Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Let's make Minthara Great Again

There aren't many illustrations of female drow that I actually like floating around. Like the pickings are already slim, and then I'm pretty nitpicky on top of that when it comes to figurative illustration. The portraits in BG1 and especially BG2 were all pretty crude shops at best for my taste, so I pine for something more.

IWD had much better portraits than BG cause they invested more heavily in creating an art team, but I'm sure it'd be pretty hard to find that same level of talent in one place these days. All those dudes have gone on to work in hollywood or for the major comics and fantasy publishers now, but D&D has always been one of the few places where figurative illustration still has a home and so there is a pretty broad range of material at varying levels skill and artistry. Of the 4 illustrations above I think only the images by Aleksandra Trezvina and Beyit work for me. The top would probably pass for a very small portrait, the middle has too many issue with the foreshortening. But again I'm picky hehe. Since this thread is already very image ladden, I wanted to include some examples of where I think the bar should be set, if Minthara ever gets here own splash loadscreen art.

Here, some illustrations that I thought were handled reasonably well, and where the painting presented a unique characterization. A couple more stylized, some more traditional, but still well executed in terms of the technique, brush strokes, proportions, color choice and whatnot.

Sorry for the added load time, but I think they are worth it, and this thread will surely bump to the next page soon enough anyway haha.

I believe this one is by Tooth Wu, though I could be mistaken. A lot of talent is overseas these days. For me it gives off a potential druid or wizard vibe, but like a Drow that doesn't look straight up evil. Maybe for an aevendrow type by the new reckoning.



A Brom, just to set the tone. Crop from the Insurrection cover



Something arcane archer-y, by Livia Prima



I don't really need the giant ears if the hair is working well, so this image by Stefan Koidl gives off an impression like a possible Drow warlock or wizard for me. Most of these are going for the latest, Drow are greyish blue or purple and elves basically look like humans, but just more super-model-y, where the wizards seem to be headed with it hehe.



Some midriff and a pair of knives by Dave Greco? lol It shows the other extreme of elves being more alien anatomically. This sort of elven look is a bit too manga for my D&D tastes, (I like more humanoid looking Elves, the way Alan Lee drew them, but that's just me) Greco makes up for it with attention to the background elements, the overall lighting and mood. Better hope no one goes for the gut on that one though! It's mage armor all day for her I guess? lol



Here's a crop from the Council of Spiders cover. I think by Aaron Riley? It's not my favorite thing ever, but he gets bonus points for trying to pull off the ever ridiculous triple headed flail instead of the usual curved blades or bows lol



And finally something that I think would be a bit more Minthara-like, at least in terms of a functionally appropriate armored outfit. I don't know if it's Marko's or perhaps an understudy? but someone at Six More Vodka clearly knows what's what! Berlin will get the job done haha



Anyhow, this is the level of illustration I feel that Baldur's Gate 3 deserves, and I'd like to see something more like that last when it comes to developing a look for a character like Minthara.

I don't want great again, I want even better than before.

Best
Elk