Daltoners
Much of Daltoner art has centered on religious purposes throughout the history of the Daltoner Empire. In recent years, given a general cultural exchange across Evanoch that New Dalton resisted but could not entirely escape, Daltoner art has become more influenced by other cultures, and in specific ways. Daltoner paintings, which has historically been very dark in color, have adopted brighter tones in recent years. Meanwhile, sculpture has historically depicted Pelor and strong men of the Daltoner empire, but more common subjects have begun to appear in Daltoner art. In terms of crafts, Daltoners have long treated ceremonial robes and armor as works of art with elaborate designs and careful craftspersonship.
Notable artists and works among Daltoners take some work to find, as the Daltoner Empire technically has ownership of all art created within city limits. For this reason, artists from across Evanoch have only rarely taken up a residency at the New Dalton Museum of Art, and then only to spread culture to Daltoners (and even some of these have been revoked and censored by the Museum). But among the most notable artists for the Daltoners are Brennan Palantine, whose paintings of Pelor have an immediately recognizable style, showing Pelor as childlike; Nathan Voreman, whose sculptures of young men in roles like priest and soldier are considered inspiring; and Viola Gilmore, whose recent suit of ceremonial armor for Tsar Torvald Gorp is said to best her last one.
The New Dalton Museum of Art houses all cultural exhibits in New Dalton, even including a somewhat small concert and performance hall as well as apartments for artists in residence. Actual visits to the Museum are fairly rare among Daltoners, who devote most of their time to work and faith. Among the most impressive of the New Dalton Museum of Art's works are a painting of Daltoners landing on Evanoch with light cast directly from Pelor; a statue of the first Archbishop of the Dalton Church of Pelor (Kavanaugh Peterson III) with his arms held wide in a mimic of a similar statue in Mishara; and a set of ceremonial robes designed for Tsar Werther Laramie, who died before he could wear them.
Faninites
Faninites did not adopt a real tradition of conventional visual arts until contact with Evanoch 1,500 years ago, but in that time, some Faninites have taken to the arts learned from others while putting forth their own interpretation. In large part, Faninite visual art tackles nostalgia for the home island of Fanin and its distilled culture and its relationship with what Faninites have made for themselves in Evanoch. Faninite paintings feature abstract shapes and rich color in inviting ways. Sculpture features very smooth lines and craftspersonship with a flair for including abstractions to shapes. Crafts are the true traditional artform of the Faninites, particularly crocheted goods--more than painting or sculpting, crochet is the true favored craft of the Faninites.
Faninite artists tend toward humility, but several have emerged as visionary forces in the world of art. Luna Morrow has created a collection of paintings which she titled "The Souls of Faninites," depicting a series of cartoonish faces in vivid colors, with individual paintings titled things like "The Joy of a Day Well Lived," "The Warmth of a Family Embrace," and "The Comfort of Warm Stew on a Cold Night." Sculptor Isaiah Farrier is known for a recurring theme in his works in which highly detailed Faninites stand surrounded by more abstract versions of people from other groups in a variety of contexts. Crochet artist Daylight Steady is known for large three-dimensional pieces in brightly colored yarn which collectively create a scene which the viewer is to be a part of and touch.
Faninites have no official capital, but many of Evanoch's Faninites reside in the northwest near where they landed, and Finiel, which developed in large part because of the landing of the Faninites near there, is home to many Faninites, especially artists. Finiel has two arts museums--the Finiel Museum of Arts and Culture and the Arts Center of Finiel--as well as dozens of art galleries. In those museums and galleries, Faninite art graces many spaces. Perhaps most notable are Finn Pollard's mural of Faninites in Evanoch and in Fanin, divided by the ocean, both describing each other, with images of what is imagined across the distance; Harriet Glen's sculpture depicting a half-elven woman raising a Faninite child, a subversion of the actual relationship; and an interactive museum experience designed by Lyla Rust in which the participant is taught how to crochet a few stitches into several projects, with the end results being made collectively by the audience.
Dwarves
Dwarven visual art, not unlike the Daltoners' approach to art, has traditionally used art to glorify dwarvenkind and function to inspire dwarves; in recent generations, as a counter-culture movement has begun to develop that has added new perspective to dwarven art. Because of this separation in artistic purposes, there is something of a clash in the dwarven art community between the traditional school of thought and the new alternative school of thought. Because the Museum of Underhar only houses traditional art, alternative artists have taken to displaying their work in smaller arthouses which agree with their aims. Alternative art uses more subdued colors and subjects in painting than the bolder colors of traditional art; traditional sculpture features shockingly realistic detail, while alternative sculpture is focused on non-humanoid subjects; traditional dwarven art holds intricate armor as an art form, while alternative art places the same honor on the creation of scale models.
The traditional and alternative schools of thought have become somewhat organized around their causes, and though leadership of these groups is not formed of the most talented artists, only the most respected voices in the field have been trusted to defend their movements. The traditional side is represented by Lorne Rockcarver, a painter specializing in portraits of Underhar's elite; Porter Lionhelm, a sculptor with a large collection of depictions of Moradin as a kindly father figure; and Trenton Plainstrider, an armorer whose work is as functional as it is ornate. The alternative side is represented by Leona Axegrinder, a painter of the Kallett Mountains' environment; Jules Wellfinder, a sculptor who has created an entire home and stone replicas of all items inside it; and Ingrid Shalesplit, a crafter of a perfect replica of Underhar that fits on a tabletop.
The Museum of Underhar boasts an impressive collection of traditional art, a considerable building lined with paintings promoting dwarven values, such as an entire wing dedicated to religious art and depictions of leaders. Among the crown jewels of its collection are a room-sized painting by Roderick Withergaze showing all dwarven Droniths up to that point at a table with Moradin as well as a set of golden armor crafted for the first Dronith of Underhar. Meanwhile, semi-official alternative art galleries have offered more differentiated fare, including a line of paintings depicting the Droniths and Moradin as women by Regina Fireshield and a collection of sculptures of the tools required to create armor, including a realistic forge inside the gallery.
Orcs
Orcish arts developed apart from other cultures for a great deal of orcish history, and the traditional style that existed for millennia has adopted new ideas about how to incorporate other cultural traditions into the new orcish style. At the same time, many orcish artists are striving to keep orcish traditional art alive as it always has been. In terms of painting, orcish works tend toward rich natural colors and stark warm colors (much like Kruush's flag) with very figurative depictions of subjects; other cultures might describe orcish paintings, which are traditionally done on rocky surfaces, as simply blobs of color. Orcish sculpture features sharp edges and twisting shapes requiring great skill to create. Orcish crafts are dominated by metalworking, most notably tools and weapons, which are considered as art forms for orcs.
Notable orcish artists in the modern arts scene include Tarla Kort, an experimental painter who uses traditional orcish colors in hyper-realistic paintings of orcish communities; sculptor Varn Rallitt, whose work in the natural dark stone of Grob Island has captured public attention in recent years; and metalsmith Xilas Hurk, whose simple tools are so revered that some are used only sparingly for symbolic purposes. Also of note is the fact that accomplished orcish artists are expected to take on apprentice artists and teach them, so Kort, Rallitt, and Hurk all represent voices who took in influence and exert influence on the future of orcish art.
Kruush Art Foundation, a sizable museum and public space and one of few large buildings or buildings with a civic purpose in orcish lands, is home to more than a collection of art. About half of the building is dedicated to displaying artwork, but the other half is essentially part school for artistic skills and studio, where museumgoers can try their hand at any number of media, including a collection of forges where visitors can create basic tools with the help of an expert. Another sizable portion of the public space is dedicated to displaying the creations of visitors. But much of orcish artwork is displayed in public--on buildings, in parks, outside one's home--and in this spirit is the Kruush Art Foundation's decoration. Lort Brakk, an orcish painter whose strict traditional style was commissioned to paint the entire outside of the Kruush Art Foundation in a massive mural--the east-facing wall is a brilliant orange with dizzying patterns of light blue and deep blue, while the west-facing wall is a deep red with jagged brown and grey.
Elves
Elven visual art is incredibly varied; since individuality is to elves paramount to living, most elven artists make extreme efforts to define themselves as unique. To this end, cultural contact with the other groups of Evanoch was huge for elves, as a sudden influx of other art styles expanded the elven artistic imagination. It is currently in fashion amongst elven artists to combine styles--the "traditional" elven style of natural focus and softened reality with a touch of mysticism is among those used, but always in conjunction and contrast to other styles. Elven painting is so diverse as to evade meaningful description, and elven sculpture is so experimental as to often include simple geometric shapes or uncarved stone; to these abstract traditions comes the most prized new art style amongst elves--performance art. In this medium, elves perform symbolic actions, interact with spectators, or make philosophical arguments (or all three at once or something else altogether) with a live audience.
Creating art for elves is a classic method of expression. For elves, whose millennium-long lives will be filled with all sorts of different experiences, hobbies, and interests, it is generally taken for granted that elves will practice at least one art form seriously for an extended period of time--this is something of a cultural expectation. Some elves choose writing or music, and some elves who pursue the visual arts, but all pursue them for the love of the craft, and with no expectation of fame. That said, elven artists who have created widespread responses to their work include Sindra Pelotin, a painter whose work is known for a trademark style of depicting all humanoid subjects as animals and mythical creatures; Asir Koroq, a sculptor whose most recent sculptures of the images in elven tattoos and giving them to the tattoo artist and the tattooed person (given the level of detail in elven tattoos, this requires immense technical skill); and performance artist Marina Ramillin, whose experiments in allowing spectators to entirely guide her performance has sparked interest amongst academics studying human nature.
Mishara has four museums dedicated to the arts: one is the Mishara Literary and Bookbinding Museum; another is the Lathien Foundation for the Arts, dedicated to the earliest surviving elven art; the Art Gallery of Mishara, a space for more contemporary art; and the Elven Arts Center, a performance space for musicians and performance artists and set of homes for artists in residence. Between the Lathien Foundation for the Arts and the Art Gallery of Mishara, there are thousands of paintings, scultpures, and art objects, including a figurative painting of elves arriving on an island by boat, believed to be the oldest piece of visual art in existence; a sculpture of Corellon Larethian which appears to turn to face the viewer regardless of the angle; and a family portrait on a massive canvas that every elf in a family tree has painted themselves into over thousands of years.
Half-Elves
Half-elven artists, of which there are many since creativity is a core value of half-elven culture, are faced with a bind; on the one hand, being wildly creative and totally individual are half-elven values, and on the other hand, paying respect to half-elven culture (which is essentially all that any two half-elves share) is the duty of an artist. For this reason, half-elven artists of all media create by a soft rule: honor the past but create the future. As a result, half-elven art features hyperrealism in most cases as well as emotional subjects--at times, half-elven artists use these expectations to suggest something about reality and emotion even about simple and unexpected things. Half-elven painting is marked by hyperrealistic lighting and shading; their sculptures are so realistic as to be mistaken for real people rather often; their most favored craft of pottery comes in highly decorative and imaginative forms, often with intricate images glazed or painted on.
Unlike their parents the elves, half-elves do not pursue the arts for obligation--they pursue it for passion. Therefore, fame as an artist is regarded as a validation of one's passion, a very deeply satisfying thing. Many half-elven artists are truly famous, known even outside of their culture. Among these artists are the painter Huck Fillien, whose portraits of people depict shockingly realistic features but lighting and shadows that are unreal and represent the presence of the person depicted; Sana Corrigan, a sculptor known for her nature scenes, entire panoramas of land with fully realistic plants and animals; and potter Vail Mann, whose vases, pots, and bowls are both so beautiful as to be enshrined in a museum (which they are, in both the Finiel Museum of Arts and Culture and the Arts Center of Finiel) and also so well-crafted that they are resistant to breaking and weathering.
Half-elven artworks are so universally respected that they can be found in museums, galleries, and homes across Evanoch. A gift of half-elven artwork is considered in many cultures to be a sign of cultural knowledge and worldliness. To this end, there are several notable artworks worth mentioning. Paula Qiskin's painting of the deliberation at the conference called by Caspian Ardor has been reproduced so often that it is recognizable to most Evanines. Lyle Gynel's painting "Still Life of an Otherworldly Being," a hyperrealistic depiction of a holy symbol of Ehlonna with green and silver lighting is considered a masterwork in the field of still life painting. Nier Henry's sculpture of the waves of the Calthorn Ocean has been circulated between Evanine museums for nearing four centuries. Jasmine Dy'ed combined her pottery mastery and her knowledge of magic to create a series of vessels mechanism which keeps water eternally flowing through the piece--it has been functioning for over 80 years without interference or change. Wallace Fyrwe created a line of vases depicting the collective history of Evanoch from the beginning of known time until the present, a massive collection of nearly 50 vases, each with intricate and detailed painting, and each vase in a different shape symbolic of the event depicted.
Gnomes
While gnomes tend to opt for more scientific pursuits as a whole, the arts are still a large part of gnomish society. Gnomish arts tend toward a more direct approach to meaning than other more symbolic approaches to art; oftentimes, gnomish art has little to no subtext beyond the depiction in and of itself. But gnomes argue that this lack of subtext is freeing for artists, allowing them to pursue art for art's sake. But this is not to say that gnomish art is simply realistic depictions of subjects; geometric patterns that interlock and repeat in a work are a trademark of gnomish art. Gnomish paintings tend toward bright, vibrant colors in complementary palettes, often with backgrounds replaced by geometric patterns. Gnomish sculpture is marked by multimedia and often has moving parts and other invented components. The craft that gnomes hold up high as true art is their tapestries, which are massive, made of colorful threads, and feature both geometric and mathematical elegance in terms of design.
Because gnomish art can be so idiosyncratic, what gnomes find valuable and what other cultures find valuable differs greatly, including how famous an artist is in a given population. Amongst gnomes, the traditionalist painter Bym Ontondruh is beloved for his portraits of gnomes at different stages of their lives, with patterns resembling seasons in the backgrounds; gnomes also hold dear Quell Hannerick, a tapestry maker whose brightly colored designs are so intricate as to be presented as material in gnomish education for analysis. Outside of gnomish culture, many have taken to Olix Lyratori, a sculptor who created a statue of herself with moving eyes, mouth, and limbs with a recording of her voice included; others have flocked to the more broadly approachable style of Anej Ramine, whose colossal tapestries depicts the nature scenes of the Liggen Forest in stunning detail.
Vestry is rich with museums and other civic centers, including the History Museum of Vestry, the Vestry Universities Museum (which includes objects and documents from all disciplines of study), the Museum for Public Education (which houses civic history, workshops, and classes), and the Vestry Museum of Arts and Culture, a sprawling complex of buildings housing more individual pieces of art than any other location in Evanoch. Among its more notable works are Dirky Cannonball's painting of a gnome placing a single brick in the middle of the Liggen Forest with a geometric pattern that resembles the city of Vestry in the background; a sculpture by Derna Lore of hundreds of identically carved balls, each sculpted from a different material, that connect to one another via a mechanized net; and the most iconic gnomish tapestry of all time, woven by Helligra Viyesin, which includes over 2,000 different colored threads to create a stunningly realistic depiction of the Keepers of the Code, showing three shrouded figures and the Code of Right and Good Action itself in a beautiful forest.
Halflings
Art is, for halflings, a somewhat complicated thing. Halflings hold beliefs which conflict against other beliefs they hold in many ways, such as defining their society by intense self-sufficiency and privacy while also putting cooperation and community above all other values. So to is it with art--halflings are a very practical people, and the arts are not taught as much as in other cultures, and yet halflings agree that art is valuable and are responsible for much of the innovation in all artistic fields going back centuries. Therefore, halfling art is a highly specialized field, one that demands technical mastery before proceeding to innovation. As a result, halfling artists are relatively few, but they are immensely talented. Halfling paintings are currently in a period of radical reimagination of what it means to depict something or someone, and increasingly abstract approaches to this question have dominated the field. Halfling sculpture, which has always been the least pursued visual art among halflings with little natural experience working with stone, have taken to forming a new tradition by carving interlocking pieces of different types of stone to create natural colorizing. The purest halfling art is music, and the creation of musical instruments which are visually beautiful as well has become a serious trend among instrument makers and musicians alike.
Fame is seen as an asset by halflings in that it can be leveraged to support oneself and gain independence, but because of the fierce equality of halfling society, it does not grant social superiority; this is to say that halflings pursue success more than fame, but they don't resist it either. Famous halfling artists include painter Carmine Sunshine, whose most recent works have combined what he sees from multiple perspectives as well as with one eye closed, looking through a mirror, and other traits that complicate the viewing; Silas Greenmoss, whose sculptures of animals have such vivid colors and realism that they can be mistaken for the real thing; and instrument maker Adrianne Lowcloud, whose stringed instruments are always custom-made to match the personality of the musician (Lowcloud spends considerable time with the musicians before designing their pieces).
Curagon has no government and therefore no official civic buildings like museums, but many halfling communities have dedicated spaces for the display and performance of art. Engagement with the community in this way is more meaningful to halfling artists, though some artists from other cultures have been hesitant to display their works in such unofficial settings. Among notable works currently displayed in halfling communities are Olivia Redsnake's mural of Yondalla, depicting the goddess in various roles helping the community; Geoffrey Lighthand's dulcimer played by Bertha Bigby in her final show before entering seclusion to write more; and the work of Reyna Sailcloth, who created a small orchestra's worth of instruments from discarded items, allowing musicians to come together and play without cost.
There you have it--a guide to the visual art of my homebrew setting. I'm not going to lie, reader--this one was tough. Like I said up top, I am just not super well-versed in visual art. That made coming up with a lot of material for this article pretty tough. I also needed to come up with a lot of names, and since my normal strategy is to use my NPC database but I've also promised myself to always generate new content here, that was another challenge. But I kept coming back to it. If I didn't have a whole system for order of release on these guides, I would have taken a break and written something else, which is totally fine. As long as you eventually come back to it, keep giving your effort, you'll get there. And I have to say--I realized as I wrote this that I would be totally screwed if my players ever chose to go to a museum. I would have stammered, said, "There's some paintings and I guess sculptures and stuff," and tried to move on. But now, I can give about as much information as my players will want. I'll admit that's an unlikely scenario, but I do think that it still helped me to understand my world better, and that's always a win.
That's all for now. Coming soon: why it's better to make something unique and bad than copied and good, how to get into your GM's story, and friendship in my homebrew setting. Until next time, happy gaming!
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