There are very few poeple in our hobby who you can describe as irreplaceable, but John Blanche is one of them.

For many, Warhammer is more than a game, its a place where we like to escape to and spend time with friends around a table making our own stories.

With it, theres a visual identity that’s so distinctive that even after looking at a single piece of artwork you know you’re looking at something from the many warhammer settings.

This identity was created by John Blanche and those others that sat down and created the universes of Warhammer in the 80s. His art helped defined the world’s we explore on the tabletop.

When most fantasy art celebrated shining heroes, Blanche painted something else. His worlds were unsettling. It was messy, uncomfortable but also beautiful. The grim darkness of the 40k universe came from John Blanche. He transformed fantasy and science fiction art  from clean and heroic into gothic and haunting.

For many of us our first encounter with Warhammer didn’t come from the rules or miniatures but from his artwork.

His worlds felt as though they existed long before we arrived and would continue long after we were gone.

Over the years he’s inspired countless artists, scultors and writers who have drawn inspiration from his work.

His passing leaves an enormous void within the hobby, but his legacy remains everywhere we look. It lives in the pages of old rulebooks. It lives in the armies we paint. It lives in the worlds we imagine when we sit down to write stories, create campaigns, or roll dice with friends.

John Blanche left behind an entire vision.
The worlds he created will continue to inspire generations of hobbyists yet to pick up their first brush, open their first rulebook, or fight their first battle.
For that, and for everything else he gave this hobby, we owe him our thanks.

Rest in peace, John Blanche.

Liked it? Take a second to support Peter Holland on Patreon!