Hello,
Well, I FINALLY own a copy of Little Fears thanks to an early Holiday gift from one of my players.
I haven't read it thuroughly but what I've loved every word that I have read but there's something in particular I'd like to say regarding the art.
First of all, I see gamers ranting and raving about the art in game books all the time and personally, I've never understood it. If the art is bad, so what? If the art is good, so what? What matters is the setting, the system, how they blend together and how they're presented. Right? The art is just filler and coloring. I rarely notice art in game books.
But the art in Little Fears REALLY grabbed me. I LOVE the art in little fears. But there's one particular artist I really like to offer my compliments to but unfortunately I can't figure out which artist is which. Let's see if I can describe the style.
The art I'm thinking of is done with a lot of very clean black lines for the edges of objects and then very solid and smooth shading on the interiors to produce definition. I think this is the artist who did the picture of the girl cowering in the corner with the shadow of her parents arguing over her head. Whoever did that picture and all the ones like it, I'd like to say that I REALLY admire your style.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that.
Jesse
That's Veronica V. Jones, the artist I mentioned in the review of Little Fears. She's one of the treasures of RPG illustration and why she's not making big bucks in book illustration, I have no idea. The more shocking pictures (the kid with the gun) are great, but I especially like the illustration of the older kid with the basketball. There is something so perfectly creepy about that piece.
I was lucky enough to have her provide some of the new artwork for The Sorcerer's Soul.
Best,
Ron
Yes! That's her. I found her website. That woman is a genius! Thanks.
Jesse
I just want to back up Ron's sentiments. Veronica is a pleasure to work with and has helped me out on numerous occasions taking tight-deadline work and doing it well. One of the pieces on her site inspired an entire game that we will hopefully be releasing one day.
Veronica Jones' stuff rocks. One of my Dreaming Out Loud columns actually concerned itself with game appearance and art, and I used one of her pieces as an example. In particular, it is the piece with the girl holding the gun. I especially thought that it was a good example of layout. After all, that's the picture right next to the gun rules. It communicates a completely different idea about guns in the game, doesn't it?