Fantasy Art
January 15th 2009 03:25
To me, the most obvious area of fantasy inspiration besides literature is in art. A lot of fantasy authors end up having a skilled artist paint a picture for their book covers. Also, some literary journals that focus on fantasy such as Realms of Fantasy often have fantasy illustrations on the cover and in the pages.
It just makes sense that a literary genre that breaks so many rules and is so flexible would often be imitated in art. Lots of artists specialize in or solely work with fantastic images, and many more art and fantasy aficionados alike are willing to buy works of fantasy art to display in their homes. Fantasy art is often very beautiful, with vivid and sharp colors depicting fantastic or otherworldly creatures, locations, and events.
Of course not all fantasy art is pretty and colorful with faeries and fauns and whatnot. A lot of it is also dark, disturbing, and even gruesome. Think of gothic-style candle-holders, mirrors, etc. that some people love. Just as traditional, chivalric fantasy has it's artistic twin, so does dark, gothic fantasy.
Artists are also being commissioned with greater frequency to provide high-quality art for games: card games, video games, role-playing games. Also, some artists have made a name for themselves painting brilliant and realistic fantasy scenes based from scenes in fantasy novels. John Howe and Ted Nasmith, renowned painters of Lord of the Rings inspired scenes, are the best examples I can think of.
Also the online fantasy community of Elfwood is dedicated to showing off the art and writing of its various members. Although in my opinion the art is the strongest content on that site, some of the writing is quite good, too.
It all just goes to show that our culture has really grown to enjoy and appreciate fantasy as an art form. Although literary fantasies like Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy and George MacDonald's Phantastes haven't made it into the mainstream yet, it will only take a popular movie or video game adaptation to change that. (Though I would rather that no one attempt to make a video game version of either of those authors' work).
Next week I'll speak about fantasy in film and how it has impacted the fantasy community, and tomorrow I'll continue my discussion of R. Scott Bakker's The Prince of Nothing series by looking at the second book, The Warrior-Prophet. Have a good night, everyone!
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