Ferrus' Warhammer

[Unintentional Batman]

Blanche's, easily. Not that the Fulgrim cover version is shoddy, it's just that the other is John Blanche's version.

[Aegnor]

And here we reach the "you either love or hate Blanche's sketch style"

[Olis]

Personally I like 'em both, for different reasons; with the version presented by Blanche (a concept artist) we have been given something visceral and otherworldly in a humanoid form whereas Roberts' (an illustrator/3D artist) version is a clear, concise depiction that isn't ambiguous (to me at least). Honestly, I'd love to have something that meets in the middle, something that's got the left field-ness of Blanche but has a clarity of execution about it that Neil Roberts gives. But we have two versions and I wouldn't elevate one over the other because each depiction serves a different purpose.

[Aegnor]

That's a very good post, and fairer to Mr Blanche than I tend to be at times.

[Olis]

That's a very good post, and fairer to Mr Blanche than I tend to be at times.

 

He's a nice guy. Sort of met him two sundays ago. :D

[Aegnor]

I admire his vision and like some of his artwork, but a lot of his concept stuff doesn't do it for me, but that's no reflection on him necessary.

[Greyall]

It took me a while to truly appreciate Mr. Blanche's work for what it is - a vision (he's said it himself that what he's good at is giving his ideas form). Problem is, when you have artists such as Paul Dainton, Adrian Smith, Alex Boyd and Dave Gallagher (although the latter's colouring is...hard to take in, like we see in the Blood Angels' codex cover, but he's an extremely capable artist), which are experts at making Power Armour believable (once you draw a Space Marine on the move, you know you've reached the pinnacle in sense of motion), it's easy to disregar John Blanche's more "artistic" and iconic style.

 

I stopped raging at some insults thrown at Mr. Blanche's artwork, like saying it looks like a splash of barf (though that doesn't make them acceptable) but, at the very least, I'd like people to acknowledge that, because of him - and others, like Jes Goodwin -, we have the grimdark we love so much.

 

Again, as for the cover of Fulgrim, let me restate: Neil Roberts had to make a recognizable Ferrus (a never before seen Primarch) fighting in the distance. Did he draw the best Ferrus there is or will be? Not really, the wrench looks silly. But he did make him recognizable. Also, there was nothing about Ferrus's personality that led us to think he was anything apart from a tech-savvy, hot-blooded guy, before the novel. No mention of his fighting skill, of him being tied with Vulkan for physical strength or even of Forgebreaker. We have no proof that Mr. Roberts knew of these things at the time of drawing the cover.

[Qarassen]

Again, as for the cover of Fulgrim, let me restate: Neil Roberts had to make a recognizable Ferrus (a never before seen Primarch) fighting in the distance. Did he draw the best Ferrus there is or will be? Not really, the wrench looks silly. But he did make him recognizable. Also, there was nothing about Ferrus's personality that led us to think he was anything apart from a tech-savvy, hot-blooded guy, before the novel. No mention of his fighting skill, of him being tied with Vulkan for physical strength or even of Forgebreaker. We have no proof that Mr. Roberts knew of these things at the time of drawing the cover.

 

Many good points there. But then i start to wonder: Why does not the auther/g-w check the final cover before the release more carfully for things like this?

[Greyall]

A fair question, my best bet was that, Ferrus being in such an "embryonic" (no Primarch pun intended) state, at this point, art was left as we see it, rather than risking people not recognizing Ferrus in the picture.

 

I'm also not sure if the writers and editors get to see the covers in their early stages, though from what I recall from ADB's statements on the cover of Betrayer, they don't. Assuming that (still just a guess), changing an art piece after it's done is serious business. I imagine they'd think the cover 'gets the job done'. Really, apart from Ferrus, it's a great drawing. Battle scenes are the definition of a pain the behind.

[Qarassen]

A fair question, my best bet was that, Ferrus being in such an "embryonic" (no Primarch pun intended) state, at this point, art was left as we see it, rather than risking people not recognizing Ferrus in the picture.

 

I'm also not sure if the writers and editors get to see the covers in their early stages, though from what I recall from ADB's statements on the cover of Betrayer, they don't. Assuming that (still just a guess), changing an art piece after it's done is serious business. I imagine they'd think the cover 'gets the job done'. Really, apart from Ferrus, it's a great drawing. Battle scenes are the definition of a pain the behind.

 

Mm, appart from ferrus, Fulgrim is one of my favorites. Obviously First heretic is nr 1 :D

[Greyall]

A great cover, to be sure, that of First Heretic. Probably my favourite as well, in the HH novel range (though Void Stalker's cover gets my trophy for the author) . It took me a while to adapt to Neil Roberts' 3D-esque style, to the point that I feel bad for having nit-picked so many of his drawings, even regarding mistakes I also make in my own artwork. Mr. Roberts' very solid, voluminous and realistic style of colouring makes it hard to see the sketch underneath but, once I saw it, a new respect for his work surfaced. And he's clearly evolving.

 

If Ferrus ever gets a cover (unlikely) or if BL decides to create a range of Primarch depictions (they should, a novel-inspired artbook would be awesome), I hope Mr. Roberts gets the chance to avenge his first attempt on 'Ol' Metalhands'.

[KJB]

I like John Blanches version of Jaghatai Khan in collected visions, droopy moustache and a pair of high heels

 

Awesome