Ravenloft Artbook of Talon Dunning

[DoctorMoreau]

I ordered mine. Shipping all the way to Texas.

Here's hoping for a human looking Azalin too.

My love for Talon's work has already been expressed.

Still must be all these great sketchcards we'll never see. I want to track people down and make them scan and share.

So excited.

[Jeff LaSala]

Well, I can personally vouch for the awesomeness of Talon's Out of the Mists book and the portrait that came with it. In fact, my Halloween'd-up refridgerator is proof:

[HuManBing]

Wow, that IS cool!

Any chance of a scan?

[Jeff LaSala]

Sure thing! Long live Azalin!

[Talon]

Sure thing! Long live Azalin!

And a good scan, too! I was really happy with this one. Thanks for sharing it.

-Talon

[Dimitri Mazieres]

I received my copy of Talon's sketchbook, and I can only agree with what the others have said about it. It's just concentrated Talon awesomeness

Plus, I got a sketch of Tara Kolyana



For all the emphasis that is put on the Darklords, I've always preferred to focus on the setting's heroes, so getting the portrait of one of Ravenloft's classic heroines (all the way back to the Black Box!) was a great bonus. Thanks, Talon!

Btw, Talon, seeing the enthusiasm created by your sketches (myself included!) you should consider producing a whole series of collectible portraits cards. I know I, for one, would try to get them all.

[Jander Sunstar]

Has anyone got a sketch of Strahd yet by chance?

[Talon]

I received my copy of Talon's sketchbook, and I can only agree with what the others have said about it. It's just concentrated Talon awesomeness
Plus, I got a sketch of Tara Kolyana
For all the emphasis that is put on the Darklords, I've always preferred to focus on the setting's heroes, so getting the portrait of one of Ravenloft's classic heroines (all the way back to the Black Box!) was a great bonus. Thanks, Talon!

Thanks. Is she really that old? Wow, I had no idea. My oldest set is the Red Box. Coolness.

Btw, Talon, seeing the enthusiasm created by your sketches (myself included!) you should consider producing a whole series of collectible portraits cards. I know I, for one, would try to get them all.

An interesting idea. I'm not sure if something like that would fall under the "self-promotional, non-compeditive use" clause of my contracts, though. I could sell the original cards, such as I'm doing with these, but if I published a set, that might be in violation of contract and copyright. I'd probably have to get permission from Wizards of the Coast, which I doubt would happen. I never even got an answer regarding the use of the RVL logo on my book (which is why I had to create my own). It'd be an awesome project, though, even if it would mean drawing all those characters over again.

-Talon

[Jeff LaSala]

So now I'm curious, Talon. Prior to your actually producing Ravenloft art for White Wolf, what was your experience in the setting? Were you an oldschool player or DM? Or did you learn about the setting as a result of doing art for it?

Apologies if this was already brought up in an earlier page.

[Talon]

So now I'm curious, Talon. Prior to your actually producing Ravenloft art for White Wolf, what was your experience in the setting? Were you an oldschool player or DM? Or did you learn about the setting as a result of doing art for it?

I've been playing Ravenloft off and on ever since it was released as its own setting in 1990 (I probably played my first game around 1992 or so). I still maintain that it's my second favorite setting from the old TSR/AD&D lines (behind Planescape). I ran a Ravenloft "campaign" in college (at that time, we didn't run games with any regularity or on any schedule, just whatever game we felt like playing that night, so its hard to call what I ran a "campaign," per se) which included the original Grand Conjunction modules. However, it was a friend of mine who was really the Ravenloft fan at the time who ran the most adventures in that setting. That's where I played the Dr. Moreaux character I mentioned earlier (who appeared in several of my drawings).

Once the d20 version came out, I ran a full campaign for my current group here in Atlanta. In it, the group accidentally released the Red Death (from the Masque of the Red Death setting) who had been trapped in Ravenloft proper since the Victorian era. It promptly supplanted the Powers of Ravenloft and transformed the demiplane into a copy of its own world, unaware that over 100 years had passed there. So Ravenloft was transformed into an Urban Arcana version of itself with the Red Death holding the keys to the Darklords' cages. Only the PCs remained unaffected. The old Powers made a deal with the PCs to hunt down the Red Death and destroy it. It was good times.

-Talon

[Dimitri Mazieres]

Thanks. Is she really that old? Wow, I had no idea. My oldest set is the Red Box. Coolness.

Yup. The Black Box included a number of NPCs besides the Darklords which were quite interesting (Gondegal, Ratik Ubel, George Weathermay), and among them was a young, 0-level, Tara Kolyana:


She would be 40 years old on the (then) current year, 758 BC.
I think she keeps up quite nicely, imho.

An interesting idea. I'm not sure if something like that would fall under the "self-promotional, non-competitive use" clause of my contracts, though. I could sell the original cards, such as I'm doing with these, but if I published a set, that might be in violation of contract and copyright. I'd probably have to get permission from Wizards of the Coast, which I doubt would happen. I never even got an answer regarding the use of the RVL logo on my book (which is why I had to create my own). It'd be an awesome project, though, even if it would mean drawing all those characters over again.

Yeah, I figured that there would be that kind of legal liability preventing this kind of project, which is a real shame, since WotC probably wouldn't try something like this, anyway. Oh, well... One can always dream

Once the d20 version came out, I ran a full campaign for my current group here in Atlanta. In it, the group accidentally released the Red Death (from the Masque of the Red Death setting) who had been trapped in Ravenloft proper since the Victorian era. It promptly supplanted the Powers of Ravenloft and transformed the demiplane into a copy of its own world, unaware that over 100 years had passed there. So Ravenloft was transformed into an Urban Arcana version of itself with the Red Death holding the keys to the Darklords' cages. Only the PCs remained unaffected. The old Powers made a deal with the PCs to hunt down the Red Death and destroy it. It was good times.

That sounds... epic.

[Talon]

She would be 40 years old on the (then) current year, 758 BC. I think she keeps up quite nicely, imho.

Dammit. It looks like I got everything wrong with her portrait. I made her a blonde in her 20's. Of course, I honestly have no idea how she was described in my art notes. I believe she was one of the earliest portraits I did and it may not have occurred to me to go looking for her in previous material at that time. I just don't remember.

Yeah, I figured that there would be that kind of legal liability preventing this kind of project, which is a real shame, since WotC probably wouldn't try something like this, anyway. Oh, well... One can always dream

I'd like to see a full-blown Art of Ravenloft book featuring not only my stuff, but Stephen Fabian's and all the other talented guys who've contributed to the setting over the years. That would be really fun to put together. Obviously, I don't have the rights to do anything like that. If I could do a set of RVL portrait cards, I'd pay closer attention to the original character designs and do them all in color.

That sounds... epic.

That's one word for it. I love d20 Modern and thought it would be fun to run a modern version of Ravenloft. I knew I wanted to have the Red Death "capture" Ravenloft for a time, but I actually let my players decide whether to make it Victorian or modern. They chose modern, which was very cool. I got to do things put the Vistani in charge of the highway system and deal with modern phenomena like EVP. One of the players made up a techie and we had some fun robot vs. zombie action. It was a little crack-smoking, but it was still good times. Unfortunately it ended sort of lamely. The PCs dug up H.G.Well's time-machine (which had been in storage for a century) with the idea that they would use it to go back in time and stop Imhotep from summoning the Red Death in the first place. I had imagined a climactic battle against Imhotep with the Red Death slowly and dramatically fighting his way into the world. Instead, they chose to go even further back and murder Imhotep as a toddler in his crib. Yikes. They certainly accomplished their goal, but the PC that did the deed got his own Domain for his trouble. That'll learn me for give PCs access to a time-machine.

-Talon

[DoctorMoreau]

An interesting idea. I'm not sure if something like that would fall under the "self-promotional, non-compeditive use" clause of my contracts, though. I could sell the original cards, such as I'm doing with these, but if I published a set, that might be in violation of contract and copyright. I'd probably have to get permission from Wizards of the Coast, which I doubt would happen. I never even got an answer regarding the use of the RVL logo on my book (which is why I had to create my own). It'd be an awesome project, though, even if it would mean drawing all those characters over again.

-Talon

What about the community going in to pay for portraits of characters in need of your art (Darklords who never saw 3e for example). Maybe for the current Netboks projects and such.

I'd certainly (and happily) contribute. Would love to see you render an Anton Misroi for example.

It's just a thought.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

She would be 40 years old on the (then) current year, 758 BC. I think she keeps up quite nicely, imho.

Dammit. It looks like I got everything wrong with her portrait. I made her a blonde in her 20's. Of course, I honestly have no idea how she was described in my art notes. I believe she was one of the earliest portraits I did and it may not have occurred to me to go looking for her in previous material at that time. I just don't remember.

She's actually a redhead, (sunset-red, dark red, or auburn, depending on the source) and knowing this, when I saw your portrait of her, my mind filled in the blanks, so I never saw blonde. (The benefits of grayscale art! ) Gaz I says she's attractive and in her "late 30's", though as Dimitri noted, by the year of her birth and the "current year" when the book was published, she'd have to be 39 or 40, so 39 it must be. (born in 718, then-current year 758). So while your version may be a teeny bit on the young side, it's not too far off.

In other words, don't beat yourself up about it.

[Jeff LaSala]

Would love to see you render an Anton Misroi for example.

Oooh, nice.

If I had a gazillion dollars, the first thing I'd probably do is arrange a big giant meeting between choice folks at WotC, White Wolf, everyone involved in the old Ravenloft products, and all the novel authors. James Lowder, Christie Golden, P.N. Elrod, you name 'em. Then we'd get all the rights in order, produce a comprehensive three-pronged rules system (that supports Ravenloft fans for 1st/2nd Edition, 3.5 Edition, and 4E), pay Talon to illustrate every named NPC in the setting, then yank Stephen Fabian out of retirement to do some landscape and ambient pieces.

Oh, and I'd probably want to do some writing for it.

Just sayin'.

Hey, Talon: Do you mind if I briefly mention our mutual project here? I seriously don't want to get off-topic in this thread, because this thread rules, but it occured to me that some of these folks might be interested in what you're working on right now.