John Blanche

John Blanche is a British fantasy illustrator and modeler best known for his work for Games Workshop's White Dwarf magazine and Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 games, and various Fighting Fantasy publications, as well as his work in the field of 25mm fantasy miniature painting.

Early Life

Blanche was born into a working class family in England. He attended Art College during the late 1960s or early 1970s.

Career

Blanche began his career in the mid 1970s. In 1977 he became associated with Games Workshop, set up by Fighting Fantasy authors Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, through his illustrations for their gaming publication White Dwarf, with the first issue carrying a cover illustration by the artist.

Blanche was eventually made Art Director of Games Workshop and has regularly contributed miniature painting columns to White Dwarf magazine for many years, as well as numerous illustrations for Games Workshop games. His artwork graced the first cover of Games Workshop's Warhammer Battle game, and has filled games ever since.

Blanche is also well known for his illustrations for a number of Fighting Fantasy titles including Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's "Sorcery!" series.

Blanche is known for the dark, gothic, occasionally bizarre, punkish quality of his artwork, and this is something that has carried across onto the Games Workshop game worlds he has helped to shape. Amongst his major influences Blanche sites Rembrandt, Albrecht Dürer and Hieronymous Bosch.

Blanche has had a number of books dedicated to his work published, including "The Prince and the Woodcutter", and "Ratspike" with Ian Miller.

He has recently stated in White Dwarf magazine that he will soon celebrate his 60th birthday.

See Also

*Games Workshop
*White Dwarf (magazine)
*Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
*Fighting Fantasy
*Steve Jackson
*Ian Livingstone

External Sources

* [http://www.lvxmvndi.com/ lvxmvndi.com] - The Official John Blanche website
* [http://www.abandonart.co.uk/artists/biog_job.html Abandon Art] - A short description of Blanche
* [http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/John_Blanche Titannica Gaming Wiki] - An article on Blanche
* [http://blacklibrary.co.uk/articles/illustrated-man/illustrated-man.asp The Black Library] - An article on John Blanche
* [http://darklondon.wordpress.com/category/art/ John Blanche artwork] on a gaming and art blog
* [http://bp3.blogger.com/_s1ci_8vw0ns/Rvf3ik2Ib7I/AAAAAAAAAFU/GeVMC2kgFQI/s1600-h/John_Blanche_Vampire_Hunter.jpgJohn Blanche artwork] on a gaming blog
* [http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5127/1573/1600/john-blanche-sister.jpgBlanche art] on a blog
* [http://www.bookpalace.com/acatalog/Home_John_Blanche_Art_360.html John Blanche original artwork] - For sale on a book and art sales site
* [http://www.gamebooks.org/cgi-bin/search.cgi?Type=Illustrator&Text=John+Blanche&Header=Books+Illustrated+by+John+Blanche A page on Fighting Fantasy gamebook Sorcery!] - Part of a series on gamebooks.org
* [http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Art-of-Warhammer-40000/John-Blanche/e/9781844162840/?itm=6 The Art of Warhammer 40,000] with an introduction by Blanche
* [http://news.mondewarhammer.com/?article=379&page_art=2 A short interview with Blanche] on a French site
* [http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=1371 A partial page of Blanche's gaming credits] on an RPG gaming site
* [http://www.amazon.com/Inquisitor-Sketchbook-John-Blanche/dp/1841541494/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221823093&sr=1-4 The Inquisitor Sketchbook] at Amazon
* [http://www.amazon.com/Warhammer-40-000-Codex/dp/1872372716/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221823093&sr=1-8 Warhammer Codex] illustrated by Blanche at Amazon