AoS AoS Shift in Aesthetic

[Draconder]

I am sure I am not the only one who might have noticed but since the launch of Age of Sigmar about three years ago and the release of the General's Handbook there has been a tonal shift in the lore and artwork of AoS.

When AoS launched the artwork took a more colourful and clean appearance making it very fantastical. Lately though, the artwork has been going back to the older aesthetic of grim and dark similar to that of the old Warhammer Fantasy. Example I give below showing the shining Stormcast who's gleaming armour seemed to have dulled a little.



The lore too has taken a darker and morally grey turn. Chaos' influences are taking hold to mortal cities, Vampires are holding influential mortals as thralls and the Stormcast themselves are losing a bit of their humanity with every single reforging they go through.

So what does this mean for the Seraphon? We already got a hint of this grim aesthetic with their story in the Malign Portents with the scene showing the horrific and agonising respawning of the Seraphon:

"A chorus of shrill screams filled the air, frenzied and agonised, spilling forth from half-formed mouths. Blood stained the waters." - Dying Star

I believe that when the new battletome for Seraphon comes out we will be seeing a lot more blood while the beasts will surely look more monstrous. As a fan of the old Warhammer I find this is a welcome direction but what do you guys think?

 

[pendrake]

I liked the aesthetic of Warhammer 5 .....

<Huge Armor
<Dinky Head
<Might be a robot
<Hammer bigger than Head
<Has to be a robot in there

Head Bigger>
Armor Smaller>
Head is human>
Battered Shield>
Longer legs>
Generally taller and slimmer>
Redonkulous Hammer>
(it is bigger than an Anvil)>​

 

[pendrake]

I like the more human SCE ... but grimdark = rubbish, no matter how many skullz it is encrusted with.

 

[Draconder]

I spoke to one of the long time artists (Paul Dainton, I believe) who worked for Games Workshop doing the artwork for Bretonnians back in 6th edition. He explained to me about the helmets of the knights and it applies here too. Basically a human head sized helmet makes the characters more human-like and empathetic even if that would make the actual head inside laughably tiny, when in reality the helmets would be so much bigger.

Look at the helmet on the knight on the left's back, it is much bigger compared to the knight on the right who's head would be tiny.


I personally like dark and gritty but we are talking personal preferences.

 

[Aginor]

I like it not too bright but not 40k.
Right now I like it quite well actually.

 

[Lezlor]

Yeah...dying star...”born with hate”.
Any art that has seraphon in it is tip top for me. There’s a cracker, presumably from AoS, with old blood and his gauntlet aglow on carnosaur leading warriors etc into some khorne bloodhound which is superb. I look forward to seeing more, hopefully they’ve commissioned some that will illustrate how the lizards appear in the soul wars.

 

[pendrake]

Look at the helmet on the knight on the left's back, it is much bigger compared to the knight on the right who's head would be tiny.

Not a valid comparison.
The knight on the left has a much bigger body compared to the knight on the right as well. And the knight on the extreme right is tinier than both.

The distance from viewer to subject is different for all three knights. Like I said, not a valid comparison.

Since they are different distances there is no basis for comparison.

 

[Draconder]

I am just paraphrasing what the artist who illustrated these drawings told me back in Gamesday. Regardless of distance between the examples, the artist pointed how he deliberately skewed anatomical proportions making the helmets smaller.