I didn’t realize how much I missed this style of fantasy drawing. They used to be everywhere in the late 70’s and early 80’s, and then they just vanished.
The distinct crisp quality puts them at a certain age I think. After the 90s these went away because people wanted things to look more modern (sometimes it seems things change for the sake of being different from what is out there). Digital art gets better and cheaper and faster, and now you have everything done digitally with its own developed style.
I do miss this old style. There’s no reason it can’t be emulated using digital tools, but I figure there’s not much cross over between people who with the skills and people interested in doing it.
Another one of my favorites from the Vor Maelstrom game:
