Anberzne Thoughts on Trump Atisty THOUGHTS ON TRUMP ARTISTRY by Michael Kucharsi he sophisticated Amber player should bring wih him a background that includes exposure to philosophy, physical and cultural anthropology ad athistory: When you are thinking about playinga trump artis, having a lasso two in basic drawing or paintings certainly not out of place this was not ncladed in your education, you shouldbe willing to doa litle esearch. Why? Because the more you understand the perspective and motiatons ofan artist, the better you will beable to apply them tothe “Trump Artist you pla. oa creative sou, “true ati, the production of artwork is not merely means tofeed and clothe oneel, orto line one’s purse, orto gain Fame or power. Iisa need; an urge tocrete which can not be suppressed. ‘Stop and thik ora moment. Dworkin ita Trump Arist, and the creator of the Pattern, Why did he do these things? What motivated him? And how dos this ned to ereate relat to your character? Foranyarttic Ambit this need, the compulsion to creat, should be no different. It may even be more pronounced, for an Amberite can “find” all the outer trappings of sues in Shadow. To create something that is unique in all of shadow is talent only an Amberite can possess. ‘Some questions to ponder, as you create your character, or as your character begins to learn trump artistry: how does your Trump Arist think? Why does he create? Ishea true art’? Oris hea technician, merely creating a device for communication? ‘The answer to these wil affect both what he creates and how he uilze it. And nally, what do his creations look ike? Inorderto answer tis, we should reriew the history of western at. AS beginnings lie deep in the realm of sympathetic magic. What, ve now cal ‘art’ was intended to aid the hunt, and to open ‘communication withthe sprit world. Later, the focus switched from the ‘unseen spirit world tothe equally mystic concept ofthe spirit in man.” At ‘began to depict the human form, as ameans to expres the numinous conceptAmberzine ‘ofthe Holy Spirit: the Gods and Goddesses wore human form, in order to communicate with man, Eventually, as wandering tribes became roted communities, both religious and politcal leaders began to portray themselves as numninows, Goad: priests and God-kings appeared in the at ofthe time. These iniges, however remained sti formal and stylized - hamorized cons of perfection that few morals could ever measure up to. Egypt and Assyria provide ‘good examples ofthis. ‘As man began to see himself asthe centr of reality, the images ‘became increasing faithful, more realistically rendered, then they had been before. Witness the depth of deal andthe idealized portrayal of humanity in the Hellenisie period of Grecian art: a syle continued and further humanized by the Romans. After the fall of Rome, asthe focus of artistic endeavors became the church, the bible became the main source material ‘God, hisson, the saints and the disciples became primary images, Ordinary people were also shown, in pictorial natatves ofthe parable, Later, after the first millenium passed, man began to turn his attention tothe past, and it glories were rediscovered. The Renaissance ‘was more than mere nostalgia. Od styles, formulas and techniques were ‘embraced and improved. Art continued tobe the tool used to depict the sory of creation and the creator, but now it also glorified mortal man, ‘Asthe concept of spiritual though waned, the concepts of ational thought waxed to replace them. In at, anew realism arote. All ofife youth, old age, zits, toth decay and al of fe'simperfections were now being resented on canvas. ‘Then, with the artival of photography the artistic community hed ‘cause to question their function and roe in society, Their unity in the realistic rendering of everyday ‘present life was shattered. Why recreate ‘what the camera already does? Outof this ilemma uncountable movements were born. Artists began exploringideas which were once ony an aspect of. the whole -color, shape, value, hue, ine, ight and dak —these become the end, rather than the means. Thoughts on ‘rump Aistry lof this is your source material. Any of these eras, these artists, theve styles may influence your trump artistry As a trump artist, you ‘re plagued with choices. ‘One ofthese choices i whether or not a trump image need be photographically realistic in its representation. Consider the following ‘xamples. A Paleolithic eave panting dearly identifies and captures the essence ofthe creatures upon is wall, that you know who or what they are. Nowimagine a Paleolithic Gerard. Thisis easy picture a igure wth a large ches, shoulders and biceps, no discemable neck, and proportionately small head and legs. Unfortunately, many Amberites seem to be of heroic proportions, so perhaps only size or color might difeentate erat from Eri. Peshaps something litle more esoteric i to your taste. Visualize ‘tum rendered after the Figurative syle ofthe lsh Book of the Kells, or the Byzantine andthe Ethiopian mosaics. This would belt in color, linear and stylized beyond recognizable realism. Those not intimately familiar with the subject (the individual depitedin the trump) would not be able to cliscer subtle but important elements such as eye color, shirt color or symbols, Such uninformed individuals might not be sure they were reaching Caine, Eric o Gerard. They are all dark and bearded. A. similar bit of confusion could occur between a horseless Brand and abeardless Bley (or Rinaldo) “Amore modem example might be more abstractin imagery, perhaps ‘representation through the depiction of objects. A deertalker cap, clay pipe and a magnifying els wil say Sherlock Holmesas wel asany portait ‘orprfile might. trump ofa hundred different weapons, ona banner of yellow and brown, with «small ower atop would accurately portray Benedict. Akemating stripe ofblack, red and silver with be recognizable as, Eric and cards, dice and drums over plans fora hand lider would easily be seen a Random. [Note that each ofthe previous examples evolves around the premise of keeping communication limited tothe ntated, not to be shared with stranger rin some cases, not even kin. Considering the general nature of the sons, daughters and grandchildren of Oberon, it seems very natural that they would want to keep the use of (personal) trumps to themsclves. It is‘msible that someone might only produce these less obvious depictions with advanced or exalted trump artistry, sa way of voiding the sharing of special knowledge. Each trump artist must ako choose whether oF not to use color Serious or very thoughtful use of ealr might be another way in which an accomplished trump artist, doing totally realistic or representational at, right confuse the uninitiated. Confusion could be created by using black and white renderings with heavy shadows concealing deals; orby raving down color so far that reds and greens might look the same, yellows fade ‘nto whites, and dark colors could only barely be distinguished fom black. ‘These are not the only choices available. Fr istane, nthe novels, alltrumpsare recognizable, but thee ismention of ilferent rendering sles ‘The style ofthe art should reflect the personality and psychological profile the ati. Tcould easily argue that someone ike Brand might visualize and paint lke Vincent Van Gogh, to reflect the deepening mood swings, which Je him toan emotional abys and insanity. However, this may be too cbous «choice and [might opt for someone wih rather more Mir ike the American portraits, John Singer Sargent. Both artists have leary identifiable brush strokes, both are recognizablein hee likeness, but thir pes fer greathy Either could be Brand's work, or neither fr that matter. Iti subjective rather than objective choice on my part. You character's choice sforyou to decide, you should chose something that will wrk or your character, ‘Most people gravitate towards realtm,asits easier to understand and appreciate. This sno more right or wrong than anyother choice. But ‘ren realsm snot so easly pinned down, fr ther is realism, photorealsm, and super-eaism, all fering slightly fiom one another. Realism is rather self-explanatory. The closer the objet sto the viewer, the more definition and detail is applied, and everthing in the background receives less attention. In other words, imple portrait erated by any competent painter. Photo-ealsm, like its name, moves the direction ofthe rendering towards photography, where ony the center of attention is focused. The point of attention or focus is filly delineated; everything ese gets sofer and less defined as you moved away fom the center. To tlie this in Corwin's Thoughts on Trump Artistry tramp, only Corwin's features, and maybe the rose cloak clasp, near his lace, are defined, detailed and sharp. InSuperrealsm, teats renders everything in fll and equal deta, leaving nothing untouched by artistic license. Distegarding focus and perspective, every laf on every te in Arden can be made outinfull detail, asthe briht, gleaming, shining, white, fll gue of Julian stand before it “This does sound like the work of Dworkin, with the atention to detail hat Corvin poke of. With al that detail, the eye would have no natural place to rest Tt would take an act of strong will to find a point or center to concentrate on, tobring a trump tole, and to make tum contac any things will inluence the artist's work. Where an inlvidusl [received his training, the school of tum artisey’or the particular sip ofa tutor or mentor, wil reflect in the easly work ofthat ats. Afr some time, the artist's work wl develop into his own unique spe. Exposure ‘ohigh impact popular visual cultures, ant-image culture orjust rebellion ‘gaint conventional norms could easly lad a budding artis toa change their anne sl. The art's on natural ncination maybe such, that no ‘matter how hatdhe tres to fellow the traditional aris path orate to Stinto the caren popular trends, he wil always seem to end wp going his ‘own way. Anexcelent example of such artistic behavior is found inthe fe and work of Vincent Van Gogh. 0, how is all ofthis reflected in my work? Everything that | wll talk Sas here has been rendered tobe camera ready, commissioned for reproduction in print, This limits the palete to simple black and white Any workproduced with grey tones requires an extra photographic process beforeitcan be acceptably reproduce. Tey this fr yours take nicely shaded penil drawing and run it through the Xerox machine — you will immediately see the problem) For Dworkin's trumps, I wanted realism, as close to continuous tone rendering as I could ge, without requiring halftones for reproduction, | chose ink and wax pencil on Ross board; with ts stippled surface, it was almost perfect to achieve that endAmberzine For the Amber DRPG book, thre of the trumps shown are cstensibly by the hand of Meri. Merlin, t thea stage, was aensitve, ‘sive, innocent and gentlemanly youngaris, only recently et lose from his mother's apron stings and sil a touch unsure of himself. After a few experiments chose linen board and graphite in an attempt to capture the ‘thoughts, the felings and the mind ofthe arist in trump form. The Merlin trumps, in general, appear more sensitive in portraying thei subjects as people, not pawns. Forthe Amberzne trumps, there were various challenges. The ist was, how would the artist Harlan would visualize his trump images? Eric ‘Schneider, who plays Haran in two different campaign, isa student of Dworkin in both. It seemed logical, having been taught by such a strong, personality, that larlan’s style should bea continuation of Dworkin’ vith some sort of twist. In theart for Bronwyn's Tal, twas decided that all the characters would be shown with awindaw ara door inthe background, as if these objects might humanize the characters, and allow the viewer to open ‘them and lok tothe character’ souls. This idea, of background element playing a roe in revealing the nature ofthe character, was carved over nto the renderings for Eric Wujik’s main body eampsign. ‘Then came the Wolings.. they had been originally conceived, by Morgan, to be his personal storm troopers. Al shared the same parents. Allwereshapeshifters, Aller outlaws, All were different, So both unity and individuality needed tobe shown. “A ‘well’ badge was given each of them, asa mark of unity. Where do you find wolves? ln the forest. Trees were chosen asthe background and backdrop against which the desires, dreams, nets and personalities ofthe characters would be releced, ifthe viewer could decipher them. ForShadowKnight, [made serious eflort to visualize how a Chaos trump was made. This rump of Martin did not se publication, However, itseemed to me that a Chaos trump might be a fragmented image, lke a cubist painting, showing multiple aspect ofthe sme individual asa means to reveal the shapeshifing nature of Chaosians. Or perhaps a 60s peychedelc poster, with ech aspect melting tothe next. The later was chosen forthe trump, with only partial sucess, as color was uly required ‘to pull off the effect. Thoughts on Trump Artistry In the campaigns Ihave run, Chaos trumps are powered by the Logrus, not an independent power source, and all Chaosians are shapeshifters. Similarly, the Pattern powers Amber trumps. Therefore, a Pattern based Trump Artists unableto capture the likeness ofa shapeshifer, because the Pater ump would bea staticimage- preserved unchanging representation, an inflexible realty - all the things a shapesifter isn't, Therefore an attempt capture a shifir’simage would alway be inacurte, asa shifter is always in a state of constant, although perhaps otherwise undetectable, change. On the other hand, a Logeus based Trump Ast should. wit considerable eas, be ableto render an Amberit, as they are visual sil life by comparison. Finally, we come tothe Trumps of Doom, some by Brand, some by his pupils. Remembering that Brand had fallen nto the Abyss, [chose to incorporate that story element, together with the idea of atacs from beyond the grave, by havingall the cards have a black background against ‘which the subject woald beeen. Falso wanted thes trumps to seem bolder, strongerand more threatening soI chose as graphic a rendering approach 1s possible. Thus I used Duo-tone board, a photomeckanical shading ‘medium, and heay black inked masses and shapes, with white bordering ‘outlines around the subject. The result i strong and immesite visual impact and response. These are no gentlemanly attempt to get to know someone, something or someplace, These trumps are tools to be used, These are "Black and Decker” trump, ifyou wl. rump production in role-play should reflect some realities Iam in disagreement with Eric Wajck on an important issue ~ cresting a trump should take longer than two days. wll use some examples to strate why [believe this. My busines card, painted in 1991, might very well be taken for trump image Itcontain all sats of symbolism you might find in trump. This image represents the time spent to preduce thee or four preliminary sketches, a couple of color studies, and then some forty hours of labor forthe final porvait. What then ae the benefits of experience? "Avdhur ofthe Britons,” painted in 1982, equived the same amount of preparation time and took eighty hours to complet. So, ye, experience conta Sar veaniiliiny, Thana a & yal; haneeares, elenien tenia ttsAmberzne this me gain. Certain mediums or techniques can reduce time, but short cats will alet quali. [Now you may have seen some of those Chines o Japanese Sum Je paintings, masterpieces one and ll, done in afew dozen stokes. Please ‘remember that those Sum-i masters have spent every day oftheir lives, for the lst twenty or thirty year, working toward mastering this technique ‘They may be able to simply enter a room, which has been specifically ‘prepared for this work, st down before a piece of ie paper and a bow of ‘water, take up the ink witha brush, and with a few deft brushstrokes produce ‘painting. Such painters have years of training, in only one tle or stroke, to produce art ina matter of minutes, working wet on wet ‘Also please consider the works ofthe gest portait artists. John Singer Sargent, Sir Edward Burnesones, Rembrandt Van Rin, Leonardo De Vinci, Norman Rockwell none ofthese masters simply st someone ‘down and completed a finshed painting. All of them frst experimented with color light, shadow, poses and soon, Sargent ved with his subjects formonths, while he painted them. Leonardo's ‘St.John the Baptist” hung inhi studio ‘unfinished fr years before he added the ast‘missng element. Rembrandt hada very successful career asa portraits, untill decided to ‘eatcorners while panting the Night Watch. [fs trump sth esence ofthe invidual, filtered through the Trump Astin’ ees and hands, then every bit of body language, garment choice, jewelry, weapons, background and lighting makes a dilference. These clements should be considered by every role player, in oder to more fully flesh out their character. And each adlitional element included will add more time tothe proces. ‘An arist ean only workso fast Pants only dry o fast. Acidents, interruptions and all the possibilities of random chance slow the process farther, delay upon delay. There is much to consider. ‘So both the GM and player should consider the development the character's Trump Antal newly acquired sill or power, without a long history of study should notbe allowed to turn out trumps ikea Xerox machine. There is progres, There is change. Theres growth. Which if ‘you truly consider thine of thought, has much in common with roleplaying, ‘adem ix des bgt iiealiennclanacinesnguelanen cians onl anv, “Thoughts on Trump Amity ns closing, when you play a trump ars try to think like an ati. Trump portals are not ‘Kodak instamatie moments. The thought, gil eativity, cunning, openness, closeness, understanding and the lack o inden of your hacer shal al be pf how yu ps th ‘Michael Kucharski’s atest memories of drawing involved some tube hhe ha in kindergarten. Since then he has gotten better, he ean now fllow instrtions. At nine years of age, he discovered Howard Pyle's The Story (of King Arthurin small two-r000 public brary. mages of heroic knights and fair ladies captured hisimagination, Somes thousand (pls) novels Inter, those images ae sill des to his heat. He stated his art education with the Famous Arist Correspondence Course (found on the back of « comic book), and finished i finaly, with a BFA from the School of Society of Arts & Crafts. He hasbeen a graphic designer, art director at teacher, cartoonist andillustrator. As afne art, his efforts have included wife sulting, printmaking, and panting. His involvement in comic looks and SF & Faniaey began inthe ate ssties. Since then he has worked for ‘many book and magazine publishers, in addition to gating companies,