| Fantasy
Art |
Edward
Frank |
| Mar
24, 2006 17:16 PST |
| Re:
Fantasy Art |
Dean
Hedin |
| Mar
24, 2006 22:24 PST |
| RE:
Fantasy Art |
srgale-@comcast.net |
| Mar
25, 2006 05:37 PST |
Some of the works of Maxfield Parrish, who was popular 80-90
years ago,
would qualify, I think----not of the current style of fantasy
art, but
with that ethereal feel. Here are a few examples.
Hilltop: http://tinyurl.com/lwboc
Aquamarine: http://tinyurl.com/s988f
The Glen: http://www.kyphilom.com/www/gif/parri-j2.jpg
Steve Galehouse
White Oak in the Fog - photo by Steve Galehouse
I liked the mention of fantasy art---often an artist's rendering can better
convey the message or feel than a photo (but I've attached a photo
above that
I took of a white oak near my home that verges on "fantasy art', for me at least!).
|
| Re:
Fantasy Art |
Edward
Frank |
| Mar
25, 2006 18:35 PST |
| RE:
Fantasy Art |
Darian
Copiz |
|
Mar
26, 2006 12:01 PST |
| Re:
Fantasy Art |
Edward
Frank |
| Mar
26, 2006 12:15 PST |
Darian,
I was trying to provide a variety of styles as examples, rather
than having
an all encompassing listing of various fantasy trees. I planned
to look at
some of the Tolkien images in a later post after giving others a
chance to
comment. I have already downloaded many of the images,
particularly the Ted
Nasmith ones to my computer, Thanks for your expanded list. So
you have
any comments comparing or contrasting trees as they appear in
fantasy art
with real trees? Why are they different in the artwork? and why
do these
differences see so prevalent across the spectra of fantasy art?
Ed
|
| RE:
Fantasy Art |
Darian
Copiz |
| Mar
26, 2006 12:53 PST |
Ed,
I think many of the trees do look like, or similar to some real
trees I
have seen. However, there are very few trees that I have seen
like
that. Much of the art accentuates elements that often denote
very old
age, such as fat trunks, contorted branches, mosses and lichens,
etc.
They mostly depict open grown trees, rather than those in a deep
forest
and even some of those in a forest have open grown
characteristics. I
think there are several reasons for the way they are depicted.
Most
people are more familiar with open grown trees and relate to
these, and
are more familiar with them than those that grow in the forest -
in the
open one sees the tree, in the forest one sees part of the tree.
The
ancient characteristics stem partially from the genre of the
artwork.
Much of fantasy is concerned with an ancient or long forgotten
past.
Old trees are a great way to help depict the mood. They are
sentinels
of a primordial forest that originated in the beginning of time.
Although in the real world, this is not quite true, ancient
woods still
hold some kind of allure for many of us. I'm not quite sure
what. I
think the trees in fantasy art tap into this. Although that
allure is
not something relegated only to fantasy, but perhaps why fantasy
is
popular.
For me, dark gray skies and a wind whistling through the barren
branches
of an ancient tree on a forlorn hilltop tap into something
powerful that
I can't quite explain - maybe it is a sense of connection with
the
elements, the earth and time.
I'm attaching a link to a picture depicting some of the
characteristics
discussed. The picture is from Wistman's Wood, a well known wood
in
Dartmoor, England. I have been to Dartmoor, but did not take the
picture and unfortunately did not visit the site, although it is
on my
list of places to go.
http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/Photos/Dartmoor2005/d29v1884.html
Darian
|
| RE:
Fantasy Art |
srgale-@comcast.net |
| Mar
26, 2006 14:29 PST |
Darian, Ed, and all-
I think the depiction of trees in fanatsy art and the allure of
ancient
woods and forests is also related to the European tradition of
the
"Green Man", which predates written history and
Christianity, but has
survived to this day as, at least, a decorative motif. Lots of
info on
the internet, here's just one link:
http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/greenmen.htm
|
| Re:
Fantasy Art |
Edward
Frank |
| Mar
26, 2006 15:08 PST |
ENTS,
Steve Galehouse sent a link to an article about "greenmen"
in his last post.
http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/greenmen.htm
It is worth a look. The article has numerous photos of images in
gothic
churches and elsewhere to illustrate the theme. The first
paragraph of the
article begins:
The Green Man
Variations on a theme
Ruth Wylie
'The Green Man', a name coined by Lady Raglan in 1939, is a
mediaeval image
usually found in churches. Carved in stone or wood, depicted on
stained
glass, illuminated manuscripts and where else, he can be
recognised as a
face, often grotesque, with foliage sprouting from his mouth,
nose, eyes or
ears. Alternatively, he may be a face composed entirely of
leaves. Exterior
or interior, he features on capitals, corbels, choir stalls,
bench ends,
fonts, screens, roof bosses - indeed, any surface open to
ornamentation.
-----------------------------------
On another note, Steve not wanting to get the group off on a
tangent, sent
me a link individually to lyrics to a song ... It seemed
appropriate to me
to the discussion at hand. So I say tangents away... He writes:
Here are the lyrics of an older Van Morrison song, "In the
Forest", that
relates to the fantasy art topic--I didn't post it to the entire
ENTS group,
not wanting to get off on a tangent, but there seems to be a lot
of
subliminal interest in the attraction and force of "the
forest".
http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/~hayward/van/lyrics/exile.html#track5
In the Forest
By the sacred grove, where the waters flow
We will come and go, in the forest
In the summer rain, we will meet again
We will learn the code of the ancient ones
In the forest
By the waterfall, I will hold you in my arms
We will meet again by the leafy glade
In the shade of the forest
With your long robes on, we will surely roam
By the ancient roads, I will take you home
To the forest
In the forest, in the forest
In the forest, in the forest
With your long robes on, we will surely roam
By the ancient roads, I will take you home again
To the forest
Satisfy the soul baby
Birds sing all day long of the mother lode
We can let it roll, in the forest
With your long robes on
I know where you're coming from
By the big oak tree you've gotta come and go with me
In the forest, in the forest
In the forest, in the forest
By the waterfall
I will hold you in my arms, and we will meet again
By the leafy shade, in the, in the forest
Satisfy the soul
Birds sing all day long of the mother lode
We can surely let it roll, in the forest
With your long robes on
I know where you're coming from
We will surely roam, down by the ancient roads
Ed Frank
|
| Re:
Fantasy Art |
Edward
Frank |
| Mar
26, 2006 17:07 PST |
ENTS,
Here is a link to a philosophical essay(s) entitled:
1) A Brief History of Nature and the American Consciousness
2) Changing Perceptions of Nature and the Rise of the Sublime
3) Nature's Bounty and American Economic Prosperity
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/NATURE/cap2.html
Ed Frank |
| Fantasy
Art, Dreams, Poetry, and Mythos |
Edward
Frank |
| Mar
31, 2006 19:52 PST |
Fantasy Art, Dreams, Poetry, and Mythos - all are to some extent
interrelated. I have read that people from different cultures
all around
the world have dreams that share many of the same aspects. Chase
dreams are
very common. Does this represent something that is in all of us
at an
instinctive level? Something from a shared, ingrained, deeply
buried
cultural background? Something of both?
The trees in fantasy art represent those of the primordial
forests - deep,
dark, mysterious. Do they hold creatures of great evil
slithering in the
darkness or beautiful shinning creatures with mystical powers.
For good or
evil these things are found in our minds in the ancient forests.
These are
the trees depicted in the drawings, described in our poetry, and
envisioned
in our dreams. The trees may be great powerful creatures
reaching for the
sky, or they may be twisted and misshapen. The one thing they
have in common
is they are ancient and large. Younger trees just don't have the
physical
presence or power to be expressed in these mythological
contexts.
Ed Frank |
|
