Of all of the many talented artists that have worked for Games Workshop/Citadel Miniatures, Pete Knifton is one of my all time favorites. During his time at GW, he was simply the most prolific artist in the pages of White Dwarf. His drawings were full of character and action, his style could shift from tight comic book inking to looser brush-work, and he maintained a sense of playfulness that was infectious and fun.
I've always responded to Pete's sense of action and movement, something based in his obvious love of comic art, and his ability to capture the "feel" of a piece in his illustrations.
In the same way that H's blueprint artwork made the technology of 40K more real for me, Pete's art gave it life and told exciting, fun stories without any words. He was the soul of early 40K to me and one of the strongest reasons why I still love this era of Games Workshop.
The following collection of images represents a pairing down of all of the artwork PEte created for White Dwarf. The man was a machine.
Thanks for the wonder Mr. Knifton!
I've always responded to Pete's sense of action and movement, something based in his obvious love of comic art, and his ability to capture the "feel" of a piece in his illustrations.
In the same way that H's blueprint artwork made the technology of 40K more real for me, Pete's art gave it life and told exciting, fun stories without any words. He was the soul of early 40K to me and one of the strongest reasons why I still love this era of Games Workshop.
The following collection of images represents a pairing down of all of the artwork PEte created for White Dwarf. The man was a machine.
Thanks for the wonder Mr. Knifton!
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| From White Dwarf #113 The Pacification of Flotis III. |
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| From White Dwarf #102 "Illuminations" |
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| From White Dwarf #114 |
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| From White Dwarf #114 |
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| From White Dwarf #114 |
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| From White Dwarf #114 |
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| Distortion Cannon from White Dwarf #100 |
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| Dreadnought from White Dwarf #100 |
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| Harlequin Jet-bike from White Dwarf #107 |
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| Robots from White Dwarf #104 |
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| From White Dwarf #104. Pete has said that The Desert Lions Chapter mentioned in this article are colored "desert color with sky blue highlights". R.A.W. is Robot Attack Warrior and Zarbi are ant-like creatures from early Dr. Who episodes. |
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| From White Dwarf #98 |
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| From White Dwarf #98 |
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| From White Dwarf #111 |
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| From White Dwarf #110 |
I couldn't agree more with this.
ReplyDeleteKniftons work was a formative influence for me, particularly his Blood Bowl related work.
Superb, I have to say this made me discover a few amongst which the Gladius Vs Khorne champion I didn't know about. Pete's distinctive style was very "straight to the point" with a very wild and spontaneous touch (don't know if it came from the way he drew or if it was more conscious).
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for this Brian.
I would also add my appreciation. But for the fantastic Flintloque, Slaughterloo and other AA game artwork.
ReplyDeleteTony
Yeah, I loved his illustrations as well. I wasn't aware of his Warhammer stuff to tell you the truth. But I knew of his kick arse RT and BB work, for sure!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the walk down memory lane Brian :)
Mate that Chaos Sorcerer with scythe is so great!
ReplyDeleteCitadel Minis made a figure of that guy too! Still sought after by collectors to this day! Maybe GW needs to bring him and a few iconic Chaos champs back like they did with Slambo.
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