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When Art Fails to Intersect Life - An Exercise in Nitpickery

Ashrem

Oh Wise One
When art violates the rules of perspective (and even the laws of nature), it creates an uncomfortable illusion. Some artists violate perspective deliberately, Escher being the most noticeable. The new backdrop violate both rules of perspective and nature, and apparently by accident

Wide, pale, sandy beaches are the result of salty water and tides, which inundate the soil twice a day, pounding it and bleaching it until little is left but faded grains of the very hardest rocks (mostly variations on granite).

Palm trees are successful because they have evolved to occupy a niche that few other plants inhabit. They are efficient at removing salt from water, and so grow exclusively in areas that are wet with salt water and in salty soil (i.e., very close to the ocean)

At the back (top left) of our cities, to the left of the rocky-cliff down to the spire island, we have palm trees growing (apparently) many feet above the ocean, in a thin layer of soil on top of a rocky cliff. Behind them, we have out of focus mountains and wide, light, sandy beaches, implying a substantial distance down to the ocean (apparently hundreds of feet).

At the front of our cities we have more palm trees and light sandy beaches, plus a giant shell which appears to be of deep-ocean origin. There is also a giant rock, with no evidence of where it came from, and possibly perched on a tiny cliff with sand inland of it, implying mysterious high-altitude sand of random origin.

On the left of our city, more sandy beaches (implying ocean) (but at least no palm trees), deciduous trees growing right up to the water (implying fresh water), but a pile of giant clams, implying deep salt water.

On the back right of out cities, a slight slope down to what appears to be a third different level of ocean.

At the far right are a series of bridged-chasms, which appear to be at a lower altitude than the front ocean, without any water in them.

I'm pretty sure that the first three beaches are strewn with the shells of giant clams, or brightly painted, curved, surf-boards, but, again, either implies that we are seeing three salt-water beaches.

Overall, it looks to me like they either imposed crazy rules on the artists, or let go most of the artists that actually try to be professional about their work.

(Edit: because someone will bring up the other types of palms: These are all clearly coconut palms, not the other kinds of palms that grow in jungle and temperate areas.)
 
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Ashrem

Oh Wise One
I'll grant your every point, but counter with: I have fairies in my city. Our rules of nature do not apply o_O
I'll counter that fairies don't create disorientation. There are all kinds of art forms which deliberately mess with perspective. This does not add something specific to the image, and seems cheap an accidental.

And I did say it was going to be nitpickery.
 

shimmerfly

Well-Known Member
Yep palms.:p...There are some other palms that grow on river beds and are not coconut palms. ( I don't see any coconuts in these). Cabbage palms also look like that.
Could it possibly be a huge fresh water lake? Clams will also live in fresh or brackish water.
There seems to be a strange tidal pool or swampy area bottom left that doesn't fit either
Perspective is goofy but it is the artists prerogative to paint what they want you to see... what that is is a mystery.
It's almost like 3 different artists did this in a hurry?
I just like the change. I'm tired of the all green background.
I'll take the tea with Soggy and Tedious on the beach.
 

Ashrem

Oh Wise One
Yep palms.:p...There are some other palms that grow on river beds and are not coconut palms. ( I don't see any coconuts in these). Cabbage palms also look like that.
Cabbage palms have a bulbous canopy, which looks a bit like a cabbage on a stick. Those not cabbage palms. Because of variation, you might find one-or two like that in a large area, not a whole bunch of them
 

Pheryll

Set Designer
Cabbage palms have a bulbous canopy, which looks a bit like a cabbage on a stick. Those not cabbage palms. Because of variation, you might find one-or two like that in a large area, not a whole bunch of them

If the oddity is seeing a plant that has the appearance of one plant and the properties of another plant that is somewhat similar in appearance, you might want to consider fairies having a mixed appearance of human and insect and certain properties of both. Weird combinations of A and B are precisely what permeates in fantasy environments.
 

Ashrem

Oh Wise One
If the oddity is seeing a plant that has the appearance of one plant and the properties of another plant that is somewhat similar in appearance, you might want to consider fairies having a mixed appearance of human and insect and certain properties of both. Weird combinations of A and B are precisely what permeates in fantasy environments.
Again, fairies are not about perspective. Including recognizable artifacts in an image, like palm trees, beach umbrellas, giant shells, and grass huts, is about developing perspective. It orients our brains to identify the surroundings as something specific. The previous scenery conjured images of ancient mines and temperate forests (no tillandsia or vines, or bright caloured flowers int he forest to make us think tropical, and no conifers to make us think far north). Occasional snow or autumn leaves contributed to establishing that locations and prepared us for autumn and winter activities. Giant coloured eggs were yet another fantasy component, opening us to strange experience.

If there is some thematic aspect of the mermaid event that is to be enhanced by having an echeresque world of distorted perspectives then the multi-level sea-side beaches are perfectly reasonable. Otherwise, they are a careless bolting-on of images without the same level of thought that went into previous backgrounds. Elvenar is about art. The current background is below their usual art standards.
 

shimmerfly

Well-Known Member
Maybe it was 'bring your kid to work' day and they handed them the brushes.
"Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known" ~Oscar Wilde
But for those who don't like it...
images
 

rvtdragon1

Well-Known Member
Well, I will certainly agree with all that Ashrem has said. But, let's look at it this way:

Perhaps, Enar, Eldrasil,Kirit, Krarak (?) and all the other Gods & Goddesses of Elvenar gave special permission to the Goddess of the Sea to come in and make some changes in order to prepare us for her coming arrival in our cities. The rules of order and nature have been relaxed so that the palm trees and beaches would make her feel a little bit at home.

But, it would be nice if we could see the entire background that is seen in Beta. (Giant Turtle.)
 

Gath Of Baal

Well-Known Member
The rules of order and nature have been relaxed so that the palm trees and beaches would make her feel a little bit at home.

My city is land locked on the World Map, my people were thirsty and my land was dead since there is no water on the world map, no lakes, no rivers, no creeks etc.. I look at my city and lands now that it has rained and is flooded with salt water.. The beaches are a product of my land being so dry to begin with :) whatever sea llfe there is in the water has to have evolved overnight.... yeah that's it :p they took away my source of fresh water, the waterfalls I had in my city :( and they tore down the statues my people had built in the name of the old gods to thank them for the fresh water that only flowed through my city, since again all maps by my surveyors showed no other water source in the lands
 
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