John Blanche - Artwork, Influence and Recollections

(Note that my camera just couldn't capture the delicacy, vibrancy and overall tone of this picture)

The picture above is an untitled work by John Blanche from 1978. As far as I can ascertain it is unpublished although there is always a chance someone will prove me wrong. I refer to it as 'girl on a planet' for obvious reasons. An alien girl in diaphanous clothing appears to be standing on a small planetoid which is then superimposed over another much larger planet. The surface of the latter planet is completely covered by miniscule buildings and activity with small spaceships and other things exploding into the air above the planet. It is very much a sci-fi illustration that would have seemed ideal for a paperback cover in the late 1970's, by one of the then popular Science Fiction writers.

It is fairly typical of the sort of work John Blanche was creating at this point in time. To quote the man himself from the 'Ratspike' book ........

'I'd also discovered the technical drawing pen and teamed its use with my normal water-colour painting techniques. Minute detail was possible with the pen, and washes of colour gave the painting life and form.'

These techniques stayed with him until the early 80's by which time his work started to develop in a different direction.

                                                                                          

The picture is approximately 12" by 9" and is filled with so much detail that you can examine it closely for hours and still spot a new item of interest. I cannot imagine how long it took to complete but it must have been considerable length of time. 

Whilst this piece is, as far as I can ascertain, unpublished, there is a published piece from the same period which is very similar. This is the untitled illustration on the cover of White Dwarf eleven. As you can see, it has a lot of the same design elements in it. From the miniature world exploding with activity, to the alien female in a diaphanous body suit. I would guess these illustrations were done at about the same time. It is common for artists to do multiple illustrations exploring the same set of ideas and design elements, until they find what they want. The illustration on the cover of White Dwarf, is in my view a more successful piece, but that doesn't detract from my own enjoyment of 'girl on a planet'!

 

I suspect that the demands of producing commercial art, was a factor in his abandonment of this painstakingly detailed style of work. I recall reading somewhere that John Blanche had a similar influence on the work of the great Ian Miller. Ian millers style was famously extremely tight and detailed but whilst working with John Blanche at Games Workshop, he said that John suggested a looser, quicker style of working, more suitable to the demands of commercial work. You can indeed see a change in his work whilst at Games Workshop, particularly in some of the large illustrations in the first Rogue Trader WH40k, book. The illustration for 'the battle at the farm' from said book is a good example of Ian Millers looser wash techniques.

What do i like about this picture by John Blanche? Well as a child, I loved to draw scenes covered in fighting men and machines, until every inch was filled with action and explosions . I have also always loved the mediaeval artists paintings of battles, where just about every combatant seems to have been squeezed in! This painting immediately evoked both of these in my mind and combined with the alien figure, which is beautifully drawn and coloured, made it an easy decision to buy the art a few years ago when the opportunity arose. 

Is this the best of John Blanches output? No. Its an early piece by an artist still developing and I can find some fault with the overall design and perspective. Overall however, I love it and am very proud to have it hanging on my wall as a fine early example of one of the great fantasy illustrators.

Influence

John Blanches work on miniatures is almost more powerful for me personally than his illustrations and paintings. His work with pen and inks on fantasy figures in the late 1970s and early 1980's was both original and revolutionary. His later 'grim dark' work with heavy washes and other techniques has been even more influential. The early intricacy I found difficult to mimic successfully, mainly because I did not have the necessary skill levels ! The later grim dark style has however successfully changed the way I approach painting to this day. 

A Lunchtime Encounter

I didn't have the pleasure of knowing John Blanche as a person, although I spoke to him briefly over the years at various Games Workshop events. Back in 1988, however I was invited up to the studio in Nottingham by Phil Lewis. I had been a successful Golden Demon entrant that year and was asked to take my models to the studio for photography. Phil Lewis took me for lunch in a local pub and who should join us at the table but John Blanche. I suppose I must have engaged in conversation with him but I'll be blessed if I can remember a word of those conversations. Still, I can say I had lunch with John Blanche, even if I can't remember anything about it! 

John Blanche, artist and inspiration to many, may he rest in peace.

Rogue Trader Space Marines 

These eleven early Rogue Trader Space Marines were sold to me at a wargames show 7 or 8 years ago. I bought them with the intention of stripping them for a project that I had in mind. That project has not yet materialised and looking at them today, I no longer feel any desire to strip and repaint them. I have come to appreciate the splendid paintwork and the perfect way they capture that early Rogue trader vibe! The unknown original owner and painter has obviously created his own bespoke chapter (name unknown) and painted them in various camouflage schemes as seen in some very early depictions of Space marines. 

The concept of Space Marines painting their armour  (and vehicles) in camouflage schemes didn't last very long and are never depicted this way after those very early days. Games Workshop took a year or two to start defining a lot of aspects of the 40k universe. The Rogue Trader rule book and associated figures and artwork were a collection of ideas that were to be refined over the years and that to me is a huge part of the appeal of the Rogue Trader era. The loose boundaries and concepts meant your imagination could run riot resulting in some of the bizarre figure creations which I will share over the coming months.

Early influences in the Rogue Trader universe were many and varied, but the British weekly comic, 2000AD, is undeniably one of the most prominent. The graffiti ridden scenes in Mega city and other strips, shows up clearly in artwork in the Rogue Trader book and on figures painted by the creative team at Games Workshop. The use of graffiti slogans on armour and weapons was quite common but became increasingly rarer as time went by.

These figures reflect all of these things. The non uniformity of the Marines, in varying camouflage schemes, the hand painted slogans on weapons and armour and other embellishments like the skull face shown above. 

I don't know the name of the original painter of these figures and neither do I know when they were painted. They were all figures that were available in the first three or four years but I acquired them about seven years ago. Were they painted in the early days between 1987 and 1992? I don't think so. My gut feeling is that they were painted as a project much later, possibly in the early 2000's but deliberately attempting to capture that very early Rogue Trader feel.

The quality of the paintwork is exceptionally nice when seen in the flesh. My attempts to capture them in these photos does not fully do them justice. They are painted with a precision that I could not emulate and then finished with a touch that shouts old school......they are gloss varnished!

I religiously varnish my wargame figures, but with a mat varnish. My larger 'toy soldier' armies as shown in my other blog 'Tales From The Toy Room' are always gloss varnished, but never their smaller brethren. 

So what should I do with these eleven individuals? Should I strip and repaint them? Sell them? Give them a coat of Matt varnish? Rebase them so that they fit in with my normal basing style? So many options.

Whilst writing this article, I came to a conclusion....I shall do nothing to them. I shall keep them primarily as a display cabinet group, perfectly illustrating the irregular and quirky style of Rogue Trader Space Marines. They will serve as a perfect counterpoint to the rigid single colour schemes of the millions of Space Marines painted in the last 40 years! A reminder to the observer to think a little outside of the box!

Will they ever see action though, I hear you ask? Well they are a strange bunch armament wise with  five different heavy weapons and only two figures armed as 'grunts'. There are two technical/comms figures and two more that look like command figures. Not exactly a typical Space Marine detachment. What they do make me think of however is a special operations team, packed full of specialists and equipment allowing them to punch above their weight. 

Now the 'Dirty Dozen' theme might make more sense. Or perhaps Sgt Fury and his Howling Commandos? I may just try them in a special mission scenario where the odds are stacked heavily against them and all of the heavy kit will be needed if they are to have any chance of success. But what to call them? Any ideas?

Tara a bit!

 

'Ratspike And Renegades'.....genesis of a fantasy and sci-fi wargames blog!

Inspiration and namesakes.....the Ratspike book of art by Ian Miller and John Blanche and the original art for an illustration entitled 'Chaos Renegades' by Tony Hough (published in the classic Warhammer book , 'Realms of Chaos')

Just over a year ago, I published the first post for my blog, 'Tales from the toy room'. Thirty odd posts later, I decided it was time to start a second blog to focus on the other side of my wargaming activities, that of fantasy and sci-fi wargaming.

A lifelong toy soldier and wargaming enthusiast, I was inspired by my readings of Tolkein, C.S Lewis and Alan garner, to venture into fantasy wargaming at the end of the 1970's. Unfortunately lack of finances and available models meant that this didn't become a tabletop reality until the advent of D&D and the first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle in the early 1980's. Fantasy figures were now abundant and my finances were a little healthier as my career established itself. Newly married I was not wealthy but I could afford to buy a blister pack of figures here and there and by the early 1980's I had two fantasy forces, 'good' and 'evil'. These were a mixture of figures by Citadel, Ral Partha, Minifigs, Essex and others. Some poor photos of these forces do still exist as shown below. I don't think I now own a single one of the figures shown, but I have replaced them with other models, many of which are awaiting paint!

In parallel to my fantasy aspirations, my love of sci-fi was finally allowed a chance to express itself in 1988, with the release of Rogue Trader (Warhammer 40k). I quickly switched allegiances and started buying the figures that would dominate my wargaming activities for a large part of the next 25 years. 

One of my early attempts to win a Golden Demon award circa 1988

With the launch of the wonderful Lord of the Rings film trilogy I also invested heavily in the Games Workshop figure ranges (although not the game system itself which I still don't like).

Gandalf and Aragorn (painted by the immensely talented Stu Willis)

During the last decade or so, I have diversified my interests with a renewed love for early fantasy figures, and a hugely satisfying expansion of my 54mm toy soldier collection into playable wargame armies ala H.G.Wells.

Britains hollow cast  Royal Horse Artillery circa 1946

Readers of my first blog will be aware that it has been heavily focussed on my 54mm toy soldier wargaming activities, with only the occasional feature on my fantasy/sci-fi adventures in the smaller 25mm scale. As my wargaming is now generally split along these lines, I realised that a second dedicated blog might be sensible. This way, people who enjoy my toy soldier based activities do not have to read about battles in Middle Earth or the Warhammer universe (although I suspect some regular readers will happily read both). 

English Civil War action

The other reason for creating a second blog, is that I have so much that I want to write about, document and show to people. My first blog just does not have sufficient space for this additional material, so from now on my two blogs will maintain separate identities and content with only the occasional crossover in material. I do have a Sci-fi and Fantasy theme in my toy soldier wargames and these may occasionally be shared between the two blogs if I think they will be of interest to both sets of readers.

A mechanical construct currently serving my Ad Mech contingent

The scope of this blog will include:

Wargame reports and reviews of rule systems

Features on my figure collections for Fantasy Battles, Rogue Trader style Warhammer 40K and Middle Earth

Newly painted figures and painting and modelling articles

Articles focussed on terrain and scenic items

A look at my collection of Games Workshop associated original artwork

Articles on White Dwarf and other key books and publications, and finally

Anything else that takes my fancy, such as my experience of Golden Demon competitions, the tournament scene,  Oldhammer events like 'Bring Out your lead' and other related events over the past 40 years.  

I hope to inform and entertain in equal measure. Whether I succeed is of course for you, the reader, to decide.

I will sign off this introductory post with some more photos, of the type of things to come over the next 12 months. I hope you will join me. 

Tara a bit!