sorry but i want to say only that all artwork must be homogeneous, so I must point out that some of the latest artworks seems a screenshot of a computer-game and it is so different from the other cards.
I refer particularly to the image of the torch:

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/lotr-lcg/khazad-dum/cave-torch.png

the artwork for the torch must be similar to "Dungeon Torch" Set: Core Number: 109 or "A Light in the Dark" Set: Core Number: 52.

Another not so good picture because seems too digital and not so artistic is

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/lotr-lcg/khazad-dum/zigil-mineshaft.png

here there is strange fire into the broken bridge reflexes that seems unrealistic or a misprint copy and paste of the fire immediately placed over.

And again: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/lotr-lcg/khazad-dum/burning-low.png

This image seems the result of a photo of a real person + a photoshop artistic filter

I know that i was bad but I say that only because i love this game! only beacause i want to buy all future expansions.

However the ideas that I see in Kazad-dum are always greater ! truly wonderful ideas.

Good job!

are you on crack? Looks like a real person and not a drawing.. rofl. If I was that artist I would take that as a compliment.

Also, I think having different artists and different art styles makes these games way way way better. Just makes the cards more interesting.

booored said:

i agree, same styles are good, but i do admit that some of those that the OP refers to arent to my taste, speaking of which neither are some of the core sets but a couple in hundreds isnt bad

I agree on "Cave Torch." That's clearly not up to the same artistic standard as the rest of the game.

this is a great torch: "A Burning Brand" Set: CatC Number: 33 but also the others

but this?

i want to remark that i contend the artwork but the idea of this card is really interesting

This isn't a quality issue. It's just a matter of taste. I don't see anything wrong with any of this artwork.

If anything, the fire of the Cave Torch looks more realistic than the others.

Perhaps it looks a bit different, but that's unavoidable when you have a conglomeration of different artists.

hope this is not a change of artwork style, because also the cover of the khazad-dum box seems to change in comparison with the cover of the coreset box: Not all elements of the picture seem to be handmade, the building structure for example.

KirovThug said:

not only unavoidable, but it is much better this way as well.

KirovThug said:

It is totally avoidable with a good art department behind it. If the art director picks the artists and makes the neccesary adjustments here and there you can have several different artists in a game and still keep the same "line of art"...

I think you're making way too big a deal out of this, it's just a picture of a hand holding a torch, what do you expect it to look like?

Different styles of art are ok for the game, it makes it more interesting and more like "art" and not just graphic design. I mean take a look at Silverload Archer, it's very different stylistically from many of the other pieces but it still works great.

Also, many artists paint digitally these days and it doesn't take away from the skill or beauty of their work.

There are a FEW pieces in the game that I've not been happy with, but those are mainly hero pictures, which I hold to a higher standard (I'm looking at you Brand and Boromir) but for the most part this game's art is amazing! I encourage you to get on deviantart.com and check out some of the pieces without borders and thank the artists for their work!

ArturiStellare said:

For me the art style of games is pretty important, especially in games that have a certain theme. And sometimes the art on some cards can make or break this theme or flavor. I'm happy with most art they chose for LOTR so far, but of course there are some pieces that I consider worse than others, but that's just a matter of personal taste I guess.

What bothers me more are cards where the depiction and the mechanic don't go together very well. My example would be "Self Preservation". Its effect heals 2 to damage, but if I had to guess its effect from looking at the picture I would assume that it cancels 2 damage instead. I don't know if I'm making sense here, but it's something I noticed right away.

Having different artists doing the artwork leads to variety, but also to inconsistency on the other hand. Depending on its degree this inconsistency can result in irritation on my part... (Take Thunderstone for example. As long as Mr. Engle did all the artwork the game and the theme felt very consistent. As soon as they started to mix in pieces from other artists the art direction became a complete mess in my opinion...)

Untergeher said:

I completely agree with you, you are right about "Self Preservation". And i agree with narsil about Brand and Boromir. Brand and Boromir have some strange, some perspective problem, but the good aspect is that both are consistent in the style and they are not as a 3D PC game screenshot.

Untergeher said:

I agree as well, but I do not think "similar" art styles is in fact a bad thing. I MUCH prefer card games to have a large variety of styles and looks.The individual cards to do not need to look the same as the other cards.. imo this just makes the entire game start to look booring and dull.. a variety of styles gives the art life and starts to split the players artistic taste to have true favs rather then them all being the same.

imo, LoTR is to harmoginous , and needs some cool "fresh" artists to add some new looks.