Warhammer 40,000 artist John Blanche retired from Games Workshop’s design studio as of May 31st.
Blanche has created art for every Warhammer 40,000 (40k) faction as well as every Warhammer fantasy army. Blanche’s distinctive style in battle scenes and portraits is immediately recognizable and his definitive portraits of the Emperor Of Mankind on his throne are beyond iconic. One of those classic portraits even appears in the just-released tenth edition 40k rules.
Beginning in the late 80s, Blanche was Games Workshop’s art director. He was crucial in establishing the identity of these original games through GW’s transition from being a distributor of American games to a company exclusively focusing on its own products and games. In fact, early on, Blanche created the cover art for the first UK edition of Dungeons & Dragons, co-published by GW and TSR (The company founded on D&D’s creation).
Blanche also pioneered his own style of miniatures painting, called Blanchitsu, which uses stark contrasts and simple palettes.
