By Rob Lammle
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Dungeons & Dragons is pretty much a right of passage into nerdery. Even if you didn’t play a lot after you discovered the opposite sex, most of us have rolled a few saving throws in our day. Which is why, when I stumbled upon the website Dungeons and Drawings, by the British duo Blanca Martinez and Joe Sparrow, fond memories of late nights drinking Mountain Dew and eating Cool Ranch Doritos while huddled over a 20-sided die, came flooding back to me.

The two artists are posting their own interpretations of the creatures that have haunted many a Monster Manual, giving a new twist to some old, familiar faces, tentacles, and horns. Most of the illustrations, like their awesome Beholder, are entirely original. While others pieces, like the Rust Monster, borrow heavily from artwork seen in previous versions of the Manual, adding an extra level of joy for you old school geeks out there who will spot the references.

You might notice the illustrations are intentionally avoiding the traditional, more realistic style of fantasy art that’s been so commonplace since Frank Frazetta painted his first muscled barbarian. Martinez and Sparrow say, while they love that type of art, they wanted to bring something new to the genre with a more modern sensibility. Their philosophy is definitely a nice change of pace.

Check out the site for more artwork, and if there’s a particular beast you’d like to see, drop them a line, because they do take requests.