Comments on Reviews.....and art

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
I would say being able to produce images that are technically proficient but not particularly evocative could be analogous to plumbing.
Yes, but those are technical illustrations and diagrams - not art by definition, per se, which requires a modicum of expression to be involved. They communicate factually, not as expression, because their job is to convey information rather than emotion. Much as a plumber doesn't express themselves through their pipefitting, a technical illustrator doesn't express themselves through diagrams, and an electrician doesn't express themselves through wire work. It's just people doing a functional job because it needs to be done.

I suppose it's just splitting hairs at this point, determining the line between art and not-art. Especially when it comes to "functional art" in technical documents - are maps considered art? Some say yes, others say no. But there's no argument to be made that maps don't belong in a module, regardless of their status as art or not, purely because they're so damn functional and something of a linchpin for running the adventure.
 

Beek Gwenders

*eyeroll*
This is also why I warn against including NPC head-shots:
  1. They are technically easy, because there is also no compositional elements (e.g. backgrounds, dynamism, layout, etc.)
  2. We are ultra-wired to react to human faces...so they are the most likely candidate to provoke an emotional response.
Ergo, they are both the lowest form of art, AND an third-rail to be avoided because no-way are they going to please everyone, and the ones they offend will be extremely turned-off. Bad call WotC---very Magic: The Gathering of
I agree with pretty much everything you’ve said except for this, and I’ll put this down as your own personal idiosyncrasy. :giggle:

I don’t see anything different between NPC head-shots and other art in any particular module. They are both there to help convey something to the DM or players that words can’t always do easily; riff-off them or not, your choice. If they can help me visualise a character, then they’ve served the same purpose as an illustration of a monster that helps me visualise the monster. If I don’t like any particular piece, I’ll just visualise my own and use that when describing an NPC to the players. I can’t see the difference between them and other illustrations, but we all have our own personal pet-peeves I suppose. (y)
 

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
@Beek Gwenders : Sure. Agree to disagree. In my mind, monsters are one thing, and NPCs are another kettle of fish (because of 2). Hollywood CG F/X frequently misteps when getting too close to humans---that's the origin of the term "uncanny valley".

I can’t see the difference between them and other illustrations, but we all have our own personal pet-peeves I suppose. (y)
And you are right, they are my pet peeve, because I've never seen one I liked to date. I have that proverbial "I have no interest in this product" gut reaction.

But they are most definately different (for reasons 1 & 2).
 
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Beoric

8, 8, I forget what is for
Headshots are handy for making NPC tokens for a VTT. I just wish they weren't universally so awful.
 

The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
Headshots are handy for making NPC tokens for a VTT. I just wish they weren't universally so awful.
My group seems to be locked in an old way of thinking; picturing the VTT like an actual tabletop with miniatures on it. It's getting harder to find actual top-down token art. I was all excited to find a complete collection of Monster Manual tokens only to experience complete disgust and disappointment when I discovered they were essentially just thumbnails from the book. Way cooler when it's top-down art!
Hattori1.pngBrainjack1.png
 

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
Yeah, top-down minis is the way to go on VTT. Roll20's free selection is ass though.

Be careful though... that guy has a double-bladed sword. And are those Asian weapons I see? Squeen might have an aneurysm.
 

The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
Be careful though... that guy has a double-bladed sword. And are those Asian weapons I see? Squeen might have an aneurysm.
Was thinking the same thing myself lol. Asian Weapons has got a tail too. Furry alert! At least the armoured guy is a core class, but he put points into Craft Mechanics and High Self-esteem :p
 

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
Was thinking the same thing myself lol. Asian Weapons has got a tail too.
It was super cool when Frank Miller introduced ninjas in his original Daredevil run back 1981-1983. Japan was on everyone's mind as the post-WWII model of a rising economic power. We all enjoyed learning about the military traditions of the Land of the Rising Sun.

They were still neat when Gibson leaned hard towards the East for his Neuromancer cyberpunk novel in 1984.

With each subsequent year of the past 35---and after absolute EVERYONE (including six-year-old girls...and stick-thin Asian models...and your grandmother) showed us that fighting like a ninja is second nature, a skill that emerges in life shortly after learning to ice-skate and riding a bike---it grew tiresome.

I told my children how amazing refreshing the clumsy, old-fashion, FIST FIGHT was in Nolan's Interstellar. In my book, it marked him as a true movie-making visionary not having them fight like ninjas.

So, yeah...new and original is cool. Ubiquitously overused cliches...not so much.

Again, you don't dump every spice in to every recipe or else it tastes like amorphous c**p.
 
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The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
Again, you don't dump every spice in to every recipe or else it tastes like amorphous c**p.
Best part is his half-lion Litorean isn't even an Asian class. I think he's a ranger. He's got a frickin humming bird for a companion :ROFLMAO:
Fight the power my cavalier and barbarian-hating friend. Fight the power.
 

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
A follow up to my mega-post. Here's me trying my hand at the woodcut-style for the first time. I thought I understood things, but it still surprised me how large the effect of switching to ink had on the overall mood --- to my eye, so evocative of early 20th century children's books illustrations.

barrel.jpg
"The dunjon mouse heard a noise coming out of PJ's barrel."

Full credit goes to Philotomy Jurament, who's barrel design I shamelessly copied (and butchered).
 
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squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
This might be apocryphal, but I've read that the great comic artist Neal Adams said he worked hard in the arc of his career to eliminate "style", which he then defines as "everything you are doing wrong".

:giggle:
 
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