The Barbarian – Viktor Fetsch
There is a very specific aesthetic I want to achieve with the art for Legends & Labyrinths. To keep myself on task, I drew up a list of artistic guidelines for the project. As guidelines, all of these would end up getting violated at one time or another, but for the most part they helped keep me on track.
Goal #1: No posing.
A lot of recent fantasy art has trended towards people posing for the imaginary camera. This has occasionally been used to good effect, but more often it results in flat and contrived imagery. It’s my belief that showing people in action — actually living in a land of fantasy and adventure — is not only more interesting, but also more effective at capturing the imagination of players and drawing them into the game world.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that every picture needs to be action-packed, but the fluid motion and sheer power captured in this painting by Viktor Fetsch immediately excited me.
