Scott Tepper: What Part Is Art?

Two milestone events occurred in the art world this past week.  The original copy of the Norman Rockwell painting, “Breaking Home Ties,” that had been found hidden behind paneling in its owner’s home, sold for 15.4 million dollars at auction.  It was also announced this week that the artist Dave Cockrum passed away. 

You may recognize the name of Dave Cockrum as the person who did artwork for several DC and Marvel comic books throughout the 70’s and 80’s.  He was one of the co-creators of several of the X-Men characters such as Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus and Phoenix.  Several years ago, Dave retired mainly due to complications associated with diabetes.  Unfortunately, in the business of comic books, retirement usually doesn’t bring financial rewards.

Soon Dave was burdened with overwhelming medical bills.  Fortunately, several artists and writers stepped in and held an auction that raised a large amount of money to help.  His agent, Clifford Meth, was ultimately able to negotiate with Marvel Comics to provide Dave with a much needed pension.

So what do these events have to do with the cost of Tikal and China?  Maybe nothing, or maybe everything…

Based on conversations with friends in the board game world, I suspect that a large percentage of gamers used to or still does read comics.  I collected comic books for years.  Looking back, I would continue to read a particular title if the storyline would become weak, but I would cease reading a comic when the publisher would change artists to one that I thought was inferior.  This actually caused me to stop reading the X-Men years ago, some time after Dave Cockrum stopped working on that title.

Just as some people may minimize the impact of artists on comic books, I believe gamers have a tendency to gloss over the importance of artists’ contributions to a game’s success.  With rare exception, there is artwork involved in the production of most every game in your collection, but do you really recognize the importance that that artwork has on your enjoyment of the game?

Here are some examples of game artwork and their designers that I feel are worthy of recognition:

In The Legend of Landlock, there seems to be only a slight amount of graphics that go into each tile—until the game nears completion and you can see the craft of the tiles by Hala Wittwer that melt into a beautiful mosaic.

I’m a firm believer that without the illustrations by Quinton Hoover and Mike Raabe, the game Guillotine would not have been the success that it is.  Without the clever drawings, the weight of the theme would have been insurmountable for most people. 

Sometimes, box artwork is so strikingly beautiful that I think it should be framed and hung on a wall.  The artwork on the box of Mare Nostrum by Franck Dion is a perfect example of such beauty.

Days of Wonder seems to truly recognize the importance of art.  Every one of their games, from the dark, moody graphics by Julien Delval in Shadow over Camelot to the stylish watercolors by Humbert Chabuel & Pierre-Alain Chartier in Queen’s Necklace, has their artwork seamlessly integrated into its theme.

Every time I play Fairy Tale, I slow the game down slightly, not due to analysis paralysis, but because I become hypnotized by the picture of Yoko Nachigami’s Mischievous Fairy.  I love this drawing and marvel at its whimsical rendering.

Similarly, a game of Poison hasn’t passed where someone fails to make a remark when they notice the beauty of the bottles with their varying levels of liquid on the cards done by Paul Herbert.

The humor-infused drawings of Gerard Mathieu in Valley of the Mammoths are ingenously clever.  Coming across cards such as Forest Fire, Camouflage, and Cave Bears during the game is like finding hidden treasures. 

Doris Matthaus’ great contributions to games such as Ark, Frank’s Zoo, and Primordial Soup have made her a rarity in the gaming world, someone whose name is recognized for her art.

Would Caesar & Cleopatra be as appealing if the Influence Cards simply had numbers on them?  I don’t think so.  Neither did Franz Vohwinkel.  He did the artwork on these cards.  You may not recognize the name, Franz Vohwinkel, but it’s no coincidence that his artwork is connected to some of the best games in the industry: Ra, Louis XIV, Blue Moon City, and my favorite 2-player game, Hera & Zeus. 

Magic The Gathering is probably the paramount example of a game that relies on artwork.  Do you think that M:TG would sell if the cards didn’t have pictures?  As evidenced by the numbers of people with M:TG lunchboxes, figures, stickers, t-shirts and posters, the artwork in M:TG has started the seeds of art appreciation in tens of thousands of children (and maybe adults as well) worldwide.

Try to find the credits for the artwork on a game.  Sometimes the only reference to who did the artwork is hidden on the bottom of the box.  On Boardgamegeek, you can search for games by the author, publisher, and the date the game was published.  You can even do a search by the “weight” of the game.  But you cannot search by the artist.  Should this be interpreted to mean that the artist’s contribution to a game isn’t important to us?

This brings me back to the events that triggered this column.  Isn’t it a shame that someone felt a single painting was worth $15,400,000.00, yet the artist who created it received none of that money?  Then we have Dave Cockrum, whose creations brought joy to millions of people around the world, but if it weren’t for the intervention of friends, he would have died impoverished.

At the risk of sounding preachy, might I suggest that the next time we get the urge to complain about the cost of a particular game, we take a moment to consider all of the people who contributed to create something that may bring us hours and hours of enjoyment.

P.S. to those who like to go the extra step: 

When Dave Cockrum’s medical bills became overwhelming, The Hero Initiative helped Dave’s family financially.  It’s a non-profit group that provides a safety net for creators of comic books.  Dave’s widow has asked that in lieu of flowers, individuals who would like to honor Dave’s memory can direct their contributions to this caring organization.

© 2006 Scott Tepper

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Comments:

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Interesting points, Scott.  I sometimes admire the art in a game. I am partial to Tom Wham’s art, it’s amazing to me how a creature like a snit can look complete with so few lines.  At the same time, I’ve had lots of fun with games with little to no art and have become frustrated with gamers that refuse to play a game because the board looks boring.  So I guess I think well done art is a bonus, but far from a requirement for me except as it pertains to finding mitspielers. As to the artist not being compensated with future sales of his paintings.  I agree in principle that it doesn’t “feel” fair.  I’ve not come up with a concept that would work. In a similar vein, I’ve had guilt feelings about reading books from the library because the author gets no additional compensation after the book is sold to the library for all to enjoy.  (I still read books from the library, but occasionally have a twinge of guilt.) Posted by Scott Russell on Dec 4, 2006 at 10:05 AM | #

I love how all the cards in For Sale have little animals on them… this kind of bonus detail is great. I don’t have much of a problem with an artist not getting money for resells of their art.  Any other situation I could imagine would really sit wrong with me.  He or she could simply hold on to their paintings as long as they want and only sell them once they hit a price they want… I liken it to this comparison: Interestingly, in some cultures in Papua New Guinea, if you buy something (say, a house) and then improve it, the previous owner will sometimes come by and demand more money for it - since it is obviously worth more now than it was before.  The same thing happens with land. Posted by Matt J. Carlson on Dec 4, 2006 at 11:45 AM | #

Scott, I never thought about the library thing before.  Not being a published writer, I don’t know how I would feel about that.  I might just be happy to have made a book that people thought was worthy of being in a library. Matt, I don’t consider myself wise enough to know what the correct solution is regarding compensation for artwork.  On the other end of the argument, it’s possible that a publisher gets the short end of the deal when they pay a set amount to an artist and the game doesn’t sell.  I just don’t like to see anyone taken advantage of. Posted by Scott Tepper on Dec 4, 2006 at 12:27 PM | #

Scott R., as a published writer, I have no qualms about anyone reading library-owned copies of my works. Heck, I wish more libraries had copies of the books my wife and I have written! In theory, the more exposure that people have to your books, the more likely they are to purchase a copy (except if the book is dreck, of course). Perhaps they’ll enjoy the idea of opening a coffee bar so much that they’ll even purchase a copy for themselves… Posted by W. Eric Martin on Dec 4, 2006 at 01:54 PM | #

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