John Blanche is a British illustrator and designer and also the man who played a MAJOR role in the success of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 franchise.Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop strategy game in which geeks assemble and paint plastic miniatures and then pit armies of them against one another.
Warhammer 40,000 is also a science fantasy (look that up) setting that provides the backdrop for all those miniature battles.
The game, I don't give a damn about. I'm not that much of a geek. The universe, however is so absurdly over-the-top-in-your-face-chopping-your-ass-off-with-a-chainsaw-sword grim, dark, bleak, and yet awesome, that I am absolutely in love with it.
Much like the Imperial Inquisitor shown above, much of Mr. Blanche's work is concept drawings/paintings for the GW's products. Character designs, costume designs, mechanical designs, sometimes environment designs too. They are elaborate, bizarre, often rough, and completely mesmerizing. They are great at setting MOOD of the complex, bizarre, and often completely batshit crazy universe John Blanche helped create, and, unlike many elements of this universe, the artwork is truly unique.
I really like the detail in this. I agree, it is very rough and sketchy, and yet, it seems controlled, in that he's not wasting marks on errors. He definitely has a good sense of what he's trying to accomplish as he works, and that's probably due to a good visual imagination.
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