Art of Artesia

## Styles of Art in Artesia

The Fruit Road had a direct influence on the art of Artesia. Different styles from the three regions intermingled along the Fruit Road and those styles were adapted by different artists. Thus, when new art trends start in Artesia, they travel as quickly as merchants do upon the Fruit Road.

The North has a strong history of metal crafts as an art form. They take ore from their land and make decorative weapons or stylized hilts. They also are known for making bronze sculptures, often times depicting knights who have won glorious battles or showing scenes from legend. Bronzes are easy to replicate and it’s not uncommon to see the same bronze in multiple cities. They are also known to make woven tapestries that are functional and design-based. These tapestries often are very heavy in pattern that draws inspiration from floral designs of nature, and are dyed in bright colors from the fruits they trade with the South for. Many tapestries are made for function as well as form, but some families will hang tapestries on walls simply to display their bright colors and intricate designs In Artesia, fabric arts are seen as a fine art in the same light as painting and sculpture.

The South specialized in painting and 2-D design work. Many of their paintings tell stories of victors in the tourneys or heroes from days of old. These paintings are often rendered realistically and in a classical art style. But Artiesians are romantics at heart, and pour their emotion and feelings into their paintings. They depict brutal battles and failures just as often as heroic victories in order to show the breath of human emotion. Recently, a new art style has been growing in popularity in the South that involves painting landscapes and portraits in quick, bright colors. This impressionistic view of the world allows artists to spend more times on the streets, and the colors blend optically instead of physically. The hand of the artist is also more visual in this style of painting, which is a popular idea for Artesians who want their name to be known.

The Central portion of the kingdom has a fine blend of both the North and the South, since they are the first to see the progressions of both other regions. They too value fabric arts, often taking the ideas from tapestry and applying it to embroidery and sewing. Fashion and costumes are very popular and good designers are in high demand. Often these creations are bright and colorful, with designs embroidered into them that show the heart of the person who is meant to wear it. Their paintings and sculpture take on a similar use of bright colors. They often will paint similar themes as the South, but they don’t stick to traditional, classical renderings. They will use a variety of color to express the human emotion and feeling, and portraits will often resemble their subject, but the colors won’t be accurate to real life; rather show what appearance alone cannot. Some artists in the Central region are taking the ideas of impressionism and pushing them further, creating paintings that don’t look like much of anything. One artist in particular claims to paint what he sees in music more than anything else. This movement isn’t as popular with the large names in art, but more and more artists are adapting the ideas to their own works. Sculpture in the central portion of the kingdom is usual a mix between carved marble and bronze work. They often paint their marble in bright colors after completion of the piece.