Why is old D&D art so much cooler than new D&D art?

>>52547546
Because you're entitled to your own opinion.

And probably because new D&D art is trying to be a little bit of everything while the old stuff is focused.

>>52547546
First of all that's Dragonlance which is only somewhat D&D related, and it's good because it didn't have to be anything other than an awesome book cover, possibly based off of straight mythology and history

Nowadays there's a shitload of conventions that come with the standard "elf" or "human" or "dwarf" that it would alienate too many if they didn't have the most bog standard art possible

Because old art had inspirations from the era; heavy metal, renaissance fairs, all those fun things. Also the art used real people in poses as references

Same goes for current, but it's got anime, cartoons, digital drawing, etc etc. basically it's become so abstract in making the art that it's lost all soul

tl;dr difference between a custom made mustang and an off the lot ford

>>52547546
It was a niche audience so it had a unique niche focus.
Now they're aiming for wider appeal in art style and structure with anime and video game influences and those sorts of "movie poster" style images falling out of favor.

>>52547546
The newer stuff for 5e is explicitly based off of the old stuff, so I don't see what your issue is. If it's with the WoW esque 4e stuff, that's gone.

>>52547546
Because you forgot to remove your nostalgia goggles

>>52547882

>dragonlance
>only somewhat D&D related

What the fuck are you talking about.

>>52547546
Better artists.

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>>52547882
>First of all that's Dragonlance which is only somewhat D&D related

...what? No it isn't. The entire thing was created ground-up to be "the" D&D setting. You can debate whether or not it succeeded, but the point is that it was conceived entirely to be a D&D setting where D&D stories can be told.

Hence why the dragons follow the D&D color code, wizards cast spells according to Vancian magic, everyone is pretty firmly identified by their class, and so on.

Also, I don't know what you're talking about. Modern D&D art is fine. Among other things you get less people standing around looking into the camera, which is a style that I hate in fantasy.

>>52547918
> anime, cartoons, digital drawing, etc etc. basically it's become so abstract in making the art that it's lost all soul

I would love to hear how pic - from the 5e PHB - is anime, cartoon, or digital drawing inspired.

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>>52547546

>>52547546
Because it had more boobplate, chainmail bikinis & Amerindian orientalism and less politically-correct "diversity".

Based Larry Elmore and Clyde Caldwell.

Some of the 5E art is much better though, rooted in the old school.

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>>52547546
Modern digital art.

For me the old-school D&D art is mixed bag (especially in the Monster Manuals and such). Some art is glorious pieces of work done by real artists, while other art feels like simple drawings done by whoever was the best artist among the designers.

Modern D&D art is consistently good in my opinion isn't as good as the best of the old school art.

>>52552266
you can tell World of Warcraft came out between the creation of these two images.

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>>52547546
Yea op, i love this shit

>>52552368
>Because it had more boobplate, chainmail bikinis & Amerindian orientalism and less politically-correct "diversity".
You're fucking retarded.

The reason why old D&D art was better was because they actually hired artists and illustrators trained in the art of painting and drawing.

Not fucking retarded animu WoW addict cunts that only know photoshop.

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>>52552266
Does anyone have full picture of the upper one (without the lower one) ?

>>52547546
Digital art allows less-competent artists to produce finished works quickly. 40 years ago, if someone wanted to make a picture of a parking lot full of cars, they would have to draw and paint each car, taking perspective into account.

Today, someone just has to get a couple photos of cars, or CG models, and then clone them all over the lot and use a computer to correct the perspective.

40 years ago: lens flares painted by hand by someone who understands how light refracts.
Today: click on the Lens Flare tool.

>>52552266
The market nowedays is oversaturated with classical high Fantasy (orks elves)

Back then it was more niche
Also digital art makes it all look the same

>>52552595
I'm not gonna pretend that this art is better in any way than more modern stuff, and it's pretty clear there wasn't a huge amount of talent going into these.

But, I like the beholder because it looks like what a field researcher would quickly sketch after encountering one in the wild. It's got a pleasant simplicity to it that I enjoy.

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>>52552717

>>52547546
Because today everything should look handsome and/or badass for it to sell

Same reason why old D&D modules are better than new ones, they cared.

Maybe it's just because a lot of the old stuff is before my time, but I prefer the new style of art. It seems cleaner and clearer to me, it's easier to see what's going on and it often isn't as muddled or confused with lots of different elements at play.

>>52552391
The 5e cover is the worst.

>>52556037
Nah, the 3e is worse. It looks like some high schooler's sooper sekrit journal.

>>52552391
>>52556037
>>52556414
You are like little babies.
The worst is clearly 4e. That chick in the front, the fuck is that even supposed to be. How does her body even function?

5e has good cover art that stands out while 3.5e goes for a more polished "ye olde tome" look. I'd rank 'em a follows
>5e
>AD&D
>3.5e
>[POWER GAP]
>4e

>>52557625
Switch 5e and AD&D and that's my list I like the older shit because it doesnt look like all the modern fantasy art I grew up with.

Only been playing on and off for 9 years starting with 4e and a smattering of 3.5 but the art fron 4e just looked like the art from WoW or any fantasy game of that time it was already generic to me.

Finding 80's era rpg was the good shit to me even if it didn't look proffesional at least it had some personality, the 5e studd has been better though

>>52557625
I agree with this post 90%. I would argue that AD&D has a cooler cover, despite 5e's being more technically proficient as an illustration.

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>>52557625
I guess 5e has a good cover, if you want to make people think they'll be playing giants or something.

>>52555319
Wayne Reynolds has uglier art and more extraneous pouches than Rob Liefeld

>>52552391

3.0 and 3.5 covers are photos of a physical creation, not digital art. Unless you're saying that Henry Higginbotham created the cover with his fingers, aka his digits. In which you're correct. Dumb, but correct.

>>52547546

It's because a lot of the new artists don't understand basic things like perspective, proportion, and the way clothing and equipment hang off of the human figure.

Look up anything by Wayne Reynolds. His proportions border on the alien, and he has a tendency to make the clothing and armor so tight that they may as well be painted on. He doesn't always do these things, but you can find it throughout his body of work.

You can blame Todd Lockwood for the "I love belts!" dungeon punk aesthetic 3rd edition pushed, and the "let's make elves look like aliens!" facial proportions.

>>52557998
I take it back, actually. The 5e cover sucks. It barely even has a focal point.

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>>52552391
Make way for the best one.

>>52552266
PLATE ARMOR IS THE PROBLEM

ODYSSEUS AND HERAKLES NOT DON QUIXOTE AND ARTHUR THE GREAT

PRAISE BRONZE

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>>52557998
If we speak of Player's Handbook covers, then surely the 1989 2e cover rates mention?
One of the best examples of a 'this could be you' cover, because players can indeed be that in the game, pretty quickly, if not immediately. I favour it over 'you might fight giants one day', at least.

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>>52558704
>tfw my father has this

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>>52559297
Yeah, it's a pretty good one. I think it could use more conflict though, like the Rules Cyclopedia cover.

Because op as you can see here
>>52557625
People just have shit taste these days.

>>52560016
That's fair. Both are top notch bits of work by Easley.

I think part of this is economic practicalities, too.

A lot of the amazing fantasy artwork we remember was hand drawn or painted, taking huge amounts of time, work and cost to produce. It looked fantastic, but you were lucky if an RPG book had any decent art in it that wasn't on the cover.

Things have changed. You might not get the same stuff on the cover, but in exchange you get generally higher quality pieces throughout the whole book, since these days digital or digitally assisted art is a lot easier to produce- Still not easy, but there are a lot more tools to help artists create more work more quickly than there was in that era.

I guess it's a question of where you assign your funds. Do you commission one truly amazing piece that just sits on the cover, or a dozen decent pieces that go throughout the book and give it extra flavour? I can see why most companies default to the latter.

>>52547546
Because they had actual artists.

>>52547882
>Dragonlance
>only somewhat D&D related
(You).

>>52560408
> Because they had actual artists.
this

>>52547546
>Why is old D&D art so much cooler than new D&D art?

Sturgeon's Law, a shift from a limited number of color art pieces to all art being color, massive increase in the number of artists over the pasted 30 years and changes in tools.

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Honestly I'm finding myself digging older black and white art as opposed to every illustration being fully colored, maybe Usagi Yojimbo has really skewed my tastes

The artists working on D&D stuff in the grand era often had talent and imagination both.
These days you strike a lot of work in D&D that shows one or the other. Very rarely will we see both.

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>>52560679

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>>52547600
>>52547882
>>52547918
fp(s)bp(s)

I'd add that in the past, the focus was on substance instead of style, on soul instead of subject matter.

If it was good enough, and vaguely close to the topic, it got in.

It helped that there were a limited number of good fantasy artists, all of whom seemed like they were more lovers of their craft first, and money making professionals second.

>>52547546
>D&D
>Art
>Cool

W E W. You /tg/ fags are worse than I thought.

>>52552266
Neither of these images look good, but the bottom one looks more like it's actually "happening". They're not just posing, unlike the elf and black wizard in the top image.

>>52555319
In fairness, that picture is Wayne Reynolds parodying his own artwork.

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>>52560590

>>52562291
I prefer O'Connor to Reynolds (weird because I am a Pathfag) but I love the fact that the characters are full of items, potions and backup weapons (yes, this is a self-parody).
It makes them closer to how they are usually played and equipped.

>>52547546
>>52552391
I would've agreed with you in the 3.x - 4e days, but I think 5e has improved immensely in terms of the consistency of anatomy, colour, and composition. It still has the 3.x philosophy of "bags and belts everywhere", but at least it's executed better.

>>52562621
I still miss the B&W of becmi. Larry Elmore and shiet.

Larry Elmore is hands down the most important artist of the tabletop fantasy genre.

>>52547546
New stuff is designed for broad appeal and palatability, whereas the older art had a much more focused audience, and so could take greater creative risks

>>52562747
Elmore and Trampier are the kings. I still want to know what went down to caused Trampier to disappear and even leave royalty checks behinds. It is a damn shame that Wormy never got finished or republished.

>>52557998
Agreed. Numerous times I've skipped past the PHB while shuffling through my books because it registers as MM to me.

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>>52562917
I can see why!

>>52562902
Also (I know people associate him with a specific setting) Diterlizzi.

>>52552266
Both of those are terrible

>>52547546
I don't have a horse in this game, but some things I've noticed in this thread:

Older art:
> Not a moment in time, just a bunch of people posing together
> What's a palette? -or- Palettes are for characters, not scenes, silly

Newer art:
> Making people look like their feet are resting on the ground is apparently a lost art
> ACTION POSES! With no understanding of weight. Maybe more like action leaning.

>>52550554
>muh nostalgia
Yes everything always just gets better, nothing ever deteriorates, the star wars prequels were better then the original trilogy and anyone who says otherwise has just got nostalgia.

>>52564623

False dichotomies are stupid

>>52559299
Tfw I saw this, MM1 and MM2, and deities and demigods but didn't get them because they were 20$ CAN a pop at a used bookstore

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>>52562324
Fucking sick

>>52564771
That's not a false dichotomy that's hyperbolic mockery you dumbass. Sometimes things get better, sometimes they get worse, sometimes they stay the same. "muh nostalgia" is just a lazy cop out, justify why you think it's as good if not better, don't just accuse the other person of some sort of irrational bias and leave it at that.

>>52552213
>I would love to hear how pic - from the 5e PHB - is anime, cartoon, or digital drawing inspired.

Looks digitally painted to me.

>>52562902
>I still want to know what went down to caused Trampier to disappear and even leave royalty checks behinds.

He probably joined a cult and left his old life behind.

>>52547546
They feel like people that could actually exist. And they're generally imitating the style of great artists like Frazetta and Vallejo

>>52564889
He was found in a southern Illinois college town in the early 2000's, got over most of his problem (something with TSR which he was unaware had gone under) and was about to sign a deal to publish his shit when he had a stroke, got cancer and died three weeks before making an appearance a con in that same town.

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Best cover coming through.

>>52557998
Not using the original cover PHB.

This guy >>52558704 knows what's up.

>>52559297
>If we speak of Player's Handbook covers, then surely the 1989 2e cover rates mention?
It's not bad, but it seems a bit unfocused to me. Like, it's a fine scene and all, but it doesn't feel very player's handbook-y.

>>52557998
>>52560016
Why do all the titles on all these books look like Japanese penises?

>>52562747
I always found Elmore to be a bit boring.

>>52547546
Your standard for coolness was set by the media you consumed in your childhood.

>>52552213
Why do all the goblins look exactly the same?

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>>52565493
That's just how they are.

>>52547546
because it's not popular, if this style became the norm again everyone would be complaining about how WoWesque art is cooler

>>52565767
das racys

>>52552213
shitty, boring, generic art desu

Because the Old Art is inspired by Frazetta and Frazetta is God of Fantasy Art
Oh and it wasn't afraid to appeal directly to its audience instead of trying to make art that looks "Respectable" and bland as fuck for the Barnes & Noble shelf

>>52547546
>Old : Rule of cool is #1, tits, ass, muscular dudes, bad things to fight, artists
>New : Diversity, cool maybe later if you meet you diversity quota, "artists"

>>52552595
Me too unironically you nerd
There's an appeal in the simplistic B&W art. Also your nitpicking one of the very first D&D images to ever be drawn for OD&D which was before even Basic & 1E you deceitful & misleading twat

>>52555579
It's because you don't like any aesthetic other than:no aesthetic
And this is coming from someone who's only 24
Go look up the original Planescape art it's a good segway into appreciating this up

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>>52560186
They really do. Similar to how modern cars are fucking awful. They really speak to the kind of people that exist today.

>Car that parallel parks for you, because it's just to hard!
>Car that brakes for you, because you need to snapchat as you are driving.
>Cars with lane assist, since we find it difficult to hold our smartphones and the wheel at the same time.
>Computer monitored everything, because fuck learning/paying attention other than what a Kardashian just tweeted.
>Made to be used, and tossed away in lieu of a new car that you can pay eternal interest swap on.

Fuck everything.

>>52567224
Convenience is a blessing and a curse. But hey, if you want to drive a 40 year old rusted guts tank that with no power steering, column shift, no air-conditioning and needs to be refilled every 30mins, go for it.

>>52552266
Can someone explain to me that the fuck is happening in the upper picture? Like, who is on which side, and how many factions are there? Is that archer the ogre's friend, why else would he be standing so close to him? Why does that blonde chick seem to look into the camera instead of paying attention to the fight, and why is that literal nigger watching her? Why is the fucking dragon just chilling there? Does that half-elf chick yet have to decide which side to join because she is just standing there looking confused?

>>52547546
Budget breeds creativity maybe? I think the same thing of MtG cards so maybe it's just a change in direction for the worse from WotC maybe it's just the change in art style as the era changed

>soulless digital paint
>instead of referencing other works of fantasy, scifi, history and literature references itself in an uncreative circle jerk

>>52547546
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR7U1HIhxfA

>ITT: grumpy old men moan about how everything was better when they were younger

>>52567907
>things never get worse, they only ever improve and you are wrong to complain about it.

>>52567907
I'm 19, due

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>>52567907
>t. Millennial

>>52547546
Its the colors. The old ones look like paintings.

>>52552784
>low skill people pumping out art for contracts

This is it.

>>52547546
Making art is the act of recreating reality or realizing inspiration, the imagery created drawing from the influences and experiences of the artist at hand.

Art comes from minds steeped in their contemporary popular culture with cross-pollination from their peers.

To create artists with the habits of older generation content creators, you need to soak them in the culture that was relevant at the time.

But as time moves forward, the point of inspiration moves forward. Popular culture moves forward. Those who admired become the admired, to themselves end up inspiring the next crop of content creators.

Tldr : Times change

>>52557998
I will say 5e isn't the worst. Too much focus on "the action" but at least it's not the unnatural mess of 4e. 3e is just sort of doin' its own thing, it's not really comparable to the rest. AD&D best of the set.

>>52565133

Purple Box 4lyfe nigga.

>>52567224
>driving a car
Fucking millennial.
Come back when you ride a horse everywhere.

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>>52567124
Diversity has nothing to do with producing generic looking digital art.

Hell the black fighter in the 5e PHB is probably the best looking character because he looks so differwnt compared to every other class' art especially that shitty looking drow rogue

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>>52571375
Fighter for comparison

>>52571431
HOL UP
YOU MEAN
WE WUZ KANGZ N SHIT

>>52567560
It's just a promo image for Everquest

The girl is loking into the camera because she is literally the mascot of the franchise, the rest is just unrealated losing

Because every book has to be a full colour illustration bonanza, rather than just slapping in a bunch of quickly sketched up shit like >>52552595 inside while focusing mostly on having a good cover.
If you're determined to put together a "damn kids" explanation to cope with the accelerating approach of your own mortality or whatever you probably can't go far wrong with "much attention spans."

>>52571431
I mean I still think the spear shield thing is silly but his hair kicks ass. What a fucking baller, the drow up there is just trying to hard with his spiderweb patterned armor and like 8 extra knives.

>>52571634
>I mean I still think the spear shield thing is silly
Are you suggesting that they draw a character without some variation of sword in at least one of their hands?

>>52571634
You know what I never really paid attention to that spear shield, I always thought he was hold them together in one hand, rather than both being fused, I'm just gonna keep thinking that

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>>52571553
I started playing during 4th edition and I much prefer this compared to the cleric illustrations in the 4e and 5e handbook, they're just too busy and over stylized.

I don't think it's a "kids these days" issue, maybe growing up with and engaging "modern" fantasy art since world of warcraft has burned me out on this style, but I honestly think toned down art like the examples in this thread always looked better.

Art is subjective though so it's not like if the industry went back to the 80/70's aesthetic everyone would love it.

>>52552391
The AD&D one is nice. The rest of these are tire fires.

4E - Actually the typography here is pretty nice. But nevermind that, what even is anatomy?

3.5 - Not even trying. Try to make sense of what these components are supposed to be doing in relationship to each other. Also that random gem placement. Also the gems intersecting the corner brackets.

5th - It's like amateur video game rendering where you use too many colored lights, everything has way too much specular reflection, you've never heard of subsurface scattering, and all your textures are too smooth. Except somehow an actual artist fucked this up instead of a computer, what?

>>52572066
For 3.5 it's two hinges and a clasp/chain lock, it's obviously supposed to be an ancient tome.

5e looks fine, it's not amazing but it's much better than 3e's bland presentation and 4e's terrible pathfinder artstyle

>>52572121
>For 3.5 it's two hinges and a clasp/chain lock, it's obviously supposed to be an ancient tome.

No shit. The perspective of the hinges doesn't make any damn sense though. And, like I said, the gems are placed seemingly randomly and sometimes intersecting other elements.

Like, maybe this is a photorealistic recreation of an ancient tome designed by a wizard with no taste. But that's not an excuse for deciding to pick that wizard's tome.

>Apologizing for 5E's art based on how bad the others are

Relax, all the D&Ds can look like ass.

>>52572196
The hinges are flat maybe that's throwing you off?

You're not talking about the chain clasp are you?

I'm not apologizing for 5e's art I'm just saying it really is inoffensive, and it is a much bigger improvement compared to the last to editions, you're the one going on a rant about subsurface scattering anon.

>>52572014
I'm personally a big fan of a lot of the earlier stuff but there was less of it and not all of the interior art was kept to the same standard. I'm with you on the 4e illustrations though - all of it looked so blocky and bulky.

The "kids these days" thing was mainly a tongue in cheek dig at the people going into full on fits over millennials ruining everything. Nothing wrong with people liking what they like.

Boob armour.

>>52572066
4e has beautiful formatting (before Essentials) but the art is something like 60% awful, 25% alright, 15% good

>>52572388
Yeah, it's a shame it made a generation of grognards distrustful of good page design.

>>52552266
did blizzard ruin fantasy aesthetics forever then?

>>52572532
Either that, Final Fantasy, or Peter Jackson. Take your pick.

>>52572703
I don't know about Peter Jackson, the only influence I can think of off the top of my head from his movies was Elder Scrolls Oblivion

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BAM! Fighter, Wizard, Thief knocking out the door of your dungeon! It screams Players' Handbook.

And the DMG are monsters coming from the other side, like "hell yeah, bring it on!".

>>52574286
This is perfection.

>>52574286
>barbarian has a broken wrist
>dat anatomy

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>>52572703
>Peter Jackson ruined fantasy aesthetics
Dude, what?

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>>52574286

Is this a JoJo reference?

>>52575115
This. Jackson ruined some things, but aesthetic wasn't one of them.

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>tfw too intelligent to enjoy modern D&D art

>>52574286
>>52574355
>>52574934
>>52575217
>monsters coming from the other side, like "hell yeah, bring it on!".
Also note that they're humanoid "monsters", an evil counterpart of the party. This helps differentiate the DMG from the Monster Manual, whose cover is "monsters from all kind, take a look!".

3.0 was good enough because of the cover looking like old tomes, but then onward was all a mess.

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>>52575926
Shit, forgot file.

>>52575444
This dude has a real Yakub vibe to him. Uncanny.

>>52575926
4e had good cover layouts. I liked the way Monster Manuals had the single biggest, baddest monster in the book on the cover, it was a good way to give a theme to each of them.

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>>52571375
>the black fighter is probably the best looking character

Nigger-lover detected.

>>52576741
HOL UP

SO YOU BE SAYIN

WE WUZ WIZARDS N SHIT???

>>52578592
Find me a better looking character from the book anon

>>52565133
I've always found it cool that the guy is using a spear. Fighting a dragon with a sword seems like a terrible idea.

>>52578798
I mean if you want dragon hunting to be easy you can use a spear, but swords are the hand carved wooden bows of dragon hunting, while spears are just hunting rifles

>>52571375
>>52578712

The wizard and barbarian look better, without being over-designed.

When I look at something like the druid, rogue, or paladin, all I can see are the pointless straps and belts.

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>>52571909

I didn't notice that either. Carrying a weapon in your shield hand is a real thing, see pic, though a spear is a little much.

Having it attached to the shield is wut

>>52578835
The guy's in a tight, waterlogged cavern with only one visible exit up some stairs. He's going to be fighting off that dragon Ray Harryhausen style, praying his elf friend can cast her spells and keep that torch going before they get dragon-breathed to death. They'll be lucky if they make it out alive, let alone with that chest of treasure.

This cover seriously oozes adventure to me. It's not just epic heroes in fancy armor doing poses for the camera, it's two people fighting for their lives. They're taking risks and they're terrified, and there's a high risk they never made it.

Also I just noticed Otus's signature. Neat.

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>>52574286

There are issues with the anatomy here, broken wrist and all, and a lot of older traditional fantasy/sci-fi art has glaring issues with anatomy and figure (Pic related, a lot of action scenes in old comics look fucking retarded) so I don't buy the idea that new digital art allows for worse artists.

I'll say I haven't seen any modern digital RPG art that matches the best of the old school, but modern doesn't have the extreme up and down swings that old stuff has.

But still, I find myself liking the old stuff more. Wayne Reynolds is fucking garbage, for example.

I think the real difference which some people have mentioned, is that we just associate the older art with D&D more. The color painted stuff is always aping Frazetta and the gods of fantasy art, and the black and white ink drawings and woodcut-looking shit is just pure old school D&D.

Traditionally painted pictures of dudes in chain with kite shields and spears fighting dragons and skeletons just screams D&D.

Wayne Reynolds et al don't really scream anything to me. Video games, I guess?

It's 90% associations I built as a child that are now permanent parts of the way I view and make sense of the world. Just like everything else.

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>>52579344

> (Pic related, a lot of action scenes in old comics look fucking retarded)
Oops, I originally meant to put a different pic here. I'm not shitting on Frazetta)

Pic actually related

>>52579344
>Wayne Reynolds et al don't really scream anything to me. Video games, I guess?

The weird thing is, I still don't buy this connection. I'm not big on video games but when a character has seventeen weapons and four shields and two types of armor, I imagine them going into some kind of pack somewhere, not actually being worn on their person.

>>52579344
It's not about the art quality, but what it conveys.

Look at the examples given at >>52560016 and, with the title obscured by the japanese penises, tell me if they look like player's handbook. 5e looks like a monster manual.

>>52579452
fortunately "Player's Handbook" is written on it in giant letters so even retards like you guys know which book to use

>>52560016
>>52579452
>>52579477
Someone please show this image to a non-RPG-savvy friend and ask them what they think each book is about.

I'd do it but I have no friends.

>>52579542
fortunately all of my friends are literate so they bought the right books even before we started playing

>>52579571
Quickly make new friends, find these books with the covers in foreign languages, and THEN ask them. You're our only hope.

>>52579452

Okay, I didn't know why you had the Japanese penises. When you put it like that it makes sense.

In that case I'd say 1e and 2e are the best, revised 1e is good but a little generic, doesn't convey the same sense of adventure as the other two.

3e is nothing, 4e is awful, and why is 5e so fucking obsessed with giants?

>>52579610
>Quickly make new friends
were it that simple

>>52560016

Top row left to right:
Guide to Thievery (Rogue Rulebook)
Wizards Sourcebook
Warriors Sourcebook

second row left to right:
Combat Rulebook
Additional Classes Sourcebook
Advanced Level Sourcebook

People actually prefer the old art?

It just looks so horribly dated and ugly.. I don't understand the old arts appeal.

>>52579754
What do you find dated and ugly about it? Art is art. It's not like the human form has advanced in the past few decades.

>>52579542
Alright my sister loved 1e's cover the most and disliked 3e

Mother ranked them 5e 2e 4e 1e 0e and 3rd

Both of them aren't into fantasy and don't play rpg's

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>>52579754

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>>52579754
How about this?

>>52579850

Not how much they like it, but what they think the book is supposed to do.

>>52579689

Guys was I close?

>when you're at work and can't post links to the TSR artbooks

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>>52552368
>Because it had more boobplate, chainmail bikinis & Amerindian orientalism and less politically-correct "diversity".
And yet it had less nudity, menace, and horror than 70s fantasy art, and arguably more diversity too. Grogs from the OD&D era would have roasted you for liking sanitized kiddie crap.

>>52547546
Generally speaking, because TSR hired really good artists to do covers. Interior artists were sometimes a step down (the early MM and MC come to mind). TSR was also a lot less strict about styleguides and recognizably than WOTC. A 2e dragon's only characteristics are being green and being a dragon: Some artists will draw him spiny, or spiky, or smooth, or maybe horned and they're all valid. Meanwhile, 3e has very strict rules about green dragons having vaguely crocodilian heads and mohawk-like crests.

>>52579621
>why is 5e so fucking obsessed with giants?

5E was made in a kneejerk reaction to how much the more tradition-loving part of D&D's fanbase hated 4E (not saying that's the only reason to hate 4E, chillax). D&D monsters are mostly either super generic (wights) or weird as hell (gelatinous cubes), except when they're making or weirdly codified versions of normal shit like demons and dragons.

Demons and devils are not family friendly. Technicolor dragons are in everything these days (and only existing D&D fans will think a red dragon is specifically different from a green one anyway).

But D&D has always had this weirdly codified hierarchy of the true giants, hill/stone/ice/fire/cloud/storm, like that's supposed to mean something to you. And giants are otherwise a pretty normal monster that a casual will understand. So this way we have something grognardy and specific to D&D but also approachable.

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>>52547546
I don't honestly fully get the 90s/80s fantasy asthetic. I also don't get the flip in the 2000s, but where did the ideas for all this stuff come from? It's definitely not historical, despite some obvious inspiration, and somehow it doesn't 'pop out' in a way that I'm used to.

>>52579892

I don't hate it, but it's not D&D. That's the biggest thing for me. No matter how good the digital paintings in the modern D&D books are, it's not the same.

Old traditionally painted fantasy art reminds me of when I was a kid and D&D was about a group of dudes going into a dungeon and finding treasure and getting killed by traps and shit. Games where you start in front of the dungeon and we just skip the setup.

It's nostalgia, basically.

>>52579368
Well fuck now makes sense. I stared at the first picture quite a bit.

>>52580298
>when I was a kid and D&D was about a group of dudes going into a dungeon and finding treasure and getting killed by traps and shit. Games where you start in front of the dungeon and we just skip the setup.

This makes me wonder why there isn't more art like this.

There's the classic AD&D Player's Handbook with the demon statue, but what about adventurers avoiding arrow traps and shit?

I mean, the boulder trap in Raiders of the Lost Ark is iconic. Give me that as a cover.

>>52580595
> I mean, the boulder trap in Raiders of the Lost Ark is iconic. Give me that as a cover.

Shit, you could easily just have the whole party running towards the camera with the boulder behind them. That skips right over all the convoluted blocking you need to make more than a couple people's faces recognizable in a big battle scene.

>>52579446
I guess your not read for any situation.
Sometimes you really need a halberd instead of a pike but you've been disarmed 3 times already.

>>52547546
Because Larry "Motherfuckin'" Elmore.

>>52581648
I think this is pretty much it and other artists from that era like Frank Frazetta. It's like comparing mere mortals to Gods.

>>52552213
>Also, I don't know what you're talking about. Modern D&D art is fine.

That pic is a great example of how modern D&D art has gone amazingly downhill.

>>52552391
I'd rate these as 3e < 4e < 1e < 5e

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>>52558704
>tfw I have this and the DM guide. That demon grabbing the woman made my small teenage brain feel weird things.

>>52560016
Original 1e PHB: Awesome
Neo-1e PHB: Boring
2e PHB: Boring
3e PHB: Cancerously terrible
4e PHB: Cancerously terrible
5e PHB: Fuck yeah King Snurre is about to grab that bitch and stick her on his dick

>>52560703
Nice!

>>52570469
>Riding a horse
Come talk when you finish training your mastodon.

>>52563011
This one's one of the better. I like this and the 5e PHB because you can tell EXACTLY what's about to happen.

>>52574286
>>52575983
That's actually clever. Since I didn't have the latter versions of those books, I have never looked closely at these.

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>>52571634
>>52571909
>/tg/ suddenly hates Talhoffer shields

Ugh.

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Ugh!

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Ugh ugh guh.

>>52565133
thanks doc

>>52571431


looks like he can't tell if he's a mongol, a zulu, or a kang

>>52582116
Do you still like seeing human women get REDDED?

>>52582326
In all honesty, it explains 90% of my fetishes.

Because the old art we remember has stood the test of time. The old art we don't remember was utter shit.

However we remember ALL current art, good or bad because it's recent.

>>52547546
>dragonlance
>cool D&D art

What the fuck are you talking about.

>>52552643
I can take 2 weeks and finish one commission or take 2 weeks and finish 3 commissions. For art in a nerd book that maybe 5 people would ever pay real money for and it would be greasy pizza stained 20 dollar bills.

Yeah, photoshit. Tool of scrubs. A wrirar is u.

>>52582667
t. salty tumblr """artist"""

>>52562329
>It makes them closer to how they are usually played and equipped.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's one of the big reasons Reynolds took off as the most iconic of the D&D 3.X artists. He was tthe mack daddy of countering this:
In gameplay: Everyone owns a ten foot ladder they always keep on their person, because they are cheap and useful
In art: Hey, lookit this guy from the cover of Ivanhoe! He's got tights and a sword!

>>52575983
I think they've been waiting for PCs to show and let them out of the dungeon they trapped themselves in for a good long while, going by the dude in the bsackground.

>>52558704
Damn skippy.

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>>52562199
Why are you even here?

>>52582191
>>52582223
>>52582232

I laffed.

>>52547918
>Also the art used real people in poses as references

That was only true for certain artists.

Artists like Frazetta didn't use real people.

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>>52560590
It's because a lot of artists don't go for specific tone nowadays. They take the 80's route and just go full on every single color clashing with each-other, creating a rainbow of vomit.

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>>52579754
>so horribly dated and ugly

t. Weeb faggot who thinks pic related is bad because it's old

>>52580006
https://mega.nz/#F!RwYWQBzJ!QoeYspKaPjSNs0d0W9a6Ng

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>>52579863
I still can't pinpoint how I feel about WFRP art.

>>52583253
Otus looks so much better in b&w.

>>52583274
Agreed.

>>52583268
Sweet!

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I miss Tramp.

>>52582681
Or maybe an actual artist who recognizes the realities of the trade instead of pandering to your demand of producing six Mona Lisas through traditional 14th century oil painting for each page. We can't know.

>>52583583
Yeah yeah, go back to drawing everyone like they have a stuffy nose

>>52583272
John Blanche is the better choice of WH art.

>>52583596
I'm not him, I can't draw for shit. I can scribble a stick figure for you though if it makes you act less like an entitled asswipe.

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>>52583143
Frazetta used himself, in the mirror
particularly for musculature

An increasing amount of artists and content creators come from a background of being fans of the subject they now produce for.

It's like how Otaku are taking over the amimu/mango business, and how it can end up a bit inbred with tropes and influences.

>>52579892
Why are you posting art for the Warcraft TCG in a D&D discussion?

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>>52559299

>>52567224
>cars with built-in GPS, because I'm too lazy to look at a map
>cars with crumple zones, because modern people are too inept to not crash
>cars with power steering, because kids these days are too weak to steer properly
>cars with rearview mirrors, because delicate millennial necks can't handle turning around.
>cars with air conditioning, because blah blah something Kardashians Twitter get off my lawn

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>>52583268
Thank you. Good stuff.

Some contemporary art is excellent.

>>52580077
70s and 80s fashion meets bastardized Ye Olde Renfaire attire. Later 2000's stuff is what you get when you have digital artists who's perception of fantasy is filtered through WoW and MtG instead of heavy metal album covers and old pulp comics.

>>52552266
>>52572532
its funny, cuz those are both everquest

>>52552458
5e was a bit of a mixed bag as well, especially the player's handbook

>>52583583
Can you actually use subtle coloring or do you just over color and over design shit like everyone else?

Mind throwing up some work?

>>52585286
And used his wife for many female references.

>>52585286
THICC

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I like the old stuff

>>52579637
Would that it TWUUUUUUUUH so simple

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Best half elf picture on record coming through.
Based olden day art that could never happen again at wizards. Treasure the oldies where you find them.

>>52593814
UGH

>>52595298
>UGH

Hmmm...

>>52595282
That is painfully 80s.

>>52582303
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that the fact that he's not from one particular real world culture may have something to do with that.

>>52595282
Big hair is horrid.

>>52598664
>>52598759

Poorest taste.

>>52547546
because modern art direction is dictated by the desires of corporations and committees, not by the will of artists.

Old books were made in the days where it was just a few nerdy dudes trying to make something that they wanted to play and buying art they thought looked cool as fuck from artists given minimal deadlines and direction.

>>52579004
>>52571909
>>52571729
It's actually a weapon used in a sport (and probably war) by some tribe in Africa IIRC, though the shield is supposed to be buckler sized.
Basically, you wield the shield-spear in one hand, and a smaller stick/sword analog in the other hand, and you and another guy attack each other until one of you bleeds or cries in pain.

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>ctrl+F
>0 results for Brom
He literally defined the style and feeling of Dark Sun with his art

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More Brom

>>52595103
It's complicated.