The Illustration Poll Flipside: Warlock of Firetop Mountatin

[drmanhattan]

OK 

same pictures (obviously) as

fightingfantazine.proboards.com/thread/1172/illustration-poll-warlock-firetop-mountain

This time, nominate the 3 pictures which are your least favourite, but this time you have to explain what it is about the picture you feel is missing something. To be clear, this is no criticism of Russ Nicholsons amazing work, and frankly each of these pictures is difficult to separate from the wonderful and long lasting memories I had as a wee lad, but I maybe found it easier to pick 3 I "least liked" than 3 I liked best, since I could pick almost any 3 from the selection and content myself with them being the best.


I posted here

Yep, I too quickly realized just how many amazing illustrations there were, and almost all of them I could directly connect to very many memories and emotions from days gone by. It might have been easier to pick out 3 that didn't evoke strong memories, though I might still have struggled.



I think I always found the rats a bit off, somehow they look "too real" like everyday rats, despite the size, so I suppose there was no magic with those, and no striking pose like them snarling out of the page



the mosaic floor I think at the size and scale, the floor pattern doesnt really pop as much as it might at a larger format



the spider probably similar reason to the rats (I guess bats would have been in the same group), too close to real life monsters somehow not quite fantasy exaggerated enough.



But this is literally trying vainly to pick "least favourite pics" and I still think all of those are great and I remember them all fondly

and will have to pick 3 of the 4 as


Mosaic Floor (primarily the small size format hurt the impact of the image maybe)
Rats (just look too normal. and almost "too perfect" I mean they would not be amiss in a wildlife book about rats)
I think I'll take Bats just slightly over Spider, both have better "coming for you" poses than the Rats, but a giant spider is just physically scarier than a bat perhaps.

[bloodbeasthandler]

I find this more difficult than picking top three favourites. Not least because if the artist is given a brief to 'draw a door at the end of a dark corridor', what results is very likely a picture that struggles to compete with 'knight on horseback fighting dragon'. This applies to the 'key' picture among others.

And with the caveat that I like Russ Nicholson's art a great deal ... here's my bottom three.

1. Mosaic. Not enough 'going on' with the walls and ceiling.
2. Portcullis. I cannot fault what Russ has done... it's just there's not as much drawing me in here compared to other pictures.
3. Mazemaster. I feel that the man does not 'stand out' from the background enough, and I have to look carefully to see the little creature on his shoulder.

I nearly put the Orc Chief in there because now I know it's there I cannot help looking at the error with the hand. But the action and characterisation in the picture is such that I changed my mind.

[zxcvbn]

the mosaic as it is mostly just empty space. The dragon as it just looked comical when i first saw it, and the zombies as it just felt plain compared to the other drawings

[tyrion]

Mosaic - it is just a bit plain. The plaster on the walls is better than in my house.
Dragon - doesn't look very threatening, or for that matter, like how I imagine a dragon. Maybe it just got fat eating adventurers?
Third choice is more difficult, but probably the painting room for the same reasons as the mosaic.

[a moderator]

Mosaic - there's a larger version of it in issue 1 of Warlock magazine, and it doesn't look any better. Just makes it easier to see how distorted the pattern gets towards the back of the room.
Fillers - just a bit bland.
Portcullis - more the subject matter than the actual illustration.

[The Count]

It is tempting to nominate the obviously shoddy mosaic tiles, but the main fault with that was choosing to commission an illustration of an empty room with an ugly pattern on the floor in the first place...

Dragon - far too obese to fly, even if it had proper wings and not those silly things glued on, odd proportions*, weird detailing at the front that looks like its wearing an ill fitting dress, the "flame" coming from its mouth looks like a strange shaped stick has been rammed partly into (or rather behind) its mouth, it looks drugged.
Orc Chief - doesn't look like an Orc, weird proportions*, the hand holding the whip is anatomically impossible.
Ghoul - not a Ghoul, looks at best like a Zombie that is melting, impossible to determine what is supposed to be clothing or flesh in places, strange proportions*. Being vastly overrated doesn't help, especially when it is utter crap and he has produced much better work in this (and other) FF books.

*an issue with a lot of his illustrations in the book and other places, though it works for the Wild Man and Troll.

[Peter]

Same from me.

The mosaic just seems too over-emphasised by having an illustration - it is not a significant event, not a situation that requires an immediate response, not an imminent threat. I still like it as a picture though.
The dragon doesn't look dragon-like enough - too bulky. Still a nice drawing though.
The entrance - only because the one in Warlock magazine is a more elaborate version, making the original look plain by comparison. It was already foreboding enough, and I do like it (in fact I voted for it), but the angry face over the cave entrance and the skulls on spikes ramp up the sense that you are unwelcome and face dire threats within.

[sylas]

The Portcullis, Key and Mosaic for mostly the same reason: lots of empty space put to no use.

For me, if a room is described as 'bare' I'd still want to see something there to show the history and story of its making. Cracks in the wall, claw marks, broken chunks to show depth, creepy crawlies, mosses and moulds, etched in pictures or scribblings. Basically if it's in a place where there are lots of things living in and passing through, I'd expect that to have an impact on even the barest wall.