Dungeons & Dragons has grown so vastly in popularity that it has curated such a love for its game and environments that more people than ever are creating their own content for it. From artists to writers and everyone in-between you can find new D&D content being released almost daily. Art can be a valuable tool in storytelling, it can set a mood and convey emotions and feelings, but there is a Kickstarter campaign making it more than that. They let the art tell the story and shape it’s connection to the game.
Ekphrasis: a literary description of or commentary on a visual work of art. Janaka Stucky is on Kickstarter bringing the vision of his beastly compendium based on this concept to life. Ekphrastic Beasts will be an artist created compendium of monsters taking the original works of established artists Ellie Gill, Jeremy Hush, Joe Keinberger, and Nathan Reidt and giving them names, stats, and backstories.Â
The book is set to be released with a full page color illustration of every monster so you can drink in the beauty of these terrifying beasts in all their glory. The artists working on this project are all extremely talented and each bring a very unique style that is sure to give you the right amount of chills as you turn the pages. At higher pledge levels, you can even score some of the original artwork. It’s dark, and creepy, and will make you question the sanity of the minds that created it, and I love it!Â
This project has already been funded but has some stretch goals to be unlocked like 20 more monsters by two more acclaimed artists and upgrading the book to a metallic foil cover. $35 will get you a physical and pdf copy of the book with higher pledge levels offering stickers, original art, and more.
Help them get ekphrastic here!
UPDATE:
This project raised over twice its goal coming in at just over $57,000 and unlocking their full list of stretch goals!
