With all the discussion about the art direction in 5e, I got to thinking about the art and drawings in the various D&D handbooks and modules I had when I was a kid. I loved to just flip through the books and look at the pictures to get inspiration for my own adventures and campaign. To me, the picture that totally reminds me of playing DnD is the image on the 1e DM Screen, particularly the fighter/knight in chainmail with his sword and shield raised, protecting the lady:
Runner up would be the pencil drawing of the thief with the caption "There is no honor among thieves":
If you had to pick one drawing or image from the manuals or modules that to you epitomizes DnD, what would it be?
Can't pick one, lmao....
But, Larry Elmore, Gerald Brom, and Jeff Easley have been my favorites since the 2e days.
I suppose if I had to pick one image...It'd be this one, by Brom, from the 2e Dark Sun stuff...
The Dragon. (DS only has one dragon, and he's a b**ch. 
All the pics seti posted are in my wheelhouse of "what reminds me of D&D."
Here's one that particularly strikes the right chord in terms of the broadest, most iconic associations:
As a counterpoint, lot's of pictures from 2e remind me of D&D, but I'm not as interested in nostalgia as I am in seeing something new and interesting.
souldoubt wrote:
For me, it's easily this:
That was the first D&D art I ever saw. It was when I played D&D for the first time using the 1983 Red Box with a friend from elementary school. I used to draw this same picture all of the time when I was younger, and I still have my very first drawing of it (probably from around 1986).
I also love how the art on the box of the new Starter Set pays homage to this picture with a warrior holding a shield and wielding a sword at the jaws of a dragon preparing to do battle.
No problem picking one for me. Gotta go old school.
jackbytor wrote:
When I saw the thread title, this is what immediately popped into my head.
souldoubt wrote:
Anything Dragonlance or Dark Sun would read as iconic to me. The thing i find funny about some people's critiques of the newer art is that there is no doubt that if some of these pictures were first released today, we'd get an "omg, animuuuu!" response. Especially some of the women Elmore does.
This is how I imagine a party planning their moves. It's really soft, no hyper-action scene going on, but very powerful.
There are a lot of pictures that remind me of playing D&D because D&D has had a lot of art over the years. The images that really remind me of playing D&D are the cover of the AD&D 2e PHB and DMGs: I think that's mostly because of how much time I spent reading those books while learning how to DM.
However, that wasn't the question. The question was about which piece of art epitomizes D&D to me. Honestly, there isn't any. Every piece of art is simply an interpretation of D&D, or of a single D&D world. I have a really hard time seeing any picture as the epitome of D&D as a whole. If I was really hard pressed to pick one piece of art that epitomizes D&D, it wouldn't be from a D&D book or novel. It would be this:
This picture. When I first saw it, I knew I was looking at D&D.
Since someone beat me to Elmore's Dragon Slayers I'll go with this:
It's hard to pick just one. I think I'll have to go with this Elmore piece:
Runners up:
The_White_Sorcerer wrote:
Elmore never neglected the landscape. (Before fantasy art for TSR, etc. he did landscapes and animals in Wisconsin.) I like that extra attention. A lot of the newer art is lacking an equally detailed backdrop.
I can get it for MM illustrations, but, I prefer the epicness of PC's in an environment, most of the time. Look at how Peter Jackson played that up in the LotR trilogy, for example.
^
This.
seti wrote:
The Lord of Murder by Jeff Easley
This is quite epic too and what I think of as "classic d&d fantasy".
*sigh* and if only undead could actually look like undead today...
Hay guyz Drizzt dun l00k like an animU reject by some deviant art amatuer with sloppy muddy fake paints!
And in all fairness...out of all "Recent" covers/4e I think this one is probably the best executed in terms of atmosphere and quality art skills, the orcus cover for mm is not bad either. I mean it actually looks like thought and composition was put into it by someone professional, I can't say the same over most of 4e covers and certainly not for 3 at all.
Vaegard wrote:
Elmore wasn't as bad as Caldwell for the chainkini stuff, but, yeah. Caldwell was almost Boris Vallajo-level skin-fantasy at times.
There's also the 80's hair both used a lot, LMAO. mullets and perms!
The sad thing is, digital illo can be amazing, especially with the latest hardware and software. Not to mention using manipulated photos as backgrounds...Art will always take time, and time = money, though. One Elmore oil could take weeks to finish. A few truly awesome digital pieces would take the same time. Especially if you had to either a) use your own landscape photos, or b) aquire the rights or find royalty free landscape photos that fit with your projects.
Some of the 3/3.5/4e/5e digital illustrations can be done in a few hours, with just a paragraph discription, and a check for 100 bucks or so per illustration. Obviously more time and money for a cover piece, but still...
pukunui wrote:
BadMike wrote:
pukunui wrote:
Yeah, I saw that. Will have to see if the budget allows it.
Gizmoduck_5000 wrote:
souldoubt wrote:
This pic inspired a set of house rules for lingering environmental effects after the spell has been cast and how magic can "unravel reality" to power the spell.
alienux wrote:
incidentally, is there an art of DnD book out?
Azzy1974 wrote:
Azzy1974 wrote:
leo9sign wrote:
Psikerlord wrote:
Just curious and not to side track but this is something that has been bothering me for the last 10 years and I don't think I have read any official word or anything as to why/if they can/why not...
Caldwell, Easley, Elmore ( I understand over parkinson ) and brom....
Is there actually a reason why wotc cannot use past d&d art from these guys or hire them again to at least contribute to d&d visuals ? Obviously the 2.5 premiums used easley covers and since they are still putting out pdf's with these artists I'm guessing its something else ? such as payment the artists ask or what ?
In addition to a number of the others posted by other posters, these make me think of D&D:
Vaegard wrote:
Must...refrain...from completely crapping on 2e-era art...so bad...looks like the side of a 70's Econovan....
/eyedeath
Foxface wrote:
WhiteHarness wrote:
DLfan wrote:
Hey Foxface, instead of just trashing art that other people have said reminds them of D&D (as per the OP), why don't you contribute positively to the thread by posting some art that reminds you of D&D?
leo9sign wrote:
TheZigZagist wrote:
I first encountered the elf chick in 2e's Complete Book of Elves. I didn't realize it was recycled art.
I know it's an anime (gasp, boo! *hiss*)
but Slayers pretty mcuh captures the heart and soul of D&D inmy humble opinion I mean the darh things begins by saying
"When a monster rises, I'm there to take them down!
Where treause glitters, I'm there to claim it;
When an enemy rises to face me victory will be mine!"
I think that could be the motto of many a D&D party.
(this wasn't just about D&D art was it? Cause I can post just reuglar D&D work if I must)
pukunui wrote:
It's really hard for me to pick a singular image that says "this is D&D" to me... there are so many, and most don't even have adventurers in them. Here is a single example that has many of the traits that remind me of D&D
It just looks like a world I want to learn more about, and that's what makes me think of D&D.
Foxface wrote:
That's the best illustration in a D&D book... EVER!
It has... pie!
Who nees a group of armed-to-the-teeth folks with door-sized swords fighting three-headed dragons when you can have... pie!
Even wizards love pie!
That's the universal truth!
Look at how happy he is in the picture!
DLfan wrote:
This pretty much describes high school and not really by choice.
That really is a tough choice! The closest I can come to a 'single' pic that says D&D to me at the moment is this one.
Nuff said.
There has been a lot of memorable art, but I haven't seen one of my favorites yet. Even though I have not been able to try second edition, outside of Baldur's Gate, this image has been one that stuck in my brain since my friend showed me his Player's Handbook.
alienux wrote:
I put about 1/3 effort into finding on the internet two pieces from the 2e PHB that always screamed D&D to me, but I got too distracted. Maybe if someone is motivated they can find and post.
I'm talking about page 51 the tavern scene with a dwarf kicking back with shoeless feet elevated on a chair and an Jim Brewer's elven forefather wielding a spoon. It always screamed to me what an adventuring party does *after* the dungeon; the reason for delving in the first place.
The second one is page 92 and it has, yes folks, orcs with pig faces! It's a great castle siege piece, putting an image to the chaos on the outside of the castle that someone on holed up on the inside of the castle would be terrified of. Did I mention that these orcs have pig faces? So D&D!
I initially thought the thread was about D&D images that were most evocative of D&D.
However, these images have always evoked the 'I want to go THERE and or meet THAT in my game' feeling...
Here - the elven Ranger just scouted out the dungeon the party have been overlanding to get to,
Forget the cliche of Elminster, this guy needs no introduction and is just the best wizard ever to live and breath in a D&D world;
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
Foxface wrote:
What else :-)
I'm gonna go off on a little bit of tangent, but for me, what really fired my imagination for D&D better than anything else was the example of play in the 2nd edition PHB. Something about the simple descriptions of the GM and the solid "in-game" attitude of the imaginary players always got me really excited to play D&D and to make it like that. My dungeons never feel quite as evocative somehow.
Few pictures depict a party actually adventuring, exploring and discovering strange and wonderous things. This has always struck a chord with me.
The trend to make every image of every character class, encounter, and fight into one of action-hero epicness makes me feel less immersed. In every new edition, dragons have to be bigger, poses more dramatic, costumes more outrageous, to the point now of ridiculous exaggeration. I feel like my characters of any level could be a part of the above picture, not so with virtually any of the newer art no matter how well illustrated.
It's like how the Peter Jackson movies have made things so outrageous that what was originally an amazing feat (shooting an arrow into Smaug's weak spot) is so mediocre compared to all the other amazing feats already demonstrated that in order to make it amazing again, it has to be even more outrageous (the black arrow is now a ballista).
thehobb wrote:
alienux wrote:
This one is also pretty good:
I feel like it inhabits the space between player and character, like reality is phasing between the real world and the game world. Five of those are obviously the five pregens from the Starter Set, but who's the sixth one? Why, the Dungeon Master, of course!
The Half Orc looks like Will Ferrell to me.
Cennedi wrote:
Okay, I'm going to start adding silly captions to these.
"There's a giant spider behind me right now, isn't there?"
Qmark wrote:
docdoom77 wrote:
Emerikol. wrote:
Of course, it just says "chaotic", without anything else. he could be casting "ray of tickle" for all we know.
Qmark wrote: