In Memoriam — John Blanche
We’re all in a huge state of shock here today, as we struggle to take in the news of the death of John Blanche. Friend to many of us, inspiration to us all, his artwork – savage, whimsical, twisted, alien, charming – was what we grew up on, what fed into our dreams and our games alike. But although the man has gone, his astonishing legacy, a lifetime of utterly unique illustrations, will live on through the years to come.
John Blanche was born in 1948, and as he grew up he became fascinated by fantasy fiction – and fantasy art. He got into art college with a portfolio full of battle scenes, heroes and imaginative new worlds. He was somewhat dispirited to find that his lecturers didn’t share his passion for fantasy, and was told he’d never make a living painting dragons, goblins and trolls. However, an encounter with legendary artist and prog rock sleeve illustrator Roger Dean led to him contributing to David Day’s Tolkien Bestiary. Another contributor was Ian Miller, and they became lifelong friends.
That led him to Games Workshop, and he provided covers for very early issues of White Dwarf – and the cover of the first UK edition of Dungeons & Dragons. When founders Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone started their Fighting Fantasy range of gamebooks, John was a natural choice of illustrator, and his work on Steve’s four-book Sorcery! epic truly brought that world to life.
It was a short step from there to working on GW’s new tabletop battle game, Warhammer. The cover of the first edition, with Harry the Hammer calmly smashing the jawbone off a hapless skeleton warrior, has become truly iconic over the years – and it certainly set the tone for a much darker and more baroque take on heroic fantasy. That was just the start of John’s association with Warhammer, and then Warhammer 40,000, over the decades. He served as tireless artist and illustrator, and then head of art. He also painted miniatures, and designed more than a few himself. He was able to pursue more personal projects too, perhaps most notably Mordheim, in collaboration with TC’s Tuomas Pirinen.
From epic battle scenes for the latest worldwide game release to tiny details for a new mini, John contributed to it all. John set the style, tone and direction of Warhammer art across the decades, as it grew from a small UK hobby company to a truly global phenomenon. He never became complacent though, and was always introduce new influences, rather than lazily repeat what had been done last time. He delighted in taking artists from the GW studio to the great London galleries, and watch them realise in front of a Dürer, Bosch or Gericault that it was all there to influence this new “grimdark” style of fantasy.
John retired from GW in 2023 after a full lifetime of tireless service. Sadly the company Harley Davidson had long gone, and his musical tastes ran more to gentle German dub techno, but his legacy was assured. An inspiration to so many, even in his retirement, he was naturally called upon by many newer game companies who were keen to work with a master, as perhaps best seen in the new En Garde game, again designed by Tuomas and using minis all directly based upon John’s images.
We were so thrilled and proud that he was able to contribute some new art for Trench Crusade, a project he was following avidly. More than anything though, everything he introduced us to, showed us, taught us, shines through what we do here, as it does through so many in the fantasy gaming world. We shall miss him terribly, but he will live on in his irreplaceable art, and in everything we do. We send our fondest condolences to wife Lin and son Christian, and invite you all to think of John next time you paint a mini, read a rulebook or roll the dice.
Marc Gascoigne, 3 June 2026
