Welcome to the final showdown in our quest to find the greatest work of art in the Warhammer fantasy canon! With 14/16 of your nominations eliminated, we move on to the grand final between Karl Kopinski’s Breton Bowmen and Geoff Taylor’s White Dwarf 250:

If you missed the original article, you can catch it right here as well as the Top 8 and Top 4 articles.

Showcase of the Artists

This whole exercise is about celebrating majestic art that has brought joy to a lot of people, defined the settings we’ve fallen in love with and set our imaginations on fire. Both of these artists have stacked resumés and created works that will echo through Warhammer history. They helped to define what Warhammer is and how it feels.

If you really hate looking at great fantasy art you can of course scroll straight down to the poll below, but it would be a bit odd that you’re even reading this article if that’s the case; so let’s take the opportunity to explore and celebrate their oeuvres in Warhammer and beyond.

Karl Kopinski

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We mentioned previously that Karl has been suffering from ill-health, and the PC team continues to wish nothing but the best to Karl and his family.

What are the most beloved settings in our little corner of the world? 40K, Warhammer, Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons feels like a pretty good shortlist, and Karl sits at the pinnacle of them all.

A notable aspect of Karl’s career is his capacity for creating characters who would go on to be made into miniatures, such as Sister Amalia Novena:

Geoff Taylor

Geoff Taylor is especially famed for his large-scale epic scenes, artworks that you can spend a lot of time exploring.

This one was published across the covers of WD179 and WD181:

Geoff created the magnificent Vision of Mordheim:

And this definitive depiction of Space Wolves:

And speaking of wolves: outside of SFF, Geoff is a consummate wildlife artist, focusing particularly on portraits of wolves:

You can view more of Geoff’s work at his own website.

Now, shall we get into the finalround of voting?

Breton Bowmen (Karl Kopinski) vs White Dwarf 250 (Geoff Taylor)

Breton Bowmen

Nominated by Nic Wright: “I’m shouting out who I consider to be the literal GOAT of Warhammer art – Karl Kopinski. For me he is the father of immersion in the world of Warhammer. He was grim before it was dark.

Kopinski had that iconic sketchbook style that enables his work to pull you into a setting at the touch of a brush.  An unbelievable artist who formed the backbone of much of the most-publicized and timeless art from Fantasy AND 40k. I can’t think of another artist of this ilk who has had so many miniatures created from direct replicas of his art as Karl.”

White Dwarf 250

Nominated by Graal: “The new WHFB box when I first started playing, and also the cover art of the first White Dwarf issue I ever had! While I don’t own any Destruction armies now, Orcs & Goblins was my first army back then”

What we said: That first WHFB starter box always holds a special place in our memories – hopefully the young ins coming up now will have the same affection for Dominion and Skaventide. For me it was Cardboard Grom the Paunch, and for Hakan it was this classic artwork by Geoff Taylor.

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I hope you’ve enjoyed following this series, and remember: there are only winners here. These artworks have all brought us glory, majesty and a lot of great memories. Thank you to Karl, Geoff and to all fantasy artists for the worlds you have created.

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