From: Newton Hughes (C442196@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu)
Date: Thu 21 Oct 1993 - 20:06:00 EET
It's hard to imagine anybody in the games business I have less
business criticizing than Ken Rolston. The Dorastor book was great;
the calligraphy on the cover, the interior art, even the gross-out
encounters people were complaining about (actually, after you've
seen Cwm's stats nothing else seems that gross).
Thoughts on Gloranthan Art--
First, there's an awful lot of it: all sorts of cultures based on
actual cultures from many different times, all existing at once.
Art traditions that on Earth are separated by time in Glorantha are
separated by space. In some ways this has similar effects: where
medieval Europe knew about ancient Roman art, it wasn't aware of Class-
ical Greece; in Glorantha the Loskalmi are much more likely to be fam-
iliar with Lunar art than with Manirian.
Of course, time only goes one way, but when space is the only separ- ating factor the influence goes both ways. The Lunars have a very syncretic culture and are open to outside influences, and think of the influences of Fronela and Loskalm: the idea of Imperial Roman art influenced by Northern Renaissance styles and technology is too much for me right now.
When different art traditions meet you can get some weird effects: A good example is Gandharan sculpture. Alexander fought his way to the Indus and founded a bunch of city-states colonized by Greeks, and one eventual result was an artistic style that combines 4th century Greek proportions, drapery, and facial features with Buddhist icono- graphy.
In short, you've got all the excuses you need to get away with murder, when fudging Gloranthan art. (I was thinking of Griffin Mountain and its maps of the Elkoi, Trilus, and Dykene, lifted straight from a textbook on Mycenean art. A purist could argue that they were totally out of place, reflected a much more sophisticated culture than the Balazaring pig-tenders, etc., but somehow the maps really look good there.) Lift stuff from the art books, mix and match to suit yourself, and have fun rationalizing it in the end.
--Newton
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