SPECIAL NOTICE
Malicious code was found on the site, which has been removed, but would have been able to access files and the database, revealing email addresses, posts, and encoded passwords (which would need to be decoded). However, there is no direct evidence that any such activity occurred. REGARDLESS, BE SURE TO CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS. And as is good practice, remember to never use the same password on more than one site. While performing housekeeping, we also decided to upgrade the forums.
This is a site for discussing roleplaying games. Have fun doing so, but there is one major rule: do not discuss political issues that aren't directly and uniquely related to the subject of the thread and about gaming. While this site is dedicated to free speech, the following will not be tolerated: devolving a thread into unrelated political discussion, sockpuppeting (using multiple and/or bogus accounts), disrupting topics without contributing to them, and posting images that could get someone fired in the workplace (an external link is OK, but clearly mark it as Not Safe For Work, or NSFW). If you receive a warning, please take it seriously and either move on to another topic or steer the discussion back to its original RPG-related theme.

Erol Otus Alma Mater RPG Artwork (NSFW)

Started by Kellri, September 09, 2008, 08:38:47 AM

Previous topic - Next topic
Print
Go Down Pages 1 2 3 4 5 6
User actions

arminius

#45
September 12, 2008, 04:03:03 PM
Cool. I wasn't really a fan of Otus until recently. Mind you, this is mainly because I wasn't aware of him due to having not really paid much attention to individual RPG artists in the early 80's. I also went straight from White Box to AD&D, and I never bought any modules. So the only things he did that really stand out in my mind from back then are the Cthulhu drawings for Deities and Demigods.

Later on I started to become more of a fan of comics art and stylized, expressive styles but by then I'd completely lost touch with D&D.

So seeing his work now, including the Alma Mater illustrations, puts it in a whole new light. It'd fit right in with Wilson, Basil Wolverton, S. Clay Wilson, Kim Deitch, Peter Bagge, and other "underground" comix artists of the 60's 70's and 80's.

It's grotesque, it's irreverent, it's graphically bold--I like it.

droog

#46
September 12, 2008, 04:53:18 PM
Quote from: Elliot Wilen;247210Does anyone here enjoy Gahan Wilson's art?

Yes--and now I know you read Playboy.
The past lives on in your front room
The poor still weak the rich still rule
History lives in the books at home
The books at home

Gang of Four
[/size]

arminius

#47
September 12, 2008, 05:22:57 PM
But of course, what 13-year-old boy-about-town did not?

I've seen Wilson elsewhere, though. A piece called something like "The Paranoid Abroad", from National Lampoon in the 70's, will always stay in my mind. Come to think of it, it's where I learned the word "paranoid".

droog

#48
September 12, 2008, 05:58:45 PM
The past lives on in your front room
The poor still weak the rich still rule
History lives in the books at home
The books at home

Gang of Four
[/size]

baran_i_kanu

#49
September 13, 2008, 02:05:44 AM
i love this artwork from Otus.

creepy and wonderful all in one.
he is missed.



dave
Dave B.
 
http://theosrlibrary.blogspot.com/

I have neuropathy in my hands so my typing can get frustratingly sloppy. Bear with me.

arminius

#50
September 13, 2008, 04:50:31 AM
Pen-paper.net shows him having worked on Goodman's Dungeon Crawl Classics as recently as 2006.

He's got a personal website, //www.erolotus.com, although no real content as far as I can tell. Check out the favicon though.

It looks like he works for a game company called Toys for Bob (owned by Activision), which has a nice-looking but annoyingly Flash-based web site.

Melan

#51
September 13, 2008, 06:10:03 AM
Quote from: Elliot Wilen;247398Pen-paper.net shows him having worked on Goodman's Dungeon Crawl Classics as recently as 2006.

He's got a personal website, //www.erolotus.com, although no real content as far as I can tell. Check out the favicon though.
Among others, he did the cover for Bloody Jack's Gold. A wonderfully creepy image for an otherwise blah adventure.

The personal website has been around for several years, but hasn't been updated beyond the title image.
Now with a Zine!
ⓘ This post is disputed by official sources

The Shaman

#52
September 15, 2008, 12:30:10 AM
Quote from: Elliot Wilen;247260It's grotesque, it's irreverent, it's graphically bold--I like it.
Definitely.

I like EO's work in Top Secret as well.
On weird fantasy: "The Otus/Elmore rule: When adding something new to the campaign, try and imagine how Erol Otus would depict it. If you can, that\'s far enough...it\'s a good idea. If you can picture a Larry Elmore version...it\'s far too mundane and boring, excise immediately." - Kellri, K&K Alehouse

I have a campaign wiki! Check it out!

ACS / LAF

arminius

#53
September 15, 2008, 01:02:09 AM
I'd like to see some of that. I played a bit of Top Secret--the original, not the SI version--but I don't remember the art at all apart from a vague impression of the cover.

walkerp

#54
September 15, 2008, 10:22:32 AM
He recently did a cover for Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine as well.

Found it, let's see if I can make it show up here:



A little more straightforward (though those claws are reminiscent of the younger, wilder Erol) but nice to see that he is still in action.  Of course, it takes the KenzerCo guys to show some love and respect.
"The difference between being fascinated with RPGs and being fascinated with the RPG industry is akin to the difference between being fascinated with sex and being fascinated with masturbation. Not that there\'s anything wrong with jerking off, but don\'t fool yourself into thinking you\'re getting laid." —Aos

TheShadow

#55
September 15, 2008, 10:45:23 AM
I have a strange urge to see a photo of Erol Otus. I picture him looking like R. Crumb.
You can shake your fists at the sky. You can do a rain dance. You can ignore the clouds completely. But none of them move the clouds.

- Dave "The Inexorable" Noonan solicits community feedback before 4e\'s release

The Shaman

#56
September 15, 2008, 11:36:25 PM
Quote from: Elliot Wilen;247811I'd like to see some of that. I played a bit of Top Secret--the original, not the SI version--but I don't remember the art at all apart from a vague impression of the cover.
He did a handful of pieces for the core rulebook and the adventure Operation: Rapidstrike, but one in particular stands out for me. EO really showed his psychodelia influences with one picture from the latter, an agent under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug. I'll try to scan that one (fair use!) after I get back from backpacking next week.
On weird fantasy: "The Otus/Elmore rule: When adding something new to the campaign, try and imagine how Erol Otus would depict it. If you can, that\'s far enough...it\'s a good idea. If you can picture a Larry Elmore version...it\'s far too mundane and boring, excise immediately." - Kellri, K&K Alehouse

I have a campaign wiki! Check it out!

ACS / LAF

Kellri

#57
September 16, 2008, 04:07:27 AM
You mean this one?



Dr Findelmann



Poker Party



Escape from the Island

Kellri\'s Joint
Old School netbooks + more

You can also come up with something that is not only original and creative and artistic, but also maybe even decent, or moral if I can use words like that, or something that\'s like basically good -Lester Bangs

Kellri

#58
September 16, 2008, 04:15:31 AM
Here are a few other Otus rarities. These from Booty & the Beast

Skyfungus


The Queen of Lust


Womblice


Imps of the Perverse


Exobattle


Hit Location Chart


Gasbag Neck People


Dara the Devil Child


The Sacred Spray
Kellri\'s Joint
Old School netbooks + more

You can also come up with something that is not only original and creative and artistic, but also maybe even decent, or moral if I can use words like that, or something that\'s like basically good -Lester Bangs

walkerp

#59
September 16, 2008, 07:10:59 AM
Amazing!  Thanks for posting these, Kellri.  What's Booty & The Beast?

I have to say, it certainly seems like Otus did some research on hallucinogenic interrogation techniques in order to properly capture the correct feel.
"The difference between being fascinated with RPGs and being fascinated with the RPG industry is akin to the difference between being fascinated with sex and being fascinated with masturbation. Not that there\'s anything wrong with jerking off, but don\'t fool yourself into thinking you\'re getting laid." —Aos
Print
Go Up Pages 1 2 3 4 5 6
User actions