And then I mentioned that piece was used as the cover of a book, where the silliness became a minor plot point (https://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?39180-classic-80-s-D-amp-D-fantasy-art&p=1046750&viewfull=1#post1046750). I also later made a comment that the author of the book probably included that comment because they thought the cover art was inappropriate for the character (https://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?39180-classic-80-s-D-amp-D-fantasy-art&p=1046754&viewfull=1#post1046754).

Conclusion: You're a pathetic, whiny little bitch.

Quote from: Pat;1046750To be fair, that's lampshaded in the book. The redhead is Alias, from Azure Bonds, where it's explained that's a set of silly dress-up armor someone puts her in, not what she normally wears. Of course, they also made it a permanent part of her wardrobe, by enchanting it so it provides as much protection as armor without a target between her tits. So the lampshading ultimately just reinforces stupid.

Yeah anyone who read the book knows that, which was amusing.

Quote from: The_Shadow;1046806Speaking of beastmastery, that odd 80s mini-fad, here's a little something I picked up from eBay, largely for the (possibly plagiarised) cover art.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2591[/ATTACH]

I don't think they copied any specific piece of art, but yes even without the title the inspiration is 100% obvious. Out of curiosity, who's the publisher?

Chainmail tights... at least, no one is bitching about boob plate:

P.S. Long live King Elmore!

P.S.S. Damn, girl is fine!

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q4k83XRXCJg/VVTieLIOT-I/AAAAAAAACI0/qpOhrSYLivM/s1600/2.jpg)

Also, one of the rare moments in an RPG I almost cried:

(https://i.pinimg.com/236x/d9/59/d2/d959d2da4270d381f6ab0d24ab0b8106--classic-rpg-art-google.jpg)

I have a signed framed print of this in our parent cave. When I think invading evil army, this is what my mind conjures up:

(https://dyn1.heritagestatic.com/lf?set=path%5B3%2F8%2F3%2F6%2F3836306%5D%2Csizedata%5B850x600%5D&call=url%5Bfile%3Aproduct.chain%5D)

And here are my ultimate advance scouts painted by Parkinson, I believe. I have a mint box of the Ral Partha miniatures that I keep for when I feel like I am of the level to paint them.  It turns out my eye sight might go before I ever feel that confident to paint them. Cataract surgery coming quickly.

(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/6SAAAMXQVT9StFxM/s-l400.jpg)

If you really wanted to flip the boob plate trope on it's head, you could also have moob plate armor. :D

Quote from: MonsterSlayer;1046909Also, one of the rare moments in an RPG I almost cried:

And the artist did it without either blood or gore.

The type of emotional impact that the image drew from you speaks to how great Elmore's work is.

(http://www.yagor.de/offiziell/cover/bx_mmsz.jpg)

Quote from: MonsterSlayer;1046908Chainmail tights... at least, no one is bitching about boob plate...

Oh you poor innocent summer child http://therpgpundit.blogspot.com/2014/08/can-you-engage-with-someone-who-thinks.html :D

Quote from: Nerzenjäger;1046928(http://www.yagor.de/offiziell/cover/bx_mmsz.jpg)

He's wearing less than she is!  But I'm sure someone has a problem with her...

Quote from: S'mon;1046931Oh you poor innocent summer child http://therpgpundit.blogspot.com/2014/08/can-you-engage-with-someone-who-thinks.html :D

I read the coversation that Pundit linked to after clining on the url

Proper Millie Tant! Bwahahahahahaha!

Quote from: Pat;1046870I don't think they copied any specific piece of art, but yes even without the title the inspiration is 100% obvious. Out of curiosity, who's the publisher?

It was produced in 1983 by "Roll-for-your-life" - it's the only product they produced, according to RPGGeek.

Quote from: S'mon;1046931Oh you poor innocent summer child http://therpgpundit.blogspot.com/2014/08/can-you-engage-with-someone-who-thinks.html :D

No, I meant that specific picture had no boob plate. For all the realists, you would think they would be equally upset by skin tight chain.

For the record, I am pro-boob plate.
I am pro boobs in fantasy art.
I am pro man boob.
I am pro woman boob.
I am pro woman boob pressed against man boob.

This is what is missing in fantasy art.
Along with skin tight chain mail.

Quote from: The_Shadow;1046949It was produced in 1983 by "Roll-for-your-life" - it's the only product they produced, according to RPGGeek.

And so obscure it's not even listed in Heroic Worlds.

I am finding this thread's lack of pictures disturbing.

Some favorite back in the day Role Aids (Mayfair) adventure/campaigns for AD&D 1 from the 80s that had fun covers too.

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Here's one from 1987 I'm running right now

(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/03/85/7b/03857b571d314c3c234f3b1687de015a.jpg)

For the second time - first ran it in 3e ca 2003. Love the John Blanche art!

Those Gamemaster modules really were nice ones alright.  The second one Find the Lady was by Graeme Davis, for example. Fun covers and interior over all too.

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The rights reverted to Graeme, and he has the module Find the Lady for free to download.
https://graemedavis.wordpress.com/freebies/ (https://graemedavis.wordpress.com/freebies/)

CoC occasionally had some great art in the 80s and 90s. That was before colour stuff and all the photo manipulation.

From Escape from Innsmouth:
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3rd edition had some great colour plates

And the original Dreamlands stuff was AMAZING!

Quote from: Kuroth;1046998[ATTACH=CONFIG]2599[/ATTACH]

I like that one. Still sword & sorcery, but with more of a frozen Barsoom or that icy world of Erekose feel than the more typical Conan -- the ornate ice skiff implies a sophisticated and perhaps ancient civilization, the pose and furs suggest romance instead of victims in need of rescue, and multiple moons imply an alien world. It's familiar, but with a different vibe.

That's a cool adventure/campaign item, like many of the better RoleAids booklets, with special rule additions, equipment, encapsulated setting, classes, etcetera.  Elves in the title is a two edged sword, but other than that, pretty awesome overall.  Not everything RoleAids was great, though. I didn't care for RoleAids' Fez series of adventures, for example.

Chaosiums interior illustrations for their multi-game releases, including AD&D and D&D, were pretty great and often of the more tripy type of thing, like some of the panels in Thieves World.

Quote from: The_Shadow;1046806Speaking of beastmastery, that odd 80s mini-fad, here's a little something I picked up from eBay, largely for the (possibly plagiarised) cover art.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2591[/ATTACH]

Well, that's a new one to me.