John Blanche 1948-2026

The sad news of John Blanche’s passing was announced today. John was one of the most influential fantasy and science fiction illustrators in the gaming scene from the 70’s onwards. John is best known for the work he did with Games Workshop, a company he first worked with in 1977 and went on to become their Art Director and a regular contributor for both artwork and miniature painting. His art strongly shaped the visual dynamics of the company and made a lasting impact still felt today.

His work graced the covers of early White Dwarf magazines, his first being Issue 4 in 1977 and also the magazines first full colour cover with Issue 7 the following year. John also supplied the cover art for the first British edition of Dungeons & Dragons, which was also published under license by Games Worklshop. John contributed numerous illustrations for Games Workshop games, including the box art for the first edition of the Warhammer Fantasy Battle game published in 1983.

In addition to his work with Warhammer and Games Workshop, John also provided covers and interior illustrations for Ian Livingstone & Steve Jackson’s Fighting Fantasy and Sorcery! series as well as the Warlock magazine which was produced to support the books.

There are a number of art books published that cover his work and, post Games Workshop and post-retirement. John continued to work in the miniature wargames industry. He lent his name to a range of paints and earlier this year the John Blanche’s En Garde - Vanguard raised £125,000 for a new range of 54mm scale miniatures based upon his art on Kickstarter. At the time, the campaign wrote:

Long revered as the architect of grim dark, Blanche brings decades of mythic vision to a new world he has been dreamingof for decades. For those who don’t know of John’s work, or who have been living under a rock for four decades, John Blanche is an English fantasy and science fiction artist, concept artist, illustrator, miniatures painter/modeler and visualist who served as Games Workshop’s lead art director for years. He is one of the artists primarily responsible for crafting the look and feel of both Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000/ He is multi-published and his incredible work stretches back to glorious paintings in the Tolkien Bestiary all the way through to his present work for En Garde. He is widely regarded as the father of the Grim Dark art movement and his work has quite literally inspired generations of artists and creatives, including his co-creators on this project. Within his mind lies Worlds and characters too numerous and wondering to imagine, but projects like this one give us a tantalizing glimpse and should be cherished.

John is survied by his wife and their children. The family will be holding a private funeral but there will be a gathering in the future for everyone to celebrate John’s life.