John Blanche 1948–2026

I am sad to learn about the passing of John Blanche. My friend Tim has written a nice article about him for Wargamer and Kelvin remembers the time Blanche sent him a postcard. The documentary The Grim & The Dark has posted the entirety of their interview with John Blanche. It’s quite lovely listening to him speak.

I don’t know if I really understood who Blanche was and his impact and influence until I got into the OSR and every other person was obsessed with the grimdark. As a child I would have encountered his artwork in Fighting Fantasy, alongside some of the other greats of British fantasy illustration, but I don’t know if I was cultured enough to dig into what I was seeing beyond thinking it was cool. Getting into Warhammer exposed me to even more of his art and who he was as a creator. He was an incredible artist. There are so many drawings of his I love, but this one of a Sister of Battle is one of my favourites. What a legend. A real loss.