I'd really like to know where it's going.
It's not just about the artwork, which most sane people acknowledge has been very bad and only quite recently improved (at least covers; I haven't seen the insides of the most recent books). But style goes well beyond that. There were the SOTA2063 shoe endorsements— probably now the most notorious movement of Shadowrun into solidly stupid comic book territory. Where is SR4 headed? Will it move into gritty realism? Deeper into comic books and clock tits and adepts designed solely to recreate the favorite comic book heroes of the writers?
Full Version: SR4 Style
Do we have any actual pictures from the book? I jhaven't found a link yet that includes a picture of a cover or anything.
That might be the cover on the bilingual .pdf release from the German site. It looks like it was painted by the same artist that did the cover of the "Sprawl Survival Guide." I did not like his rendition of trolls. Too bad they couldn't get Adi Granov, he's a big shot now that he's doing the art for Marvel Comic's "Iron Man."
I'm not just talking about art style, though. Not that I wouldn't love to see the comic book bullshit that launched SR3 dropped to the bottom of the Atlantic, but world design and writing are ultimately more significant (though I don't want to downplay art too much; the most realistic writing in the world will fall flat if it's published next to a picture of the Aztlan sourcebooks Rocket Horse).
If you download the FanPro 2005 catalog you will see a painting that could be the cover. It shows a group of shadowrunners attacking something or someone through a doorway. If this is the painting you refer to that is in the german pdf, you are completely wrong about it´s artist. It is not the same artist that painted the "Sprawl Survival Guide". I too dislike that cover. This artist is a swedish guy named Peter Bergting, if I´m not mistaken. And I don´t think I am because I recognise his style a mile away. He has a distinctive dark and gritty style. He has made shadowrun artwork for a very long time. You can see his illustrations in the "Ghost Story" adventure in Super Tuesday, for example. If he´s style is going to be prevalent in the new edition, we might get sort of a comic book style. But it´s going to be a Hell Boy (Peter Bergting illustrated the rpg), Frank Miller kind of comic book style. Which is fine by me.
| QUOTE (Pthgar) |
| It looks like it was painted by the same artist that did the cover of the "Sprawl Survival Guide." I did not like his rendition of trolls. |
Actually, I think he did them quite nicely.
Just still a bit to small.
(I still believe it's a conspiracy of writers and artists - first they introduce a 2.8m/600kg species, then every picture shows them way smaller and lighter so nobody notices how unplayable they are.
Oh, and they produce rules stating these giant monsters can use equipment and fit into vehicles intended for beings only a fracture of their size and weight.)
| QUOTE (mintcar) |
| If you download the FanPro 2005 catalog |
Got a link? Having trouble finding it.
I get the impression that the tone is going to be grittier than recent publications have tended. After all, the world is suffering through the second destruction of its communication infrastructure in 50 years.
And that ain't easy....
And that ain't easy....
It's neither Jim Nelson (SSG cover) or Bergting - it is Mark Zug's work.
| QUOTE (Jrayjoker) |
| I get the impression that the tone is going to be grittier than recent publications have tended. After all, the world is suffering through the second destruction of its communication infrastructure in 50 years. And that ain't easy.... |
Let's hope so. I miss the grittier tone that second edition had.
Mmmmmm..
Sweet, sweet dystopian future.
Sweet, sweet dystopian future.
Pistons: You agree that it resembles Bergting though, don´t you?
I don't see any Bergting in that. But it would have been nice...
Have you seen his recent paintings though? The reason I ask is that he illustrates a lot of swedish rpg's, so I see a lot of his art.
<<<edit>>> take a look at the first of the interior colour scenes (p177 BBB) in the main book. Now doesn´t that have some resemblance to this new cover? *end bickering*
<<<edit>>> take a look at the first of the interior colour scenes (p177 BBB) in the main book. Now doesn´t that have some resemblance to this new cover? *end bickering*
All I have to say is that the next time Prescott submits any artwork that just screams "BOOBIES!" they need to jab him with an electric cattle prod.
That's been wired into a 240v outlet.
That's been wired into a 240v outlet.
... don't you like boobies? 
| QUOTE (Toa) |
| ... don't you like boobies? |
Oh, don't get me wrong, I LOVE BOOBIES.
What I DON'T like is the fact that Prescott seems to have some sort of aberrant preoccupation with them to the point where he has to slap sunflowers over them or tight shirts with a big smiley face on each one, or in the worst case, the cyberboob with the pressure gauge where the nipple should be. It's childish. It makes his art look silly, and his silly art in an otherwise upstanding SR sourcebook makes it feel like some prepubesecent junior highschool boy's sketch notebook.
If I want to see a boob with a sunburst on top of it, I can just download and play that Janet Jackson Halftime clip from the Superbowl before last. (I have a feeling, that on Prescott's home computer, he must have that clip converted into a screensaver, it'd be right up his alley).
I often wonder how many potential female SR players have been driven away from this hobby because when they were at the gaming store, they flipped through a sourcebook, and came across one of Prescott's pieces. I know that the whole "Chainmail Bikini Art in RPGs" issue is a hot button one, and probably some of the arguments are overblown. However, Prescott's artwork does a lot to justify some of the claims I've heard. The females he draws aren't so much interesting characters as they are boob delivery systems.
| QUOTE (RunnerPaul) |
| The females he draws aren't so much interesting characters as they are boob delivery systems. |
Ya know, that's just about sigworthy.
| QUOTE (Req) | ||
Ya know, that's just about sigworthy. |
If you do sig it, be sure to replace "he" with "Prescott".
i think it's more the fact that you're focusing on the relatively few pictures that do have aberrant boobies. most of his pictures are just pictures, no breast-related craziness involved.
Not to defend the man's excesses (the BTL section. Ahem.) but some of his stuff isn't bad at all. The stuff in Corporate Punishment and SR3 wasn't extreme at all. When I see someone complain about flowers on boobs, in my opinion they're boiling down a fairly large body of work down to a few bad boobies.
EDIT: Drat... mfb's one fast... (shut yo' mouth)
EDIT: Drat... mfb's one fast... (shut yo' mouth)
Not to double post or anything, but I just noticed that I somehow managed to edit my post before it was posted.
Somehow I thought time travel would feel more momentous than this.
Somehow I thought time travel would feel more momentous than this.
Paul that was funny my man.
Say Pistons, what's a guy gotta do to get cozy to a knowledgable lady like you? I have cookies, muffins, krispy kreme's-you name your price!
Say Pistons, what's a guy gotta do to get cozy to a knowledgable lady like you? I have cookies, muffins, krispy kreme's-you name your price!
| QUOTE (mfb) |
| i think it's more the fact that you're focusing on the relatively few pictures that do have aberrant boobies. most of his pictures are just pictures, no breast-related craziness involved. |
| QUOTE (garland) |
| in my opinion they're boiling down a fairly large body of work down to a few bad boobies. |
For what it's worth, in my original post, I didn't say he should get the cattle prod whenever he submits artwork, just when he submits artwork that screams "boobies!"
I think some of Prescott's stuff is pretty good. The thing is, it's often humorous. I think it should be used sparingly for comic relief.
My favorite Prescott is in MitS, the spell test lab mishap on p. 51. Also the illos of the ways at the beginning of the book are cool. I also like his drake illos in DotSW.
My favorite Prescott is in MitS, the spell test lab mishap on p. 51. Also the illos of the ways at the beginning of the book are cool. I also like his drake illos in DotSW.
On shadowrun artwork in general, I've been very happy with the SR3 artwork. It sure bets the drek in the D&D books.
I'd love to see them bring back Tim Bradstreet, but from what I understand that'd be expensive.
Heck yeah, he too was snapped up by Marvel, just like Granov.
That and Bradstreet got into some serious trouble when he was doing the old Vampire images. It was fun to sit down with a friend of the developers and hear some of the backstory to the photos. The Brujah pic, with the guy name is 'Fang' was the one that got him sued, cause the guy had already copyrighted his image and Bradstreet's work in question involved taking a photograph and running it through a line art filter a few dozen times with slight tweaks here and there.
He can use those methods if he likes (eccept for the copy right part) as long as it looks good. It doesn´t require any less artistic feeling (maybe just a bit less time and skill, but he has plenty of skill we know that). I would like to see Bradstreet back.
Another favorit is Janet Aulisio (not sure about the spelling). She's awsome. Completely original style. If she didn´t always use that islamic fashion on all her characters, I would vote for her doing as much of the art as possible. Heck, even though I don´t view the setting to be as she depicts it fashion wise, I still want to see as much of her pics as possible.
Or perhaps even better. Entirely new artists that are good in their own right. And make the visual style of this new edition uniqe from the others.
Another favorit is Janet Aulisio (not sure about the spelling). She's awsome. Completely original style. If she didn´t always use that islamic fashion on all her characters, I would vote for her doing as much of the art as possible. Heck, even though I don´t view the setting to be as she depicts it fashion wise, I still want to see as much of her pics as possible.
Or perhaps even better. Entirely new artists that are good in their own right. And make the visual style of this new edition uniqe from the others.
Whatever happened to Jeff Laubenstein?
| QUOTE (Zen Shooter01) |
| Whatever happened to Jeff Laubenstein? |
I don't miss him.
He did decent stuff for the Paranormal Animals books but his way of drawing (meta)humans always struck me as odd (especially the faces).
| QUOTE (Zen Shooter01) |
| Whatever happened to Jeff Laubenstein? |
He's recently done at least a few pieces for D&D sourcebooks and for articles in Dragon Magazine.
| QUOTE (Zen Shooter01) |
| Whatever happened to Jeff Laubenstein? |
I hope he never draws for Shadowrun ever again! Gah!
Give me Bradstreet and Shy...
| QUOTE (M¥$T1C) | ||
I don't miss him. He did decent stuff for the Paranormal Animals books but his way of drawing (meta)humans always struck me as odd (especially the faces). |
No kidding. What's up with the noses? I'm not really sure that people look like that...
I mean, most of the SR art is stylized in one way or another, but those weird honkin' noses don't have a lot of bearing on reality for me.
mintcar: Sorry, doesn't look a thing like Bergting's work, to me.
Paul: I got Krispy Kremes, and I bake a mean banana nut bread. I dunno what you mean by 'cozy,' but if that means 'be my friend,' you can start by buying me a drink.
Paul: I got Krispy Kremes, and I bake a mean banana nut bread. I dunno what you mean by 'cozy,' but if that means 'be my friend,' you can start by buying me a drink.
aww shoot
| QUOTE (RunnerPaul) |
| I'd love to see them bring back Tim Bradstreet, but from what I understand that'd be expensive. |
Screw Bradstreet. Bring back Alex Ross.
wha? when did he draw for SR?
huh. wow.
While we're throwing names out there, let's see some artwork by Fredd Gorham in the book. He's a good artist who's done work for Hero Games, WW, and SJ Games.
(The fact that Fredd happens to be a friend of mine in no way influenced this post. Uh huh, sure...)
(The fact that Fredd happens to be a friend of mine in no way influenced this post. Uh huh, sure...)
Well, if we're requesting odd artists, I want Tatagh Muchke.
Who designed the cover art for Survival of the fittest? I liked that one. Especially the ork. Not so comicbook-ish.
I think they should ask Giuseppe Camuncoli.
But that's just 'cause I know him and he's cool...
But that's just 'cause I know him and he's cool...
| QUOTE (Young Freud) |
| Bring back Alex Ross. |
Him too.
Oh yeah, him too.
It'd cost a bomb...but it would be very, very pretty...
It'd cost a bomb...but it would be very, very pretty...
| QUOTE (Pthgar) |
| That might be the cover on the bilingual .pdf release from the German site. It looks like it was painted by the same artist that did the cover of the "Sprawl Survival Guide." |
As someone has already mentioned, the SR4 cover artist is Mark Zug. The picture used in the press release is a not-quite-final version of the cover ... there are still a few tweaks to be made.
There a reason they're breaking into a Zeta-Impchem facility? I didn't even know ZIC was in Seattle.
And how about a VTOL that doesn't look like a WW2-era seaplane?
And how about a VTOL that doesn't look like a WW2-era seaplane?
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