"Do Us Some Concepts"

The late, great artist John Blanche in his own words.

John Blanche ^↗ was a freelance artist when he started discussing concepts with Citadel ^↗ owner Bryan Ansell. The UK was in recession, and Blanche was frustrated over broken contracts where he hadn't been paid. He would work for Ansell on condition of employment. Ansell agreed. Warhammer wouldn't have been Warhammer without his influence.

Graeme Davis has listed the names of everyone depicted in the two-page spread ^↗ .

I became familiar with Blanche through the pages of White Dwarf magazine. His Blanchitsu column and 'Eavy Metal pages were a big influence on me and many other gamers. His intricate art and vibrant sketches helped bring Games Workshop's worlds to life.

When you talk about the real live mythos of Warhammer, all our Goblinoids are green. Actually, this was an invention of Kev Adams - well, not exactly an invention, but when he returned back from the pub one night, his face was the most horrid colour, and we thought, gosh, that's just the shade we ought to be using on our Orcs.

-Blanchitsu, White Dwarf 101

Below are select quotes from video interviews. Blanche was not a natural interviewee. I've edited his words for clarity. You can find the videos at the bottom of the page.

The Grim & The Dark (Trademark Films)

I think my term of reference (is) always real history. Gives it a really strong foundation to work with.

When I retired a little over a year ago, I thought I was retiring. Then, after a couple of spells in hospital, it suddenly become known to me that people wanted to give me projects to work on for money. Of course, based on 40 years in Games Workshop. Really interesting. Took me by susprise.

This thing called being famous, it's kind of weird really.

Who was John Blanche? (The Army Painter)

With 40K, Rick Priestly said to me one day "Right, we've got space marines. Everybody wants to make it Second World War. But they're not, they're medieval monks." That's, like medieval monks like the Knights Templar and the Hospitallers.

Blanche worked with The Army Painter ^↗ to produce a paint range. He appears in a video promoting that work.

One of my lecturers at art school said "Draw with that," and he handed me a Rapidograph ^↗ , and, you know, I've been using them ever since.

Italian Renaissance artists ^↗ like Botticelli (painted with) colours everywhere. And it just became too much for me. The browns and glowing oranges and things like that.

You know, I try to reduce my art down all the time to the basics. So, you know, the three pictures there, they're all knocked back and (use a) reduced palette. I find that a lot more emotionally satisfying anyway. It has a visceral effect on me.

I think as I grow older and older, I get rid of certain colours. But I love red. I say all of that, but I love red. Yeah, everything painted red goes faster. That's why I've got a red car.

Blanche also talks about his freelance work on book covers, album covers, the Tolkein bestiary, and the influence of Shel Silverstein ^↗ .

Warhammer's Visionary (Jordan Sorcery)

I've got two distinct styles. I've got a very fast sketch style where I do concept sketches and then I've got a much slower, more considered style. The Black Templars box cover was three months work.

One of the lecturers at art school said "Here, read this. You'll like it." It was a copy of The Hobbit. I went into The Lord of the Rings. I think within a week I'd finished all four books.

One big thing it did was give me permission to do fantasy things. I always felt bad about drawing fantasy subject matter because it was dived on by lecturers at art school. They thought it wasn't real.

"You'd never get work at this, would you."

Blanche mentions the work Arthur Rackham ^↗ and Aubrey Beardsley ^↗ as inspiration, and talks about his experience with Kickstarter ^↗ .

The first one, Rogue Trader, I spent most of my time commissioning art rather than doing it, which was a great mistake. I should (have drawn) pictures instead of getting other people to draw pictures.

John Blanche Discussing Some Of His Most Iconic Artworks (Filmdeg Miniatures)

I'm an archivist of this dark, strange world, and I'm a great big musty library which is acres of big books. I'm leafing through them for ideas and I'll go draw it.

Black Templars came from the heart whereas the previous box cover with the big, red Blood Angel marine on the cover (had a) deliberately commercial consideration onto everything. Everything is bright and, you know, the main figure's got a thick black key line around it.

The video also covers the Sisters of Battle, Knights Panther, 3rd edition Space Hulk, and Voodoo Forest ^↗ .

Videos