The One Ring Preview 3: The Art

[Rich H]

Page 6 and page 67 of the Adventurer's Guide. That first spread on page 6 is easy to miss once you're using the guides a lot. Likewise the Woodman section once you know character creation. Both lovely pieces though. John Howe and Tomasz Jedruszek.

... It's amazing how the second one looks so different when presented outside of a book - it just appearing in the bottom third as opposed to the larger size, above, really changes it's impact on/for me.

You're right about the first one - never look at the early part of the book anymore!

Lovely pieces though, yes. Not only is the art of a high standard, I also feel you, John and Tomasz have very complimentary styles; almost like you're painting from the same palate so to speak. Was that deliberate, John, when you were looking at who to use?

[Rich H]

Rich rolled an eye for perception then

... I can't believe how the Woodsmen and Hound picture looks so different in the larger format and without the text of the page.

We need a collected "Book of TOR Art" with all these pieces presented in a larger size.

[Marcus]

I so want this book, maybe I'll get a game going even. If not, pretty book for bookcase!

[zedturtle]

Yeah being outside the book really changes your perspective. I recognized the Woodman one though, I've spent a lot of time looking at that statue and wondering what was going on there.

[Sprigg]

The artwork in these books is simply incredible. I'm looking forward to the new pieces in the upcoming book!

[Jon Hodgson]

Lovely pieces though, yes. Not only is the art of a high standard, I also feel you, John and Tomasz have very complimentary styles; almost like you're painting from the same palate so to speak. Was that deliberate, John, when you were looking at who to use?

I can't claim any credit for that part of the process - artists were selected and commissioned for the core set before I was the art director at Cubicle 7. I'd like to think the "art-direction-like" work I put in after that played a major part in me being offered the job, but at that point I was a jobbing illustrator.

I can say with some certainty that Francesco, Robert and Dom did chose artists for their stylistic compatibility, and finding artists to work on The One Ring has been a persistent challenge - it's a style and mind-set that's both extremely important and very difficult to find.

[Rich H]

Interesting stuff Jon, thanks for sharing.

[Arthadan]

i for one would buy an art book with all those beautiful designs in big format. Maybe something in line with what I.C.E. did with McBride's paintings for MERP in Characters of Middle-earth. It was a book with full page illustrations and then game stats of the characters and some context describing where they are and what are they doing.

[Southron]

I noticed that Caranthir has been replaced by Frida on the cover. Is the Elf gone for good?

[Rocmistro]

i for one would buy an art book with all those beautiful designs in big format. Maybe something in line with what I.C.E. did with McBride's paintings for MERP in Characters of Middle-earth. It was a book with full page illustrations and then game stats of the characters and some context describing where they are and what are they doing.

RIP, Angus. You fuelled my Middle-earth imagination for 10 years. I hope you're enjoying a pint with the Old Gaffer.