You shouldn't. Every picture is the same; he takes a screen shot and adds incredibly obnoxious and overdone glowing effects.

Unsurprisingly, the alliance races, and elves in particular, seem to be the favored subject matter. But fear not, some pieces come with FAN FICTION.

I hate being negative, but I have to agree with Interrorator. Look at his undead rogue (Loch Modan gallery). Big bright flashing colors. For an undead rogue.

Couldn't he at least add dark gray swirls? Hint at some evil and sinister quality?

That said, I would totally cheer at a WoWInsider column on fan artists.

If your talking about this undead rogue

http://wyndforge.com/WOW/gallery/library_a/Grielva_Shadowsong.html

Maybe, maybe not you looked closely at it. The "flashy green" is poison dripping from the blades. There is a dread green mist around his feet at the dead body.

Though I do agree, maybe change the purple swirls into a darker shade to emphasize the darker side of undead.

That was indeed the one I was talking about, and I maintain my opinion. Look at Brill and Tirisfal Glades -- The undead are defined by dark greys, sinister shadows and (yes) the bright green glow of Undercity's water.

His gallery doesn't show capability of reflecting anything but flash and dazzle.

It's cool to appreciate the skill it supposedly takes to do that, but just because it is not easy and takes a long time doesn't make it good.

Also, perpetuating stereotypes =)

It's possible he's not selling the image, but the time put into changing it, shipping and the frame. Borderline but given the case(price dependant), blizzard might be willing to ignore that little aspect, much like "fan" shirts and so forth.

Hey I always wondered; Whats it like to be a d0uchebag to someone that is clearly trying to do a fan service, and is not hurting anyone while doing so (as if Blizzard would adopt this idea as their own and start this). It seams like you might be able to help me. Do you get an adrenaline rush from hating on things you disagree with? What do you think while typing? Is it about how the only possible result of your post is the sadness of others? Maybe you think about sick children? Please do tell, cause I am trying to understand my masochistic daily routine that is reading the Wowinsider comments.

thanks ;D

P.S. to your later comments about how you have the right to hate on stuff you don't find visually appealing: AWESOME!!!1! Most times when I see artwork I don't like I too try and find the artists' fans to tell them how wrong they are in exercising their free will (opinions, speech, etc). Of course you understand free speech, something shown by your abuse of it.

Like I said, I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that it doesn't work like that. A copyright gives you the exclusive rights to control reproduction and modification of a work. While of course people copy and distribute screen shots all the time, it doesn't really matter because there's no reason to sue you if you don't cause any damages. When he is competing with a licensed, authorized copyright holder (http://www.figureprints.com), however, things change.

I wouldn't really care normally, but this strikes me as somewhat of a scam. The price is too high for a modification of another's work (Blizzard's, specifically) that he isn't really authorized to use.

@Alex

Good Lord. Could you have added a bit more hyperbole there? Apparently, in your world, criticizing someone's work or pointing out the fact that it may in fact violate copyright law is akin to genocide. Nevermind the fact that the artist is likely making a decent, if not exorbitant, side-income for this "fan service".

Yes, it takes talent to do the compositing and probably a lot of work. Hell, I like a lot of it, if only for his composition, but he isn't Mother Theresa.

"To permit freedom of expression is primarily for the benefit of the majority, because it protects criticism, and criticism leads to progress." - Harry S. Truman

Oh, I love the art and even thought of doing the same but feared getting in trouble with the game I love.

Actually, he only digitally paints details onto the screenshots. If you look at the step by step breakdowns he does, you can see that he does use bits and parts of the actual screenshots themselves. There is a high amount of modification done to them, however, so he may be skirting the line of infringement. Intellectual properties law is vague and complex. :P

That said, I do love his style. It's not to everyone's taste, but I do like the flashiness of it.

He is very pricey. I believe some portraits have cost up to $250 . However, the time it takes to get the very specialized poses and render them with so much added detail is well worth it, if you enjoy his style.