Thought I’d start a fantasy art thread for the Musket Room.
Outside of history and wargaming, I’ve always loved classic fantasy art — the kind that used to live on book covers, posters, and magazine illustrations. The artists who really defined what fantasy looked like in your head before films and games started doing it for you.
For me, I honestly can’t decide between Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo. Frazetta’s work feels raw and mythic, and his Death Dealer paintings are still iconic to me. At the same time, Vallejo’s Conan and heroic fantasy covers have that classic polished look that instantly says “fantasy” when you see it.
Curious who everyone else’s favorites are. Classic or modern — book cover artists, painters, illustrators, digital artists — who made fantasy look right to you?
— PL
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here:
Arthur Rackham (1867–1939) was a legendary British illustrator, famous for his haunting, fairy-tale style that blends delicate beauty with a slightly eerie, dreamlike quality.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here:
Does sci-fi count. I'm a long time Warhammer fan so John Blanche.
Little nod in the comic to Frank Frazetta's "Death Dealer"
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here:
Rowena Morrill (1944–2021)
Her work showed up across countless book covers in the 70s and 80s, and if you spent any time browsing paperback racks back then, you’ve seen it whether you realized it or not. What stands out is the combination of rich color, strong composition, and that unmistakable sense of high fantasy—dragons, warriors, sorceresses, all rendered with a slightly surreal, almost dreamlike edge.
Where Frazetta feels raw and Vallejo feels polished, Morrill sits somewhere in between—bold, vibrant, and unapologetically fantastical. There’s a theatrical quality to her scenes that makes them feel larger than life, like a moment frozen right before something epic happens.
Always thought her work captured that “this is a world beyond ours” feeling better than most.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here:
Over the past few weeks, I’ve started to get a feel for your taste, so when I saw this post, I knew Vallejo and Frazetta would be right at the top of your list... Couldn't agree more, nothing to add there.
On my end, one of my favorites is Alan Lee, whose vision essentially defined the look of the movies and how we all imagine Middle Earth today.
Another favorite is Ian Miller... his work is a bit darker and leans more into the macabre/surreal/whatever
I’m right there with you—Alan Lee and Ian Miller are about as different as it gets stylistically, but both absolutely nail the atmosphere in their own way. Lee has that quiet, almost historical realism to his work, while Miller feels chaotic and otherworldly, like something half-seen in a fever dream.
I’ve always leaned a bit more toward John Howe myself. His work hits that perfect middle ground for me—grounded enough to feel believable, but still carrying that epic, mythic weight you want from Middle-earth.
There’s a real sense of scale in Howe’s pieces—his cities, fortresses, and battle scenes feel massive, like they’ve been standing for thousands of years. His take on places like Minas Tirith or Helm’s Deep is exactly how I picture them when reading Tolkien.
Between Howe and Lee, they pretty much defined Middle-earth in my head.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here:
I especially loved his artwork connected to Michael Moorcock’s Elric saga — the doomed albino emperor carrying the soul-drinking sword Stormbringer. Whelan captured that tragic, haunted atmosphere perfectly. Elric never felt like a clean heroic fantasy character to me; there’s always this sense that power itself is corrupting and consuming him, and Whelan’s paintings really lean into that melancholy feel.
And of course, his Dark Tower artwork for Stephen King is legendary. The image of Roland standing against that impossible dark horizon with the Tower looming in the distance is one of those fantasy/sci-fi images that sticks in your head forever once you’ve seen it.
His work always felt less like “cover art” and more like mythology painted onto canvas.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here: