I was visiting my FLGS on the weekend, hoping that my Otherworld Miniatures Orcs had arrived. Sadly, they had not. Do you feel my pain?
I mentioned yesterday that I was sorting through some of my old Dungeons and Dragons materials. Flipping through the pages of the Holmes Basic rulebook, I came across the above illustration, of a trio of Harpies threatening a party of adventurers.
I really like this old artwork, despite its apparent lack of sophistication. Others in the OS community have made similar remarks, particularly in relation to humourous art in Dungeons and Dragons. The old rulebooks included some classic humorous panels, such as the adventurers wearing mickey mouse noses and ears, as they attempt to invade the shrine of a rat god.
I'm not sure how to describe the feel of that early black and white art, other than to say that it suggests numerous possibilities, rather than proscribing and limiting them. It could be because each of the artists had their own style, or maybe just because everything about D&D was so new at that point. Certainly the old artwork strikes an emotional chord for me, that D&D players, who did not grow up with that art, may not share.
But I digress. The Harpies seemed familiar, and it was due to more than just the fact that I had seen them long ago in the Holmes Basic rulebook. Heading over to the Otherworld miniatures site, I re-discovered, again, why their miniatures are so appealing to me ... if i'm not mistaken, Paul Muller must have used the above artwork as his inspiration for the pair of Harpies he sculpted for Otherworld.
I mentioned yesterday that I was sorting through some of my old Dungeons and Dragons materials. Flipping through the pages of the Holmes Basic rulebook, I came across the above illustration, of a trio of Harpies threatening a party of adventurers.
I really like this old artwork, despite its apparent lack of sophistication. Others in the OS community have made similar remarks, particularly in relation to humourous art in Dungeons and Dragons. The old rulebooks included some classic humorous panels, such as the adventurers wearing mickey mouse noses and ears, as they attempt to invade the shrine of a rat god.
I'm not sure how to describe the feel of that early black and white art, other than to say that it suggests numerous possibilities, rather than proscribing and limiting them. It could be because each of the artists had their own style, or maybe just because everything about D&D was so new at that point. Certainly the old artwork strikes an emotional chord for me, that D&D players, who did not grow up with that art, may not share.
But I digress. The Harpies seemed familiar, and it was due to more than just the fact that I had seen them long ago in the Holmes Basic rulebook. Heading over to the Otherworld miniatures site, I re-discovered, again, why their miniatures are so appealing to me ... if i'm not mistaken, Paul Muller must have used the above artwork as his inspiration for the pair of Harpies he sculpted for Otherworld.
Otherworld Miniatures is going to put me in the poorhouse if they keep on producing such excellent miniatures.
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