New art by Adrian Smith

[apologist]

5 hours ago, Beta galactosidase said:

If you go through Smith’s unofficial work I think there are many examples of the nurgle triad and other chaos imagery  not being exactly the same as official green-blue-red-purple chaos pantheon.  He seems to have his own ideas.  I appreciate it.  Especially chaos but most concepts are a little less nailed-down  than in official work

That aspect of Chaos as intentionally blurry, deliberately contrary and – well, Chaotic – is something that has gradually been refined out from official publications, which is a bit of a shame, I think. There's always been an uneasy idea of what non-aligned Chaos marines look like – and since, I imagine, they are the rule rather than the exception, that seems odd. 

 

Adrian Smith's artwork has always had a wonderful sense of horror to it. I can't really express it beyond he really seems to get the obsessive madness that's so key to the Warhammer universes. 

[SpecialIssue]

On 1/23/2024 at 8:53 AM, apologist said:

Adrian Smith's artwork has always had a wonderful sense of horror to it. I can't really express it beyond he really seems to get the obsessive madness that's so key to the Warhammer universes. 

 

Obsessive madness is a great phrase to describe it. The almost-overwhelming level of intricate detailing in a lot of the works is very gothic, and conversely the detailed minutiae I think contributes to making the universe seem even larger and more horrifying - imagine all that horrifying gothic detail, not just on one or two subjects in a picture, but across an entire room surrounding you, or across an entire battlefield or city.

 

His style (and Kopinski's as well in particular) straddles a blurry line between interpretive / artistic, and representative / 'realistic', all while evoking a feeling and sense of setting unlike any other scifi out there that is immediately identifiable. The idea of a dark far future 40,000 years away in time and space is inextricably linked to their art for me.

[Redcomet]

One of the best artists Gw ever had, alongside Mark Gibbons

[Ayatollah_of_Rock_n_Rolla]

On 1/22/2024 at 11:36 PM, grailkeeper said:

He also had this on his instagram (couldn't seem to link directly on mobile).

 

This one borrows heavily from his Hate-themed works (except guns), the first one looks more "vintage".

[Rain]

I don’t know the artists by name (except for John Blanche, I guess) but judging by the style, this is clearly the guy that did the iconic art in the 3.5 ed Codex, which is what made me fall in love with Chaos as a faction.

 

The combination of intricate detail and realism with a warped Hellraiseresque horror aesthetic is very uniquely 40k. Also, the sense of age is palpable with the various tokens and fetishes encrusting their armor, like barnacles. This guy is *the* Chaos artist. Modern Chaos art is too clean by comparison. It looks like art of the models, and not art of “actual” Chaos Space Marines.

[gideon stargreave]

1 hour ago, Rain said:

I don’t know the artists by name (except for John Blanche, I guess) but judging by the style, this is clearly the guy that did the iconic art in the 3.5 ed Codex, which is what made me fall in love with Chaos as a faction.

 

The combination of intricate detail and realism with a warped Hellraiseresque horror aesthetic is very uniquely 40k. Also, the sense of age is palpable with the various tokens and fetishes encrusting their armor, like barnacles. This guy is *the* Chaos artist. Modern Chaos art is too clean by comparison. It looks like art of the models, and not art of “actual” Chaos Space Marines.

He also did a lot of stuff in rogue trader times. His realms of chaos work is something to behold for both settings 

[Alby the Slayer]

15 hours ago, Rain said:

I don’t know the artists by name (except for John Blanche, I guess) but judging by the style, this is clearly the guy that did the iconic art in the 3.5 ed Codex, which is what made me fall in love with Chaos as a faction.

 

The combination of intricate detail and realism with a warped Hellraiseresque horror aesthetic is very uniquely 40k. Also, the sense of age is palpable with the various tokens and fetishes encrusting their armor, like barnacles. This guy is *the* Chaos artist. Modern Chaos art is too clean by comparison. It looks like art of the models, and not art of “actual” Chaos Space Marines.

 

I agree with what you said, Mr. Smith is quite the Chaos artist, except about the "modern chaos" art that is too clean part.

 

 

 

 

 

I think Lewis Jones is doing something incredible, in his own style of course. Granted, he is not the only wh40k chaos artist but so he was not Mr. Smith at the time.

 

By the way I love Adrian Smith art and I am still waiting for his Chosen of Abaddon to become actual models (When I was young I believed it!).

 

Amazing.

Edited January 25 by Alby the Slayer

[Asbestress]

10 hours ago, Alby the Slayer said:

 

I agree with what you said, Mr. Smith is quite the Chaos artist, except about the "modern chaos" art that is too clean part.

 

 

 

 

 

I think Lewis Jones is doing something incredible, in his own style of course. Granted, he is not the only wh40k chaos artist but so he was not Mr. Smith at the time.

 

By the way I love Adrian Smith art and I am still waiting for his Chosen of Abaddon to become actual models (When I was young I believed it!).

 

Amazing.

Oh, Lewis Jones, probably my all time favourite artist to have ever worked for GW. I think he's really good at blending the feel of older art (like Adrian Smith's, who this whole thread is about :p) with the more detailed and defined modern miniature designs that imho creates an almost perfect compromise between artistic freeforming and representing the actual things most people who buy Warhammer stuff will see on store shelves, their painting desks, and on the tabletop.

 

Kinda miffed that he's now just doing miniature concepts which will most likely not see the light of day for a long time (if ever).

[Taliesin]

I recommend you guys that love his work check out his Dark fantasy graphic novel Chronicles of Hate.

Its available online too, excellent.

[Evil Eye]

Adrian Smith is a fantastic artist. His and Kopinski's work definitely helped make the 3.5E Chaos Codex as magnificent as it was. Love to see him doing more stuff.

[USNCenturion]

Lewis Jones stuff is really very good. His stuff in the Death Guard codex was excellent.