How Fantasy Ar t has

Evolved.
Artistry is an innate distrust of the theory of reality concocted by the five

senses.

~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

The topic for this dissertation has been chosen to give aspiring concept artists a lead into the world

of fantasy art. With many games being based in a fantasy universe understanding how fantasy art

has evolved over time is a key area to understand. By understanding how fantasy art has evolved

one can understand why certain themes are looked for.

This study intends to explore how fantasy art has evolved. It is also intended to explore what

factors could possibly have influenced this evolution. To best explore this evolution and to fully

investigate what could have caused the shift an insight into Art History will be used. This will

include researching throughly into Orientalist and Art Nouveau movements, as both introduce key

themes that are now present in Fantasy Artwork of today. It is also planned for research to be

carried out on how this evolution of Fantasy Art impacts on the game design industry.

Over time Fantasy Art has changed in many ways. Female clothing has become more revealling

with strong references to the Art Nouveau and usage of 'the tease' to lure the user in. This is a

distinct move away from the strapping male hero in armour on a white steed that was predominant

in early fantasy art movements. This partially reflects a change in the females role in the world.

This has also been a shift in the depiction of females in art since the Orientalist art movement.
 "The artist gazes upon a reality and creates his own impression.
The viewer gazes upon the impression and creates his own reality. "
~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

The objective of this project is to fully explore how Fantasy Art has evolved from armour clad

heroes fighting off threats such as powerful dragons, to scantily clad females utilising super

powers.

This study aims to explore how Fantasy Art has evolved over the years, and what has influenced

this change. This will include the change in attitude towards females, and their acceptable attire,

to whether the rise of video games have pushed this change.

The study also aims to research further into how the scantily clad female character has gone from

being the evil character (seen as a temptress, seducer etc) to a good character (a white mage

or wizard etc).

Another area that will be researched is how Chinese and Japanese art has influenced the style of

clothing worn by female and male characters alike, and how Fantasy Art in the cultures previously

listed has changed over the years if at all.

Areas that are aimed to be covered in research to be able to answer the question is how Modern

Pop culture displays women, and if this has altered how females are portrayed in fantasy art. This

also leads onto researching into whats led the change in female depiction. To further this research
based aim various areas of art history will be looked into.

Finally it is aimed that research will be done on whether the change in how females are portrayed

is mainly male based, or if there has been some feminine role played in this change – or whether

female fantasy artists have had to adapt to be able to match their male counterparts more

effectively.
 " T he aim of ar t is to r epr esent not the outwar d appear ance of

things, but their inwar d significance. "

Aristotle

I have created a large amazon list of books I feel would be suitable to use as a research starting

point. These include but are not limited to:

• Worlds of Final Fantasy – by Yoshitaka Amano

• Myth and Magic: the Art of John Howe – by Peter Jackson

• John Howe: Artbook – by Daniel Quelle

• Gothic Fantasies: The Paintings of Anne Sudworth – by Anne Sudworth

• Shadowline: The Art of Iain McCraig – by Iain McCraig

• Parting the Veil: The Art of Nene Thomas

Articles covering this on the web include

• http://www.fantasyarts.net/fahistory.html Fantasy Art History

• http://www.elfwood.com/farp/history/history.html Essay on the History of Fantasy

Art

• http://petesimon.blogspot.com/2009/07/fantasy-art-then-and-now.html < Fantasy Art

Then and Now

 • http://www.articlesbase.com/art-articles/fantasy-art-a-history-1601391.html Fantasy

Art a History

To continue on with my research, and to find more books to add to the book list that will plan to

research into the Art Nouveau period as well as research into the Orientalist Art Movement with

emphasis on the Odalisque. I feel that these sources will give me even more information on the

subject, as well as a source as to where fantasy art started to depict females more evocatively.

Other areas to be researched into is Surrealism – focusing mainly around the work of Salvador

Dali.

Following up on my research plans further research into articles that could be of use have been

found. There have also been more books found. These include:

• http://www.wmich.edu/dialogues/texts/orientalism.htm Orientalism

• http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Orientalism.html

• http://www.questia.com/read/103815849?title=Surrealism%20and%20the%20Exotic

• http://www.buzzle.com/articles/surrealism-of-salvador-dali.html

Books to be added to the research list are:

 • Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient – Edward W. Said

• Orientalism in Art – Christine Peltre

• Surrealism (The World's Greatest Art) – Micheal Robinson

• Surrealism (Movements in Modern Art series) – Fiona Bradley

• Surrealism (Taschen Basic Art Series) – Cathrin Klinsor Leroy

To complete this dissertation the following steps will be taken

1. Questions will be raised that will cause further exploration into the opening statement

2. Indepth Research will be done through a variety of sources. These include but are not

limited to:

1. The books and articles listed, it is hoped that these sources will expand during

the process of research

2. Video interviews at game related events to gather other peoples views – this

includes events like London MCM Expo.

3. Discussion with other class members to gain their insight into the topic at hand

4. Research into modern pop culture to discover and display another catalyst as to

the change in how females are portrayed, and the general trend of how females

are portrayed.

3. The understanding gained by research will then be applied to answer the questions raised

earlier in the dissertation

4. By means of discussion these answers will be validated through further research to ensure

that the answers found are valid and suited to answer the initial opening statement.

5. The points raised and answered will be summarised in a conclusion, that aims to give an

overview