Visions of Grandeur, Reflections on various 40K fanart

If you haven't been to Aerion the Faithful's deviantART account, I suggest you go now.

The "Blackbeard's Legacy" selection might be of particular interest to our privateer-inclined members...

This post has been edited by Captain Seato on Feb 28 2008, 09:54 PM

He's.... Okay, I suppose. I've had a few of his works on my comp for quite some time, but I've always viewed them with a fair bit of annoyance, as A: His depictions lack orginiality, instead falling back on bland and tested & tried themes. And B: The pictures are not in line with the fluff, as bolt weapons eject cartridges and he even depicts the Sisters of Battle as having the Dark Carapace (probably believing that it is required for anyone who uses Power Armour).

I also have his SoB comic and I see it as amusing not by its own right, but because it falls into the infallible trap all people blunder into when they write about the SoB, namely in that he depicts them stereotypically as "women", as being emotional and not nearly as fanatical as they are supposed to be.

I like Aerion's style. It works for me and he is one of a few 40k artists that is regular about drawings. His drawing of this model is one of my favourites along with the Brazen Claws marine that he did for the Chapter Standard. It's all a matter of taste, I guess. His primarchs are interesting too.

Well, that's true, but to be fair, GW's in-house artists - and even authors - don't always toe-the-line when it comes to established fluff, even when said fluff manages to be otherwise consistent.

my favorite art has always been matchups and duels, not boring poses, i want action!

the epic battles in the apocalypse book are truly inspiring, and while i dislike dark angels, the art in their codex is really great. a dreadnaught bitchslapping a carnifex, a terminator standing on a ruined crisis suit, all great stuff.

Ackthphh. Aerion's stuff makes my eyes burn. Give me the old 3rd Edition art anytime. The best of the lot is the Templars standard bearer on p.121, but it's just so much more fitting for the universe than over the top angular anime.

What about the art of `ukitakumuki, Ak?

I figure I ought to defend Aerion and promote a bit of discussion. Benedict, I'm curious as to what you mean by 'tried and tested themes'?

With regards to the bolt weapons ejecting cartridges, that's something even official GW artwork does. It's not accurate, but it looks cool. I'll agree with you personally on the black carapace/sisters issue.

With regards to his SoB comic, the 'infallible trap' isn't Aerion's doing. If you re-read the comic, or you have possession of the frontispiece/title pages, you'll see it was written and scripted by Freakforge. A portion (if not the majority) of the blame must come down on him. Ultimately in comics, the artist does what the writer tells them to.

I think Siggy has the size of it when he says that it's an acquired taste. I realise some people haven't acquired it. For a long time I didn't like it either. But it's grown on me.


Ak: What exactly do you mean by 'anime'? 'animated' =/= 'anime'. I wouldn't classify Aerion's style as 'anime' in the slightest, honestly.

'Over-the-top'? What is GW's own art if not 'over the top'?

Anyway, something that might be slightly more to your rarefied tastes: CRONEVALD.

I like Cronevald's style. His rendition of a Savlar Chem-Dog is certainly cool, especially the darkened horizon with the warriors and tanks, of the regiment.