RPG Art
I was thinking about the new coloring books and how they are different from the ones I grew up with. The majority of the coloring books you see today are packed full of lines so the person coloring them in will have a million tiny spaces to fill. There used to by larger fields to wrestle with. You had to decide whether to color them in with one color or be adventurous and try some kind of shading or mixing.
That got me thinking about the old D&D manuals versus all the new glossy books. Ray Otus and I have talked about this a little before but I’m still struggling to understand it completely. For some reason I prefer a lot of those old B&W images when it comes to gaming.
I really admire the art in the Pathfinder, D&D and other fancy-schmancy books of today. There is no question that the artists are very skilled. In some way, I think they’ve taken away my agency. When I look at some full-color, glossy image depicting a scene I might encounter in the game, I feel like an observer. When I look at something with fewer of the details filled in for me, I find it easier to project myself into the action.
What do you think?
This reaction is really not all that surprising after studying both animation and psychology. Basically it boils down to having less details “filled in” for an image or any number of other things really does make it both easier and more likely for us to project emotions, intentions, motivations, and all sorts of other things on to external phenomena that are really just reflections of what’s going on inside our own heads – often without realizing it. It’s a very deep subject that leads to everything from ethical questions in marketing to explanations about why we have greater sympathy/empathy sometimes with animals than with other humans. For a quick eye-opener on the subject, just look up the “Heider-Simmel animation experiment”.
This reaction is really not all that surprising after studying both animation and psychology. Basically it boils down to having less details “filled in” for an image or any number of other things really does make it both easier and more likely for us to project emotions, intentions, motivations, and all sorts of other things on to external phenomena that are really just reflections of what’s going on inside our own heads – often without realizing it. It’s a very deep subject that leads to everything from ethical questions in marketing to explanations about why we have greater sympathy/empathy sometimes with animals than with other humans. For a quick eye-opener on the subject, just look up the “Heider-Simmel animation experiment”.
I think there’s also something to be said for how images and text work together. Super-saturated colorful images sometimes “outcompete” text in a way I don’t love. And with those technicolor images comes the impulse to lay in color images as grounds behind the text, fancy up tables, etc. Pretty soon it’s the Book of Kells and not a gaming text. Okay. That’s fine, but I didn’t come to see a movie, I bought a book that had some white space in it for my own imagination to get a grip. Right?
I think there’s also something to be said for how images and text work together. Super-saturated colorful images sometimes “outcompete” text in a way I don’t love. And with those technicolor images comes the impulse to lay in color images as grounds behind the text, fancy up tables, etc. Pretty soon it’s the Book of Kells and not a gaming text. Okay. That’s fine, but I didn’t come to see a movie, I bought a book that had some white space in it for my own imagination to get a grip. Right?
Russell Tripp Great suggestion. That’s an interesting read! Growing up in the seventies exposed me to a lot of animations and picture-books like that. Little Blue and Little Yellow was still popular and the animated Flatland was common in public schools. I admit that I always got really wrapped up in them.
Russell Tripp Great suggestion. That’s an interesting read! Growing up in the seventies exposed me to a lot of animations and picture-books like that. Little Blue and Little Yellow was still popular and the animated Flatland was common in public schools. I admit that I always got really wrapped up in them.
Ray Otus Truly. On that same note, I think there is a sweet spot for content. When I look at a table with more than fifty entries, it sort of overwhelms me. On one hand I’m excited to see 50+ magic wands I can select from. On the other hand, give me 10 good ones and let me work with them.
It’s definitely good to have a lot of content out there but, for the sake of storytelling, limit the load to really thematic stuff within the pages of a single tome. Once you cross a certain threshold in the pursuit of providing EVERYTHING, it actually overloads the reader and becomes less interesting. That’s probably why zines appeal to me so much.
Ray Otus Truly. On that same note, I think there is a sweet spot for content. When I look at a table with more than fifty entries, it sort of overwhelms me. On one hand I’m excited to see 50+ magic wands I can select from. On the other hand, give me 10 good ones and let me work with them.
It’s definitely good to have a lot of content out there but, for the sake of storytelling, limit the load to really thematic stuff within the pages of a single tome. Once you cross a certain threshold in the pursuit of providing EVERYTHING, it actually overloads the reader and becomes less interesting. That’s probably why zines appeal to me so much.
Tables – Or 10 coll wands with 10 variants that could apply to each of them. I suddenly have 100 options without being overwhelmed.
Art – Give me black and white inked interior any day. Sure, there are some cool color images, but inks do it for me. Ramon Perez quality inks, thank you.
Tables – Or 10 coll wands with 10 variants that could apply to each of them. I suddenly have 100 options without being overwhelmed.
Art – Give me black and white inked interior any day. Sure, there are some cool color images, but inks do it for me. Ramon Perez quality inks, thank you.
Agree with all this – and with Logan Howard when he says that’s probably why he prefers zines. I find running adventures out of a huge splat book overwhelming. A 16-32 page zine is all I need!!
Agree with all this – and with Logan Howard when he says that’s probably why he prefers zines. I find running adventures out of a huge splat book overwhelming. A 16-32 page zine is all I need!!
I prefer lush art, but that can definitely be handled poorly too.
I prefer lush art, but that can definitely be handled poorly too.
There are some other factors that really help too. For example, I really love how often Claudia Cangini turns characters toward the viewer and gives them expressions as though they are in the middle of a conversation with us. Just look at that Legacy: Worldfall cover! It feels like we’re about to give orders or providing crucial information! If she put a “captain” in the image, we’d be left out. Maybe that character in the middle is the captain but all the eyes are turned toward us.
There are some other factors that really help too. For example, I really love how often Claudia Cangini turns characters toward the viewer and gives them expressions as though they are in the middle of a conversation with us. Just look at that Legacy: Worldfall cover! It feels like we’re about to give orders or providing crucial information! If she put a “captain” in the image, we’d be left out. Maybe that character in the middle is the captain but all the eyes are turned toward us.
I get a different feeling when I see the old school art:
The full-color modern stuff looks great, and feels like art. The OS bw stuff looks great too, and feels like role playing (if that makes sense).
James Shields​ issue 4 of my Sessions Zero zine (available on Patreon) has some great tables that really affect the adventure, and issue 5 (1st draft finished) takes that a step further: each element of ever table also realtes to 1 or more questions that you’ll ask during session zero. So you’ll roll a bunch of dice to generate the “dungeon” AND a block of questions that will shape the world around the dungeon, which are directly related to the dungeon.
I get a different feeling when I see the old school art:
The full-color modern stuff looks great, and feels like art. The OS bw stuff looks great too, and feels like role playing (if that makes sense).
James Shields​ issue 4 of my Sessions Zero zine (available on Patreon) has some great tables that really affect the adventure, and issue 5 (1st draft finished) takes that a step further: each element of ever table also realtes to 1 or more questions that you’ll ask during session zero. So you’ll roll a bunch of dice to generate the “dungeon” AND a block of questions that will shape the world around the dungeon, which are directly related to the dungeon.
Agreed on ‘feeling’ like role playing.
Agreed on ‘feeling’ like role playing.
Thank you so much, Logan! Expressive characters is something I really strive for.
Thank you so much, Logan! Expressive characters is something I really strive for.
I love lush art for covers and modules, but when it comes to bestiaries I preferred them b/w, because I colored them myself to make the creatures into my own world’s versions.
I love lush art for covers and modules, but when it comes to bestiaries I preferred them b/w, because I colored them myself to make the creatures into my own world’s versions.