TheRPGSite

Ok, here's a thread that can't possibly go volatile. :footinmouth:

What do want when it comes to art in your game books?

As a long time OG, I actually like B&W art on flat paper. I think that B&W art actually is appropriate to game books as the idea of gaming is that the game designer/publisher hands you the basics, you color it in with your own stories and ideas. B&W art seems so natural for gaming material, it was about the only art we had back when i got into gaming, and it worked.

I also like 'art' that serves a purpose, like illustrating devices, races and so forth. This is very useful in cases where an unusual piece of gear is being described.

Color art is Ok for covers, of course, but I don't need or want it for internal art.

I want art that is functional, helping me visualize some of the more esoteric elements of a game. Beauty is Ok as a secondary feature, but generally I think the gamers should add the 'color' to the game themselves.

many game books are going to slick paper, color art and high prices, like GURPS did in 4e. Some still remain with B&W art on flat paper, like battlelords of the 23rd century.

Color, B&W, functional or decorative, what do you want from game book art?

Quote from: Dominus NoxWhat do want when it comes to art in your game books?

Art that conveys the character and tone of the game. Art that highlights distinctive things about the setting (if your world has Regular Dwarves and special "Ice Dwarves" with beards and eyebrows of living frost and translucent white skin that shows the veins, I'd rather see the latter illustrated if it comes down to a budget-choice, since I've already got pictures of the former).

I like art that serves, rather than distracts from, the text. Even very good art can distract, if the style is jarring or the graphic designer has overplayed the flash.

And of course, I want naked or nearly-naked elf chicks, regardless of setting or genre.

I want art that fits the setting/genre of the game.

If you want to blow $2000 on a cool picture of a woman getting anally plundered by a red dragon, more power too you.

If you want to use Stick Figure Death in your book, as long as it fits, I'll deal with it.

I'm a grownup. I don't need pictures in a book to understand it.

No black ink silhouettes.
No clip art.

Stuff that is evocative of the mood of the game.

Take Runequest for example.  The old editions had characters that looked like Greek warriors and that added to the idea that the game was less about medievel fantasy and more about Bronze age fantasy.  Compare that to the art in the Mongoose edition and not only is it extremely ugly but it's all bog standard fantasy artwork.

One of Exalted's only redeeming features in my eyes is the art work, which does a fantastic job setting the tone and the feel of the game.  This is despite the fact that the prose frequently lets the game down.

Also everyone has loads of body piercings so that makes it more realistic.

Vibrancy and life.  Spirit.  Inspiration.  Technical competence helps, but evocative work will trump.  

It can be epic or it can be subtle, as long as it presses the "Wow!" button.  Remember the illo in Mage 1st Ed. of the 4-dimensional beasties that looked like living creatures of jagged stone with pieces missing between the elbow and forearm?  

There you go.

Quote from: Mr. AnalyticalStuff that is evocative of the mood of the game.

Take Runequest for example.  The old editions had characters that looked like Greek warriors and that added to the idea that the game was less about medievel fantasy and more about Bronze age fantasy.  Compare that to the art in the Mongoose edition and not only is it extremely ugly but it's all bog standard fantasy artwork.

I think that the old Runequest has an ancient world vibe precisely because of the art, the actual rules are not that ancient world and include stuff like Arbalests, but the art got it right.

Similarly, the art in Delta Green looked like desperate government guys fighting terrible things.  Very evocative.

So, the art should evoke the setting, show me what weird stuff looks like, reflect the setting and I'll come back to that and actually be competent and not done by your mate's younger brother.

On reflecting the setting, The Riddle of Steel has a gameworld in which non-humans are vanishingly rare.  Almost all the art is elves in chainmail, it's not particularly great art anyway but it really doesn't help that the art reflects something actually quite different to the game world.  Worst of all though is the Christopher Shy artwork for Spacecraft of the Solar System for THS, in which he draws a bunch of spaceships that don't exist in the setting and doesn't draw a single one that does.  Fuckwitted is too kind, the book's art not only doesn't support the game, it actually undermines it.

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!It can be epic or it can be subtle, as long as it presses the "Wow!" button.  Remember the illo in Mage 1st Ed. of the 4-dimensional beasties that looked like living creatures of jagged stone with pieces missing between the elbow and forearm?

Or the "drowning in the ceiling" illustration on page ten of the second edition. Actually explaining what's going on in there in terms of the game would take a bit of effort, but it manages to get the mood just right.

as far as art goes, I'm not real picky.
My rules:

#1: All races in the game should have atleast one piece of art showing what they look like.

#2: Art should complement the feel of the games setting.

#3: Color is nice, but not needed


I like to look @ art, but for me I'm buying the game mostly for the setting and rules.

I want art that is evocative and shows me what I can do in the world.  I prefer b&w line drawings.  I despise avante-garde "smears" of color.  I want to see cool characters doing cool things with cool equipment against cool enemies set in a cool backdrop just oozing with cool.

Did I mention I want it to be cool? :D

Cover art should be in color.  

I'd rather that the company pay the artists, writers and other contributors more and put less color in the interior.  Color costs too much to print.  I'd rather that money was better spent on the creative talent.

A color cover is nice, as long as it doesn't feature a group of adventurers posed for the picture.  I lean toward the iconic for cover art.  I don't like "busy" covers.

I also like the actual use of color, instead of a vaguely dark, dreary, black cover with vibrant red letters.  As much as I despise Exalted, it has a very striking cover that definitely stands out in the sea of black.

There should be a picture on nearly every flip of the page.  Equipment should be illustrated profusely.  Anything specifically astounding should be illustrated and featured in the background of many different pictures.  (If playing Ringworld, I would expect to see the "Fist of God" mountain in the background of several images in the book as well as detailed in its own right.)

If the book uses a "journal" style of conveying information, it's even acceptable to have sketches and draft artwork throughout.  Otherwise, however, go for completed and finished works.

As for style, I like many different styles of artwork in the same book.  I despise the books that have a single style, though I think the styles should be compilimentary.  Having something anime next to something more realitistic just won't cut it.  In fact, any style that is so definitive (like anime) should probably be excluded, unless it is the sole or overriding style for the book.

Wow.  I had no idea I was so particular!

Quote from: Abyssal MawNo black ink silhouettes.

Oh, man, I love silhouettes :) They feel so Chaosium to me, and I love things that feel Chaosium (especially old-school Chaosium). I keep meaning to do a design that uses them prominently. Maybe FFE, dunno. Someday.

Quote from: VellorianIf the book uses a "journal" style of conveying information, it's even acceptable to have sketches and draft artwork throughout.

Again, it's fascinating how things I love can be things other people want to see avoided. In Uresia2, I'm going with all sketches for warmth ... and to echo the "refusal to commit to the facts" philosophy of the setting. I've already rejected one piece for coming in "too finished."

I don't particularly care about game illustrations, so long as they illustrate what the world is like!

Mr. Shy I'm looking at you! :O

Stick figures are cool with me - yes, I love Risus - so long as they illustrate.

-mice

I really don't want to see any more public domain woodcuts. Really. None.

Some of the "cheap reusable art" that seems to be getting around in the PDF trade is an alright way for small publishers to get decent art on the cheap, but I think it needs to be refreshed. The third or fourth time I see the same picture reused will get a bit tired.

Quote from: Dominus NoxWhat do want when it comes to art in your game books?

I like art that depicts what look like typical characters doing what look like typical things you might see happening in an adventure (not necessarily combat, either).  I like art that depicts typical setting scenes.  Staged shot artwork is fine for things like a single piece of art depicting all of the races in the setting side-by-side (like D&D 3.5 does).  I prefer realistic art over more abstract art like a lot of the stuff in Tribe 8, which I generally don't like.  I prefer art that's tasteful and not embarassing to read in public (Does every Mongoose Conan RPG book really need a topless woman on every other page?).  I don't like scenes of people gleefully killing other people in horrible ways (e.g., the original D6 System book).  

Quote from: Dominus NoxColor, B&W, functional or decorative, what do you want from game book art?

Color or B&W line drawings designed to be printed in B&W (not grayscale versions of color art, which almost always looks awful).  Functional, though decorative borders can be OK so long as they don't take up too much of the page.  After the Secret of Zir'An fiasco, I'm tempted to say no art behind the text, but will simply say that if you put any art behind the text, it should be incredibly light, should never use metallic inks, and should never include anything that looks like letters or writing.

I want art that tells a story, or, even better, hints at one. Places and situations are better than mug shots.

Think "Emirikol the Chaotic."

Something I think every gamer should read is the article "Brilliance and Dross in RPG Artwork", which you can find in this PDF fanzine:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/panurge/imazine37.pdf

Oh, and prefer black-and-white line art on non-glossy paper.

Not only is it cheaper, but bright colors and gloss are just...garish. It's too much. My game books don't need to look like Vegas casinos.

Well, on the topic of art here's some art I'd like to see in some stuff I have:

In gurps the "electrolaser" is becoming a default weapon in a lot of SF settings, partly because they have so FEW sf weapons for 4e and have had so few for so long, but there is no illo of an electrolaser anywhere I can find.

In the transhuman space line, they have a couple things I've love to see illos of. One is the 'mobile helmet' that supposedly follows it's users around and automatically attaches itself in event of airloss. There are some weird 'cybershells' that I'd like to see illoed and lastly there's the strap on 'gun pod' that you wear on your arm.

Illos of all could have been useful, along with some illos of the stranger bioroid/transhuman types. Few are provided.

Black and white.
Flat, non-gloss paper.
Paperback book.
CHEAP.

Quote from: S. John RossAgain, it's fascinating how things I love can be things other people want to see avoided.

Yeah... Just look at all the folks who hated Dan Smith's artwork. I thought he was the perfect artist for the Gurps 3rd books, personally, but lots of folks just hate his stuff.

I suppose I'll always have a preference for nice, clean, black-and-white line art, as long as it's appropriate for the book.

For the artist to charge as little as possible so I can use more of it.

Quote from: GrimGentOr the "drowning in the ceiling" illustration on page ten of the second edition. Actually explaining what's going on in there in terms of the game would take a bit of effort, but it manages to get the mood just right.

That's the other one I thought of.

What ARE the "Messing With Time" demons called, anyway? It's been years...

EDIT: RE: Dan Smith -- I don't like his work.  When I had the chance to tell Steve Jackson as much, he said, "A lot of people don't, but he's always on time."

I want my art to be evocative. Color is neat, B&W is great, what matters is the art getting across the type of game I want to play and letting me see what the designer thought the world looks like.

I also love it when the art is obviously distinct to the artist. Guys like Brom, or Erol Otus, even Elmore. You can spot their work from a mile away, and that tickles me somehow.