John Blanche

John Blanche is a British fantasy and science fiction illustrator and modeler known for his work for Games Workshop's White Dwarf magazine, Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and Warhammer 40,000 games and his role as art director for the company, including his work in the field of fantasy miniature painting, and for illustrations for various game book and Fighting Fantasy publications.

Early life

Blanche was born into a working-class family in post-war England, and grew up on a Council estate during the 1950s, a period he describes as 'grey and flat', and lacking in the visual richness available to modern youth. Instead he took early inspiration from cinema, his collections of toy soldiers, and producing drawings of historic warriors on the backs of old rolls of wallpaper.

During the 1960s Blanche was exposed to art and art movements, eventually attending art college, where he entered a course on the strength of his drawings and paintings of battle scenes and prehistoric conflicts, and where he recounts that he was told he "had a romantic spirit, but it would never earn me a living, so there was no point in doing it".