Silver Helm

Insights:

i) Much more detail in the original than the cropped version used in Warhammer Armies.

i) Paul Bonner is not known for his elves.

He is quoted as saying on his site, ‘You can't paint things you don't believe in - can you?’.
https://www.facebook.com/257860907742151/posts/1082086628652904/

Another of Paul’s quotes ‘ I Managed - over the space of 30 or more years (eek!) -to get away with only having to paint 3 or 4 elves, and considering myself very lucky! Could never get past the pointy ears, childhood fairy connections, aloofness and general "other worldliness" that they are always plastered with.’
https://www.facebook.com/257860907742151/posts/621388801389358/

ii) His lack of empathy for the Elven races was discussed in an interview
‘Dwarves, goblins… but no elves!’, James Winspear, ‘Cups of tea and nothing artyfarty’ Tabletop Games Magazine, April 2019.

ii) My thoughts;

To find any work based on Elves by Paul Bonner during his Games Workshop period is a rarity. I was offered some mouth watering art work by Paul but I needed to rationalise my choices.

Imagine you’ve just found a stash of scrolls form the Library of Alexandria, or secret gnostic texts. I had to make some hard emotional choices. This example was pretty much at the top of my list. It was one of the pictures I was drawn to as a teenager.

It’s a beautifully detailed but retains an elegant clean simplicity. Although there are 6 detailed figures in the foreground the simple background style creates an impression of an High elf Sliver Helm cavalry regiment ready to charge and sweep their foe away.

As soon as the image arrives I’ll post some hi res scans of the newly discovered extra detail 😃