Welcome to the first Fine Art Friday here at the Labyrinthine Library. Consider this something of a weekly revolving gallery and discussion group on all things artistic. The impetus for this regular feature was an article on webcomics that was, I feel, unfairly critical of how a number of webcomic artist chose to present their work. That article’s conclusion? That if you can’t draw at the level of a Kirby or a McFarlane then you should hire a “professional” artist to draw your comic for you.
I feel that is, to be bluntly honest, a big, stinking load of bull hockey.
That is why we, here at the Library, will be hosting Fine Art Friday, where we will look at different modes of artistic expression and why each of them is, or isn’t, art.*
For the inaugural presentation, without further ado, I give to you the great Murloc Holmes, by Pikestaff.
“Ah, are these the villain’s tracks?”
“Indeed they are, Mr. Holmes.”
“Hoofprints? This rules out most races except draenei and tauren, but it’s most unlikely that a tauren would travel this far. Besides, here and here we see traces of moth dust found only in Azuremyst Isle. Now we can further deduce from his tracks that this villain moved around a lot, although it wasn’t to back up, rather, it was to get closer. This indicates that he is a melee class–”
“Or an uninformed hunter?”
“Unlikely, Watson. I see no animal prints or feathers.”
“A… fantastically uninformed hunter?”
“Very doubtful. As you can see, the surrounding ground is charred by holy fire…”
“A paladin?”
“Quite.”
“Brilliant, Murloc Holmes!”
“Elementary.”
The first major critera of art is that it must serve a purpose; that purpose doesn’t always have to be deep or far reaching, but it must have a purpose. Sometimes that purpose is to make the viewer think, sometimes it is to convey the artist’s views, sometimes it is bold and in your face, sometimes it is extremely subtle. There are times that the purpose is simply to record a moment in time, be it a moment of importance or nothing more than a moment of beauty captured forever before it is lost to time.
What is the purpose of Murloc Holmes you might ask. Murloc Holmes makes the viewer smile.
It isn’t some deep or far reaching. You don’t have to be a Holmesian scholar to appreciate it, or be a longtime Warcraft player to see the humor in it. Murloc Holmes is simple play on words that gave birth to a creative bit of parody art. Murloc Holmes might never hang in an art gallery anywhere in the world, but if he has made people smile, brightened a day or two along the way, then he has served his purpose.
On behalf of the Library I would like to thank Pikestaff for giving her permission for her art to be the first presented for Fine Art Friday, and I hope that everyone will join us again for next Friday’s exhibition, Mars: The Spice Must Flow.
*As always, this is in the sole estimation of the Librarian, and you are free to agree or disagree. That’s what the comments are for, after all.
Labyrinthine Library 
Aww, I’m glad you liked him! :D