A Word on Art and Awesomeness

I usually try to stay away from the word 'awesome'. Partly it's because whenever I hear it I always think of Bill and Ted ("Dude....awesome!"). But mostly it's because things the word is used to describe aren't actually ever awesome. This painting is, though, so I'm going to use the word this one time only. Awesome:


This is what fantasy art should be. I promised myself I wouldn't bag on 4th edition anymore, or even really mention it again. But nothing makes me feel more alienated from the new edition than the fact that I'd rather see a book with one picture in it like the John Howe above than fifty like the one below:



Am I alone in this?