FYI: Mic thumps are annoying. Audio is important, and the thumps are disruptive. However, the conversation is wonderful. The artistic survey accounting nostalgia, detail, artistic, technical merit, color, party perspective is great. I agree with the Trampier 1E favorite. It is just the most evocative. And even though the technical art execution may be a bit stiff, the composition and the variety of narratives embedded in the front+back imagery is just great. It is truly iconic. I love the artist (wife) perspective too because it’s nice to hear how the technical expertise does not always translate into evocative art. I think one of the problems with the gold dragon fuzzed background is (perhaps) that it was modeled on photography bokeh - which perhaps gives it an (modern and therefore) anachronistic feel. I don’t know if that’s what was happening, but I’m throwing it out there as a potential explanation (other than lack of detail) for the blasé feel of that piece. TY for the retrospective survey!
Great video. I prefer the Trampier 1e cover (I would say it is not nostalgia, but I did get the Games Workshop paperback version in 1979) to all other PHB covers. All the human characters have the same face (Trampier self portraits), save the bearded guy dragging the green monster on the back - apparently that was supposed to be Gary Gygax. I must say, Erol Otus has always been my favourite D&D artist.
This was a lovely conversation and a nice trip down memory lane to my childhood discovery of the original D&D red box set. As much as I'm a fan (for the most part) of the 5E rules and gameplay, I loathe the general change in D&D's aesthetic direction starting with 3E. I think D&D artwork peaked with 2E's traditional fantasy style and went totally off the rails with the more graphic novel aesthetic of 3E-5E. This may be nostalgia speaking, but the original 1989 2E PHB is still the best looking version in my opinion.
FYI: Mic thumps are annoying. Audio is important, and the thumps are disruptive.
However, the conversation is wonderful. The artistic survey accounting nostalgia, detail, artistic, technical merit, color, party perspective is great. I agree with the Trampier 1E favorite. It is just the most evocative. And even though the technical art execution may be a bit stiff, the composition and the variety of narratives embedded in the front+back imagery is just great. It is truly iconic.
I love the artist (wife) perspective too because it’s nice to hear how the technical expertise does not always translate into evocative art. I think one of the problems with the gold dragon fuzzed background is (perhaps) that it was modeled on photography bokeh - which perhaps gives it an (modern and therefore) anachronistic feel. I don’t know if that’s what was happening, but I’m throwing it out there as a potential explanation (other than lack of detail) for the blasé feel of that piece.
TY for the retrospective survey!
Great video. I prefer the Trampier 1e cover (I would say it is not nostalgia, but I did get the Games Workshop paperback version in 1979) to all other PHB covers. All the human characters have the same face (Trampier self portraits), save the bearded guy dragging the green monster on the back - apparently that was supposed to be Gary Gygax. I must say, Erol Otus has always been my favourite D&D artist.
Excellent content, thanks for posting and sharing your knowledge!
I think the 2nd edition cover was an homage to the D&D Woodgrain cover…and thats why I love it 😊 what do you think?
Is the new book purpley?
Or is it octarine?
This was a lovely conversation and a nice trip down memory lane to my childhood discovery of the original D&D red box set. As much as I'm a fan (for the most part) of the 5E rules and gameplay, I loathe the general change in D&D's aesthetic direction starting with 3E. I think D&D artwork peaked with 2E's traditional fantasy style and went totally off the rails with the more graphic novel aesthetic of 3E-5E. This may be nostalgia speaking, but the original 1989 2E PHB is still the best looking version in my opinion.
A 5e apologist says what?