John Blanche, the fantasy artist who defined the visual language of Warhammer and Warhammer 40K, has retired from Games Workshop after 46 years. John Blanche’s work in the Warhammer and 40K franchises is iconic, with vibrant images, strong brushstrokes, and sharp contrasts in values. After more than four decades, Blanche retires from Games Workshop, the company behind the popular lines of table games.
Blanche’s work was used in White Dwarf magazine and on many of the covers of early edition Warhammer products. His take on these fantasy worlds is stark, exaggerated and sometimes deliberately ugly. As a result, these images are unforgettable – I remember being a teenager and seeing Blanche’s take on a Sister of Battle and the corpse of the Emperor of Mankind.
Blanche also worked converting and painting miniatures, which inspired a school of miniature painting called Blanchitsu. Blanche has appeared on episodes of the official Warhammer podcasts discussing how he creates his works to inspire the artists who create the wargame models. It’s a fascinating look at both his process and the creation of Warhammer figures.
Gothicpunk, a blog hosted on Tumblr, has made every effort to document and archive Blanche’s works. Subreddits like ImaginaryWarhammer also host regularly and discuss pieces of Blanche’s art, some of which have continued to fascinate fans for decades. His style will continue on the tabletop too, whether in the grim depths of Necromunda’s hive worlds or on the wacky battlefields in Turnip28.
The news was shared on May 31 by colleague Tuomas Pirinen on Twitter. Blanche maintains a personal blog. According to Pirinen, “We’ll be seeing more of John’s genre-defining art as he gets to work on projects himself.”