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