Comic Reviews by Walt

To say that Larry Elmore is my favorite Dragonlance artist would probably be an understatement. To say that he is THE definitive such artist would be muuuuuch more accurate.

At least to me.

Way back in 1995, I was at a used books store with Mom. We were visiting my grandparents, and it was a shop that Grandpa frequented…and that I remember Mom liking to visit when we were there.

I’d then-recently been introduced to Magic: The Gathering and Netrunner through other guys in my Boy Scouts Troop. I was also aware of D&D, I think. And I came across a Greyhawk book–I believe it was a vol. 2, by Rose Estes (amazing that I remember that name after all these years, especially for a book I did NOT get!). [OK, apparently it was a #3, as 1 & 2 were written by Gygax. And it was Greyhawk Adventures.]

Near, or next to the Greyhawk book(s) were a couple other books, for something called "Dragonlance." Where the other did not have a volume 1 present, these had books 1 & 2. And whatever other context…I got to leave that store with two new books, set in some fantasy setting that perhaps I thought would "impress" the other guys, or give me more "insight" or even let me introduce them to something…who knows.

The books were Dragons of Autumn Twilight and Dragons of Winter Night.

Autumn Twilight began my journeys through Krynn, and over 25 years later still holds a key spot in my heart/nostalgia. It introduced me to Tanis Half-Elvin, Flint Fireforge, Sturm Brightblade, Goldmoon, Riverwind, Tasselhoff Burrfoot, Caramon and Raistlin Majere…Kitiara, Tika, Laurana, and so on.

This group of friends that came back together after five years apart. At 14, that was more than a third of my lifetime, and I barely had any conscious reference point for it. (Now as of this typing, 5 years goes back to early-2016, and I’m farrrr more consciously aware of the block of time 5 years is, as well as how it’s both a long time and yet also not all that long, especially when it comes to bonds of friendship).

I went pretty much right from Autumn Twilight into Winter Night as I recall. But I did not have Spring Dawning right away. So for a chunk of time, I only experienced 2/3rds of the original, core story.

Of course, it wasn’t that long til I was able to read it; along with the Legends trilogy (the first three making up the Chronicles trilogy). And using Christmas money from my grandmother, I got a "collector’s edition" volume that collected all 3 of the Legends books into a single book, with another iconic, favorite piece of art.

And somewhere in those "early days" of my Dragonlance experience, one of the guys from scouts shared some images with me that he had. I recognized some of them then–from these books, as well as from various cards in the TSR ccg Spellfire. But one in particular stood out to me: with zero prep and a single glance, with no captions or anything, I immediately recognized exactly who the character was, and full context of the scene…the very moment it represented. A rather iconic scene from Winter Night with Laurana, Sturm, and Kitiara.

Which is all just scratching the surface of my thoughts and memories.

But the art from those book covers? Larry Elmore.

That image that conveyed that specific moment from the book, that fit description and imagination in the same way I later heard tell of why scenes in The Lord of the Rings were done as they were?

Also Larry Elmore.

And for years now, I’ve been aware of the artist’s website and that one could order prints of some of these key pieces of art. Hardly like owning "original art," but still a way to own large versions without book/publisher trade dress and such…and certainly suitable for framing and hanging. "Actual art," not just some generic poster or some such.

But after procrastinating and never quite pulling the trigger…earlier this year I decided to go for it. Wasn’t about to order all the prints I’d want, but had realized that was part of my issue…so much of my favorite Dragonlance art is his…and since I couldn’t order it all at once, I ended up not ordering any.

And while the Test of the Twins is absolutely another I’d love to have, I’d decided I was going to be able to get two prints for present.

So it went back to the very beginning for me.

Dragons of Autumn Twilight and Dragons of Winter Night.

The prints themselves are a bit "lighter" than I expected, "brighter" in a way and not as "dark" as I had in my mind’s eye…but that’s likely largely due to having a white border rather than the dark red fading into black, or dark blue into black. Also a fact of being larger, and being mass "prints" that may or may not be directly from the original art in a way the 1980s’ editions of the novels were.

The prints are something like 18" by 19 3/4" and it does not seem that any standard frame sizes include those exact dimensions nor even slightly larger for 18"x20". While on the one hand, I shouldn’t be concerned with frame price for what I paid for these two prints–even "on sale"–I knew I was not intending to go the "custom frame" route nor looking for anything big or expensive at present, period.

Then after seeing a photo someone posted in a Facebook group I’m in showing one of these prints in a larger frame, I realized it wouldn’t look as "off" as I’d thought…and snagged these poster frames and got my prints framed.

Next step is to actually get them hung or mounted…though I also have a couple of TMNT posters to pick up from a friend and get framed that will also need a home, so we’ll see where stuff winds up!

Filed under: 2021 Non-Review Posts, 2021 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: art, art prints, Autumn Twilight, dragonlance, Dragonlance Art, Dragonlance Chronicles, Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, Elmore, fantasy art, Larry Elmore, Winter Night |