Rest in Peace: John Blanche
John’s Iconic Sister of Battle Artwork
The Hobby has Lost a Legend
There are no words to truly convey the impact that John Blanche had on the world of Warhammer and miniature painting. His art, commonly referred to by the community as “Blanchitsu”, pioneered the “grim dark” style that defined the early editions of Warhammer 40,000, and would be the pillar upon which everything else was built. It’s a reductive method of painting that uses a fairly sparse colour pallete, mostly focusing on earthy tones such as reds, oranges, and browns, but blended in a way that instantly tells a story. It’s an instantly recognisable style, especially for those of us who have been around the hobby for a long time. For some of us his art was what drew us in in the first place.
Without knowing it, I’ve been exposed to John’s art since my childhood, all the early edition 40k box arts are John’s pieces. The bright red of the Blood Angels on the Second edition box, to the iconic Black Templars art used on the box of the Third edition, his iconic depiction of The Emperor of Mankind, the iconic Sister of Battle stood on the hill with her foot on a skull, his incredible work on the Mordheim rulebook… the list just goes on and on.
John Blanche will forever live on through his art and the inspiration he has provided for others. A true legend.
John Blanche’s take on a Priest of Mars, one of my personal favourites
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The First Influencer
John Blanche’s work has had a major influence on the Warhammer hobby as a whole, from the way that people paint their miniatures, to the way that they write their stories and come up with lore for their armies. John’s work has been pivotal in my own journey through this hobby. I already mentioned the early edition box arts, but more recently I got into the more niche areas of the Warhammer Hobby, Mordheim, #inq28, Acolyte, and the things you’re probably seeing elsewhere on this site, such as the short stories and poems.
Most of this would not have happened without the inspiration from John, and in turn what he inspired in others. He may not have had a specific direct influence on me that I could pin down aside from the general “I like the grimdark vibe”, but I can almost certainly pin down inspiration from others, who I know in turn have been influenced by John’s work. Hopefully I can carry on that little cycle with my own little contributions to the hobby.
The Bell of Lost Souls rings out one more time.