EDIT: Apparently this post was mistakenly scheduled to go up at 11pm tonight, rather than 7am when it normally should. Sorry about that!

First, just thought I’d point out that Picture Thursday 25 is on April 25. That’ll probably never happen again. I’ll be damned. It’ll happen on May 30th. That’ll be the last time, though!

If you’ve been reading my recent Deadly Dungeons post, it may have become apparent that I have a thing for statues. While painting and music are artforms which remain strong even today, to my knowledge there’s not a lot of traditional sculpting artists. It doesn’t really fit with the modern world. Who can afford giant blocks of stone? Once finished, how will it be moved? Where will it be placed? The practice of this art form hasn’t completely vanished from the earth, but in my mind statues are most at home in a land of swords and warfare. They speak to me of adventure.

This particular piece, the sculptor of which I have been unable to determine, is of particular interest to me. The photograph was taken Le Monde1. The only other photograph I’ve found shows the statue mounted on the outer walls of Grossmunster cathedral. It depicts Charlemagne with some seriously odd proportions, and bearing a crown and sword which–honestly–look kind chincy  in contrast with the stone.

A statue like this one would not normally draw my attention. Dude sitting with a sword on his lap doesn’t interest me. But the discongruity of the proportions and the cheap-looking accessories has left me staring at it for the last 10 minutes.

The stillness in this piece is palpable. When I look at it, I swear the room gets a little quieter around me.

Nicole Cardiff’s gallery is extensive. I highly recommend you browse through it. There’s page after page of amazing sci-fi and fantasy artwork. These are some of my favorites from just the first page, because there are too many to list them all:

Knight of Ghosts and Shadows

Water Temple

Ambush

Zombie Gnome

First off, I apologize for my absence over the past two days. For the last week I’ve been in the death-grip of a fucking dreadful cold. I don’t get sick very often, but when I do, it tends to be absolutely debilitating. I won’t go into the gory details of my symptoms, but suffice to say that I’ve experienced a lot of symptoms since last Thursday. Even now I’m hacking up a lung every few minutes. Fortunately for you, that’s not enough to keep me away from a keyboard, so posts will resume their normal schedule from here.

Now, on to today’s lovely depiction of an unholy beast eager to end all life it encounters.

There are a lot of ‘basic’ undead creatures. Stuff we’ve all become used to. The vampire, the ghoul, and the ubiquitous zombie. But if I had to pick the single one which still comes the closest to being honestly frightening to me, it would have to be the skeleton. I don’t know if I could properly say why that is. Perhaps it’s that they seem so much more dead than creatures which still have flesh.

Jérémie Fleury‘s skeleton is hunched over, standing amidst other, less intact bones. Its open grin unsettles me. I think the only thing which would frighten me more about it is if it didn’t have the gaudy glowing eyes. I find the blackness of an empty socket much more scary.

You can see more examples of Jérémie Fleury’s art on his Deviant Art, linked above, or on his website, http://www.trefle-rouge.fr/. He’s made art for a number of interesting-looking products. I don’t know if any of them have English translations, but if not, at least they’re pretty to look at!

As I told the artist of this piece, Jjnaas, this isn’t the kind of thing which normally catches my eye. Brightly colored fantasy stories about children really aren’t my thing. Even when I was a kid I was frustrated by how tame some of the stuff aimed at kids could be. But something about this piece is different. The juxtaposition of the adorable, terrified child; the light and life filtering in from the world above, and the profound darkness that surround them, speaks of a true danger which sets my imagination running.

Jjnaas is immensely skilled. His gallery is massive and I absolutely recommend browsing it. Much of his work is not fantasy themed, but a lot of it is and it’s all worth checking out. For example, I love the architecture in this tavern, with the interior balconies creating an interesting setting for adventure. And this piece titled Pilgrim Route is so quiet and adventurous, I wish I had the artistic knowledge to describe it better.

I don’t need to tell you that dwarfs are my favorite fantasy race, right? Because you guys all know I’m not a moron. And if dwarfs weren’t my favorite fantasy race, I would be a moron, wouldn’t I?

Wouldn’t I? >.>

This fan-fucking-tastic piece of art from IgorIvArt is a gorgeous depiction of dwarven architecture. You really need to view it at full size to pick up on the great detail of the piece. The stylized carvings on either side of the entrance, the streams of molten rock running down the sides, the latticework of the cavern wall, it gets me in the mood to play the most stoic kind of dwarf. I feel like this would be the secret entrance to a great dwarven city. The labyrinthine caverns required to reach this place are so complex and twisting that only a dwarf could navigate it.

IgorIvArt doesn’t have the biggest gallery on DeviantArt yet, but I like this alchemist image a lot as well.

For me, magical rings are the quintessential magic item. Sure magic brooches or magic swords can be cool, and often are, but there’s something about rings. Maybe its the fact that we imbue them with an almost magical significance in our society (wedding rings being the most prominent example). Perhaps it’s because they ornament our hands, and our hands are fuckin’ amazing.

The above piece from *BATTLEFAIRIES is an example of how varied rings can be. It’s something I tried to express myself a few months back, but there’s really no substitute for art when you’re trying to express the appearance of something. I highly recommend you check out the artist’s gallery, where there are several other pieces similar to this one. Including a nice array of weapon designs.

Thus far I’ve made it a rule not to feature any art for Picture Thursday which I can’t properly credit the artist. This, unfortunately, has meant that I’ve had to pass on some really great pieces. For this Thursday, though, I’m breaking that rule for a piece of art which I have a long history with. If anyone does know what individual is responsible for this piece, please please let me know.

As I’ve written many times, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is a game with a huge influence on my life. One of the most striking scenes in that game is the area of the Lost Woods where the Master Sword is embedded in a stone altar. This painting captures and expands upon the feelings of that scene perfectly. The forest is dark, but the filtered light makes it welcoming. The mist on the ground hints at a chill in the air. The scene is still, but the stone and the sword speak to me of adventure.

For me the image is at once solemn and comforting. Looking at it makes me feel happy.

I have a great love for ‘wonders of the world,’ as interpreted by the creators of fantasy realms. Monoliths constructed in ages past, which survive long after the death of the empire which begat them. I’m not a huge fan of the Song of Ice and Fire books, but that doesn’t prevent me from enjoying this marvelous depiction of the Titan of Braavos, illustrated by Zippo514 on DeviantArt. I think it was a particularly good choice to use the low angle for the piece, emphasizing the scale of the statue much better than other depictions I’ve seen.

Zippo514 is a marvelous artist. His art is the kind which I just can’t get enough of. They’re varied and filled with motion and grandeur, with very few pieces I’d call ‘simple.’ He also has a lot of messy splashes of color in his art, rather than well defined lines. I can’t get enough of that. It looks gorgeous, and lets my imagination really delve into the piece.

I strongly suggest you take a look at Zippo514’s gallery. In particular some of these pieces:

Skeleton King

An Autumn War

The Red Viper

Young Wolf

Pyke

Night Watcher

Old Dungeons and Dragons modules are a great source for interesting art. And while I haven’t been exposed to a lot of them, the cover of The Endless Stair by Ed Greenwood is easily my favorite. The art is by a fellow named Jack Fred, who I’d not heard of before, and who I can’t find any information about. If you know something, let me know so proper credit can be given!

I’ll be the first to admit that the ladies depicted here are stupidly sexualized. If it was just the magic user I could maybe give it a pass, but the thief on the left is simply preposterous. Normally I would pass on a piece of art that has this level of ‘cheesecake’ bullshit in it. But I just fucking love everything else about it.

First, the piece has that great “every-adventurer” thing going on. These characters are nobody you know, and yet they’re every character you’ve ever played. You can put yourself into their shoes instantly. Second, the two men are beautifully equipped. Their gear is mundane and worn. More brightly colored art with cleaner lines is never able to look quite so real as this. Plus you have to love the 1970s style hair.

I also love the poses. Even the women have pretty great poses here, but my favorite is the dark haired man in the center. He’s drawn midway through pulling his axe from his belt, and that’s something you so rarely see in fantasy art. It doesn’t look ‘cool,’ or ‘badass,’ and because of that it seems more real, and thus draws me into the scene all the more.

And on top of all that, there’s the environment. I’m a native of the pacific northwest of the U.S., and this is exactly what this area looks like. The trees and the mountains and the sky and the grass all evoke memories of camping trips I’ve taken. It’s glorious.

I do apologize for the quality of the image. The only ones I could find online were very low resolution, so I opted to scan my own copy of the module instead. Unfortunately it has some minor damage which obscures some of the art.