John Blanche – The Voodoo Forest

by Migs

This week we received a very very very special delivery to our cogitators.

John Blanche, the master mind and art director behind so much of our favorite universe rarely works on non GW IP. Recently he has been doing a stunning series of Fauna and Forest, poring subconsciously from his crafting pen and decided Iron Sleet would be suitable forum to share them.

“These are therapeutic exercises that flow from the pen without engaging mi brain without thought or even colour washes – they represent some kind of art inner core – and as such are a completely immersive experience in a similar way to converting miniatures …..”

Enjoy!

JB_2015_1 JB_2015_2 JB_2015_3 JB_2015_4 JB_2015_5

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Migs

30 thoughts on “John Blanche – The Voodoo Forest”

  1. Pingback: John Blanche – The Voodoo Forest | migsula

  2. Gorgeous. I’ve been in love with John Blanche’s art ever since buying the 1st edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. That book was full of the most amazing illustration by JB and others, but it was the colour plates of John Blanche’s art which made the biggest impression. i was going to say which of these is my favourite, but I honestly don’t think I could choose one above the others.

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    1. It’s still the same grim dark imagery tho isn’t it – just had the desire to draw without any brain works going on …. rOC had not occurred to me but this is much to nice ….

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  4. Wonderful. I can feel the inspirarion flooding through me! I wonder if John ever considered collaborating with a fine art printer. A good mezzotinter and etcher could create some absolutley sublime editions.

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    1. Art print printer I do know but yet again it would involve much brain work and I do not have the energy – these are meant as black and whites – sublime is a good thing for me to aim for – the American sublime art movement is a particular favourite …

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      1. Hmmm yes I can see that.

        A good fine art printer should do the brain think part for you and you just have to go yayeth or nayeth!

        Thank you again for sharing and the reply!

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  7. Lovecraft himself would run out of adjectives trying to describe these drawings (though “lugubrious” and “effulgence” would no doubt be among them…)

    Good show Maestro! Jolly good show.

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  8. These amazing pencil drawings from artist extraordinaire John Blanche show how forests (also) are, in the beautiful words of another artist extraordinare writer Robert Macfarlane, “[…] rifts within which time might exist as pure surface, prone to recapitulation & rhyme, weird morphologies, uncanny doublings.” (Macfarlane, 2012)

    Thank you for sharing this brilliant and aweinspiring stuff!

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  9. Blimey an avalanche of wordage – thanks Mr FPOA – not pencils tho but rapidograph technical pen – not normal I know but I try to use sweeping featherlight strokes as if I was using a brush trying to create atmosphere and a certain amount of spontaneous rhythm to what could become quite laboured and wooden ……

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  10. These put me in mind of his earlier work, specifically the illustrations he did for the Fighting Fantasy spin-off, Sorcery! series by Steve Jackson. Beautiful stuff. I’d very much like to see more of this!

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  11. Reblogged this on procranstonnation and commented:
    Been too busy with hobby and the day job this last month of two to fit any art in, but wanted to share this. I came across the art of John Blanche in my early teens back in the 80’s. I fell in love with his black and white book illustrations. I would stare at his drawings for hours, getting lost in the wildernesses they depicted, imagining the stories behind hard faced individuals inhabiting them. He is best known these days as one of the chief architects behind the Warhammer universe. The new drawings in this link take me back to those earlier works. I love them. I love them to the point I want to get my pen out and start drawing again. Enjoy!

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    1. Indeed they would link back in tyme somewhat as its what’s in mi head without trying to deVelope imagery for another universe – shades of fairytale as well as the gothic grotesque and dystopian improbabilities ….

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    1. its the same answer as above but add 35 years of GW influence and sensibilities to the mix – plus the etchings of durer, rembrant, goya and dore particularly excite me as do miller and boyd …..

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  15. Have loved Mr. Blanche”s work for over thirty years, first seen in the Sorcery books – really fabulous material there. I’ve been looking around for his stuff hereabouts (screens and buttons) for quite a while, but strangely only found this site this evening.
    These pictures are marvellous, really delighted to see things flowing from this source.
    I think one of the reasons his work always is so great is that the usual role between text and illustration is reversed – John’s pictures seem the fecund fountainhead from which the world’s and stories flow. And when they appear independently of stories or imagined worlds with a written element in whatever form, the pictures generate ‘story’ itself in a very primal way.
    He seems to have crystallised all of those artists like Adrian Van Ostade, Brueghel, Rodolphe Bressingham, Bosch etc, not as just influences, but as if he has accessed the same inner sources these artists found, and it comes out as equally unique and ‘true’ as their work.

    Would love to see some more of John”s work come out in print in some form.

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