Water dragons are a shamefully under-represented concept.
There's lots of variations on what the wendigo myth looks like; I think this is Paizo's approach.
Werewolves are, of course, a very European concept. Werehyenas would be an African concept, assuming that they have that concept in African folklore (I'm sure somebody has folklore that's close enough.) But, keep in mind that the cave hyenas were endemic to Eurasia in the Stone Age.
Sometimes fantasy is really missing out on having weird alien people. That's part of the reason AD ASTRA is fantasy in space, complete with wizards and everything. Although the Jedi aren't usually considered wizards exactly, they really kind of are; in fact, the first time Ben Kenobi is referred to, that's exactly what he's called, and Vader's "sorcerous ways" are also mentioned early on.
This is always what the Company wanted, isn't it? Why not some art that shows them getting what they were after, just because?
One of the main attractions of fantasy as a genre is the nostalgic call back to a perceived Golden Age in the past when things were beautiful, peaceful, simple and the way the world was supposed to be. And part of that is always idyllic landscapes, I think.
RAWR! On Barsoom, with the white apes.
Speaking of white, here's some white Boba Fett. Actually, this seems to recall early concept art by McQuarrie of Boba Fett, back when he wasn't named yet, and was referred to as the "supercommando." Echoes of this original idea still linger in the way Mandaloreans appear in the Clone Wars and Rebels TV show, but the concept is significantly mangled from what it once was.
Eye of Horus spaceships. A giant artificial ring around the planet. Cool stuff.
More idyllic fantasy landscapes. Although I have to admit that this particular space may be less than idyllic for most of the year, unless you're really into winter sports.
In today's politically correct world, it's often difficult to find someone willing to take on the concept of the savage and actually make them savage. There's a good reason why that was such a compelling icon in adventure fiction, though. Let's bring back the Golden Age of brown savages threatening white damsels in distress!
Everyone loves a good pseudo-horror witch-hunter vibe with standing stones in a primitive countryside.
Speaking of which, this particular witch-hunter looks to be a real veteran.
And this may well be his target.
Or even this guy. Wizards don't always have to be friendly Gandalf types, and if you read older accounts of Merlin, he wasn't always necessarily as friendly as he later appeared to be either.
Wotan and the Wild Hunt. Not all art has to be modern; this is a great piece of Victorian stuff.
I believe this it eh 5e wraith. Anyone who plays 5e probably knows, because it'd just be in the Monster Manual. Nice piece, though, right?
Western civilization is built on three main pillars: one is the peoples and traditions of Northern Europe; the Germanic peoples (often superimposed on a Celtic substrate) specifically. One is Christianity. But the Classical tradition and legacy of the Greeks and Romans is a part of our inheritance too. Although I wonder if Cronos was ever really supposed to be a gigantic lava monster guy in any classical interpretation, like he is here. I don't think so. That's probably more of a northern thing, actually, with Surtur.
Why not add a gigantic ice monster to accompany my gigantic lava man.
1 comment:
Great choices this week. That Aliens concept art . . . brr!
Post a Comment