Mariella Hunt's Blog, page 42

Review: My Name is Rapunzel by KC Hilton

On my quest for faery tale retellings, I stumbled upon My Name Is Rapunzel.

The book title drew me in first. Everyone knows the tale of the girl locked in the tower, the girl with hair so long it could be used to climb to her window.

As far as retellings go, this novel is fantastic. It’s creative and gives Rapunzel a personality.

It tells the story of how a witch named Gretta cursed Rapunzel on the night the prince proposed to her. After the curse, she lives with her mother and father for the duration of their lives, because she herself never ages. As far as she knows, she’ll live forever preserved as a beautiful young woman, but the witch cursed her so she’ll spend this life alone.

It’s her father who puts her in the castle once he senses his time is nearly up. He wants to leave her behind in a secure place, one as happy as he can manage given the circumstances; the catch is that she must live with Gretta.

Picture it: An ugly old witch and a beautiful young woman, both doomed to eternal life frozen in those forms. And they hate each other.

Time creeps by. Soon electricity and the Internet arrive at Rapunzel’s castle. This was my favorite part, watching her adapt to the world as it changed and generations passed.

Finally it is the twenty-first century, and Rapunzel finds a newspaper column where a journalist is making fun of her story, saying faery tales are not true. Rapunzel, of course, is angry to have her struggle waved away; she writes to the journalist and, letter by letter, tells her story.

That’s when things get interesting; could she take a chance and love again?

My Name is Rapunzel left me an emotional wreck. We feel for Rapunzel and want what’s best for her. What I liked about this retelling is that towards the end, we almost feel she’s our friend.

If you like faery tales, this book is a must. It’s now one of my favorites!

Filed under: Book Reviews Tagged: book review, faery tale retelling, kc hilton, literature,

Review: The Elite by Kiera Cass

The short version of this review goes something like UGH WHY. I NEED MORE.

Here’s the formal version:

Many girls dream of being princess at some point. In Kiera Cass’s popular series, there is a competition going on to marry the prince and win the crown. I joined the fandom late, falling hopelessly for the first book, BUT…

The Elite left me reeling.

I find myself in an awkward position as a loyal reader: I love the Selection series, but I do not love the main character, America Singer.

Something about this book kept me reading regardless to how angry it made me. The Elite has a vivid, magical feel, as if someone took a classic faery tale and dropped it in an explosive dystopian universe.

I loved the first book more than I liked The Elite, but still couldn’t put this book down.

If you don’t like spoilers, stop reading now. Here’s why The Elite made me so angry.

America’s finding it impossible to decide whether she wants Prince Maxon or her ex-boyfriend, Aspen. Yet she does stupid things out of jealousy when Maxon notices her keeping a distance. She can’t stand to see Maxon talk to the other girls in the palace, girls who are only there because she won’t tell him she loves him. Literally in the first chapter he offers to put an end to the whole Selection process and choose her. It’s like she brought all this pain on herself, but she’s blaming other people.

Perhaps I kept reading because I like Maxon. He’s got the broken soul of someone whose life has always been dictated by his mother and father. He wants someone to love him, but since the person he loves has pushed him away, he’s lost and seeking affection from other people. He would do anything for America if she would only show she’d do the same.

It takes forever for her to change her mind. America waits until things get really, really bad before she realizes she’s being an idiot.

By the end of the book I’m not so much rooting for America to win as I am for Maxon to be happy, and I feel like it’s for his sake that I’m devouring the next book. He deserves happiness. Aspen just annoyed me.

Even though I put down The Elite with such mixed feelings, I find I still love this series and I need to know how it ends. Something about the Selection books keeps me engrossed despite how much America bugs me. I hope that she’s learned her lesson and will make wiser decisions in The One; so many people are counting on her to be queen and make a difference. Because she’s from one of the lower castes, she’s a favorite among them. She knows what it’s like to be poor, and this is her chance to do something about it.

Readers who didn’t like The Selection won’t like The Elite, but people hopelessly hooked like I am will keep reading till the end. It’s hard to find a series with the magic and pull to do that. This is a love-it-or-hate-it series, and even though I kind of want to throw the book at America’s head right now, I love the series.

Find my review of The Selection here. And now I’m off to find my copy of The One, because thankfully I have the boxed set.

Filed under: Book Reviews Tagged: book review, kiera cass, reading, the selection

Searching for a Writing Buddy

Writing is most often portrayed as a solitary activity. Most people hear writer and picture a grumpy introvert poring over their manuscript in a dimly lit room, draining cups of coffee and filling wastebaskets with work they don’t like.

It’s the romantic image of the focused artist, but the truth is, most of us aren’t like that; we find different ways to put our stories to paper.

While the action of writing itself is often done in quiet places (with lots of coffee,) that’s a surprisingly small part of the storytelling process. If you look at the big picture, writing can’t be done alone. Critique partners are necessary to ensure our stories are good and that we aren’t blinded by our bias as authors.

Writing buddies aren’t only around for critique. Anyone who’s been through the challenge of writing a book knows how discouraging it can be; often we need peers around us to keep us going.

Maybe you don’t have any friends who like to write. What should you do?

Fortunately, the Internet makes it incredibly easy to find other writers and build long-lasting friendships. Through Facebook groups and Twitter chats, we work on our novels together and give advice to one another.

I wouldn’t have gotten very far if I tried being that writer with the dark room and coffee. We need to interact with other writers. It’s important to get beta readers, letting fresh eyes look over our manuscripts so we can make our books great.

Perhaps you’re intimidated by the thought of wading through the Internet in search of a writing circle, but you just need to know where to look.

The NaNoWriMo group on Facebook is a great place to start. With over 20,000 members interested in countless genres, you’re bound to find someone to cheer you on if you want to write that novel. Members can be found all over the world, and the group is very active, even when it’s not November.

The #AmWriting hashtag on Twitter connects people who write, allowing us to live-tweet during the process. Twitter can be a thousand shades of scary if you don’t know how to use it, but here’s a list of hashtags for writers to check out.

Look for groups that are active and friendly; then, all you have to do is interact! Don’t be shy. Before long, you’ll have built your own circle of writing friends to make the writing process easier and give moral support.

Writing involves a lot of introspection; yes, the act of putting pen to paper may be solitary. But not every writer is the same. Some of us need interactive word wars to make progress, or create music playlists for our projects.

Find what works for you and go make writing friends to cheer you on!

Filed under: Writing Tagged: critique, facebook, twitter, writing, writing buddies, writing tips

Cover Reveal: Sworn by Kate Sparkes

Not every fairy tale ends with “happily ever after.”

The plan was simple: Find Ulric, the lost king of Tyrea, then return him to Luid to reclaim his throne and depose the tyrant who stole it from him. With the country free, Aren, Rowan, and Nox would finally be able to leave their pasts behind and seek out their futures. But though they accomplished the first part of their task, the rest is proving to be more complicated than any of them imagined.

Severn won’t give up his throne without a fight. Worse, it seems Ulric did not fare as well during his years in captivity as he’s led everyone to believe—and Rowan may not have escaped unscathed, either.

If Nox doesn’t find a cure for the king’s mysterious ailment, Aren will be forced to challenge Severn for the crown. It’s a battle Aren has little hope of winning. And if he does, it will cost him the love and the freedom he’s fought so hard to gain.

About the Author

Kate Sparkes wears many hats—so many, in fact, that she frequently becomes lost under them. She’s a professional author and an amateur wife and mom, a semi-pro dragon watcher (assuming good intentions count for something), and experienced pursuer of random dreams and hobbies.

You can find her at her website, http://www.katesparkes.com (where you can also sign up for her newsletter and get free stories), or the following spots:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/katesparkesauthor

Twitter: @kate_sparkes

Instagram: @kate.sparkes

Blog: http://www.disregardtheprologue.com

Bound (Bound Trilogy Book One) is on sale for 99 cents for the ebook! This sale will only last until December 5, so be sure to grab a copy. Now is the perfect time to start the story and catch up in time for the stunning conclusion.

Filed under: Cover Reveals Tagged: books, bound trilogy, cover reveal, kate sparkes, literature, reading

Cover Reveal: Hello, Handsome by Caity H.

Happy December! I’m excited to participate in the cover reveal for Hello, Handsome–written by a friend of mine and sequel to Hello, Honeybee! I’ll be reviewing Hello, Honeybee soon; if you want to check it out, it’s available here!

Blurb:

Honeybee and Lex are back and ready to rock this sequel business.

When we first met Olivia (nicknamed Honeybee) and Lex, we heard the story from Olivia’s point of view. But that all stops today! Lex Diamond is taking over the narration.  Say hello to Handsome.

Our “will they or won’t they” couple starts the book on the verge of adulthood. You read that right, ladies and gents. Lex Diamond is going to college. But, he will soon realize that moving out is not as freeing as he’d hoped. College means more homework, more intense soccer practices, and way more heart-to-hearts about his love life than he’s used to.

Despite the fact that everyone around him seems to be saying Honeybee is the one for him, Lex can’t see it. It might take a blow to the face for him to finally see what everyone else does, and even then, what if he’s too late?

Join Lex in the next phase of his life, as he struggles to balance his new responsibilities as narrator. Watch him flounder around other women, help bandage him up after a beating, and cross your fingers as he navigates his relationship with Honeybee. He’ll need all the luck he can get.

About the Author:

Caity H is a twenty-something writer, living on a steady diet of homework and good tunes. In her spare time, she likes to procrastinate and binge watch TV shows. Writing is also high on her list of “favorite things to do.” If you want to follow this rad chick, her social media links are listed below. She posts funny things sometimes. Promise.

Follow her on Facebook and Twitter. To find all her books, visit her Amazon page!

Filed under: Cover Reveals Tagged: Caity H, cover reveal, Hello Handsome, Hello Honeybee, literature, reading

Review: Switched by Amanda Hocking

I had a full volume edition of the Trylle trilogy sitting on my TBR shelf for years. A beautiful and thick volume, I really don’t know why it took me so long to dive in. When I finally got to reading the book, I devoured all three installments!

In the trilogy, we follow Wendy Everly. In the first book, Switched, she is seventeen and has a really hard time fitting in at school and with life in general. She’s always been different from other people, never made any friends, had trouble finding her place in the world—because it turns out she’s not from our world.

Wendy’s a Changeling, switched with a human child by the Trylle (a tribe of “trolls” who are more like faeries than trolls we think when we hear the word.) She’s not just any Changeling, though; she’s the daughter of the Trylle queen, Elora, and is one day going to inherit the kingdom.

When she is found by Finn, a tracker sent to bring back Changelings from the human world, she’s taken to the equivalent of a Trylle palace. She is now living a life of luxury, preparing to one day be queen—which means changing her behavior and how she sees the world.

She learns about Trylle history, society, tradition, even their powers. For example, Wendy has the power of persuasion; if she concentrates hard enough, she can make a human do what she wants without saying a word.

Although at times I found it hard to figure out the ages of the characters, I very much enjoyed the story. It had a light, faery-tale feel to it; the writing is not difficult to read, and its pace is ideal. These books are page-turners, but I think Switched was the best; in this book, we are getting to know Wendy and learning about this new world with her.

I found myself drawn to her personal conflict; her “host mother,” the one who was supposed to have raised her, tried to kill her as a child, thinking she was a monster. That woman, Kim, wound up in a mental institution for it, but she knew all along that Wendy wasn’t her child, because when she was pregnant the ultrasounds said her child would be a boy.

Later when Wendy meets her real mother, Elora, she finds a cold and stern woman who seems incapable of affection. Wendy feels alone and unwanted by the most important person in her life, who for most of the first book judges her, making her feel inadequate. She finds company with her new Trylle friends, but misses her “host brother” Matt and her aunt Maggie, the only two people who treated her like family.

I read Switched twice in order to review it properly. The second time I was moved by Wendy’s story just as much as the first. As a whole, the Trylle series will remain one of my favorites; it’s not a heavy read, and it’s one that touches our hearts. We want to see Wendy happy. We sympathize with her, rooting for her to the very end.

Though Switched was my favorite, all the books should be read in order so you can immerse yourself in the world of Forening. It was lovely to experience this faery tale, one vivid and thorough that made me want more the moment I finished.

If you like faery tales, read the Trylle series. It’s a must for anyone who’s interested in folklore, Changelings, trolls, and faeries!

Filed under: Book Reviews Tagged: Amanda Hocking, book review, literature, reading, Trylle

Guest Post: A Little Bit of Everything Gets You Nowhere

Jack of All Trades, master of none, that’s how it goes. Right? How do we know what our calling is when we have so many?

I studied Fine Art in college. I focused on painting. But I never find myself able to commit to any one idea.

When I moved to Germany, my new group of friends asked me about my art all the time because that’s how we had met, through art. I knew enough to never admit you’re an artist because that’s a really arrogant thing to do. But I meant it.  I’m not an artist.

Artists have passion for their work, and me? I’ll work if you threaten me, or give me really pretty male models to work with. I can still remember a time after picking my major where I sat and thought, what did I do? I have two artist friends who I consider close, no matter where they live. Both are artists at their very core. One of them, listened to me talk about just why I’m not an artist.

“I know how to come up with nice compositions, and I know color theory backwards and forwards, and I know how to get good grades in art school,” I told him “But I don’t have a passion for it, and if I have something to say, I’d rather use my writing to get the points across.” I felt oddly respected by my good pal after we had that conversation. He told me that’s fine, and that he appreciated that I could say that about myself. When I told my other friend the same, he just told me I didn’t work enough. I didn’t work on my art enough.

So what’s the story. Does passion inspire work or does work breed passion?

I thought I had passion because I wanted to see my characters on canvas. The Jack of All Trades in me half assed the work I could have been doing in university because the passion was displaced. I find myself doing things like this all the time. The next project for me is sculpting BJD Dolls and taking commissions for other writer’s characters. Let’s hope for the best.

But even now, my passions are slipping and sliding all over the place.  I’m finishing up a manuscript based on characters I’ve loved for years. My darlings. But I keep finding more and more projects to fulfill my time.

I’m curating a book of short stories called Crows on Heartstrings and am completely immersed with corralling the artists and writers, talking about the business behind marketing and selling a book, trying to find funding, talking about the layout and cover. Does that mean I am meant to be a curator rather than a writer? I’m not giving my book the attention it deserves and I feel like I’m not doing anything of any importance with it.

The answer is no. I don’t think that by being a bit of a Jack of All Trades I’m sacrificing the integrity of one project over another.

Learn to distinguish between the excitement of a new project and true passion. It’s easy to get distracted with shiny new toys disguised as new projects. It’s okay to be passionate about more than one new idea. Please, keep those juices flowing and keep sharing your creativity in whichever means it chooses to manifest.

The only thing you need to remember is to finish what you started. If you find yourself drifting off as I am, remind yourself just why you loved your project in the first place. Don’t be afraid of scrapping everything and starting again. But, be wary of the infinite loop of perfectionism. Don’t settle for a little bit of everything. Don’t stop until you’ve completely indulged yourself in everything and reveled in the success of finishing all your projects as they come.

For me, I want to be a writer. I want to write stories and bring characters to life. I do that most comfortably with writing. But being a Jack of All Trades, if I can call myself that, has forced me to see the world in a more well rounded manner. If anything, it enhances my work.

Aubrey Meeks is a writer, editor, and for lack of a better word, artist, from New York City. She is currently working on the (hopefully) final draft of her manuscript Archer and the Lust Boys for #NaNoWriMo2015 keep updated with her progress with her on twitter @aubreymeeksart.

Crows on Heartstrings, her next project, is a collection of short stories featuring 13 artists illustrating 13 doomed love stories. Keep posted with all her work on aubreymeeksart.com!

 

Filed under: Guests Tagged: art, Aubrey Meeks, Crows on Heartstrings, guest post, writing

Learning to Love Your Writing

As creatives, we never seem to be finished with our projects. Most writers find it difficult to read their work after publication, because we are harsh critics. It doesn’t matter how many times people tell us they enjoyed the story–we always find something in our work to criticize.

I found that to be the case with Dissonance. For most of the summer after publishing, I was unable to look at the story. Five years of rewriting improved the book, but also had a negative effect: I failed to see its positive qualities. I had to be forced to quit editing and move on.

There’s good news, though: Time fixes that.

Yesterday I picked up my novel and read it one more time. I needed to refresh my memory to prepare for revising the sequel in December. I still found things I’d scrupulously change, but also saw improvement.

My writing has gotten better in the six months since releasing Dissonance. I spent my summer reading and writing, getting critique from peers, investing time and energy to grow in the craft.

Dissonance isn’t perfect, but today I can finally say I like it. I know book two, Serenade, will be better–because we’re always improving in our art. This was my first novel and I’m happy with the effort I put in it.

I look forward to one day reading the series and seeing my own progress.

That’s the great thing about art: We are constantly improving. We practice until someday we become a “favorite author,” or even make the New York Times. Those things might be fun, but I think what’s important is that we’re satisfied with our own effort.

We must find the ability to smile at our manuscript and show it off with pride.

Again: Time helps with this. I fell in love with my first book because I moved on and started a new one. I took my mind off Dissonance long enough for it to change from work-in-progress in my eyes and become a book. If I’d spent these months staring at Dissonance and not writing new stories, how could I see my progress?

It’s impossible not to be your own critic, but don’t dwell all the time on how you could be better. Instead, reward yourself for the things you’ve accomplished and go work on something else.

I learned this year that only through practice will I grow in confidence and start to really love my stories. Dissonance is only my first book, and in ten years I’ll be so much better! But I won’t dwell on that. Instead, I’ll enjoy the experience of writing, telling stories in a way only I can.

How do you handle moments when your writing feels awful, despite all the revisions? How do you value and embrace the process of improving in your art form?

Filed under: Writing Tagged: Dissonance, writing, writing tips

Review: Blood and Water by Briana Morgan

In this fast paced and appropriately sickening novel, London has been struck by a plague—people cough up blood to their deaths. Our main character, Jay, finds himself in a dreadful situation: He’s fallen ill but managed to keep it a secret to not worry his sister.

But his plans to keep what little peace that remains in their household are shattered when he finds out his sister’s sick, too. They have both fallen ill with this plague that took their parents, and no one knows a cure. There are only speculations that a doctor in France can help them.

Speculation is not much, but they have nothing else to cling to; along with two of their close friends, they make a journey to France on foot in search of the cure, leaving behind everything they’ve ever known. It’s all been tainted with bad memories, anyway.

It’s a heart-racing journey in which we see Jay struggle with his fear for Maia’s health, his dread for the future, but to make matters worse he has developed a crush on his best friend’s girlfriend. The fact she’s traveling with them adds a layer of awkwardness to their situation, awkwardness and more tension.

How do you speak to your best friend after you kissed his girlfriend?

Blood and Water was a fantastically thought-out debut novel. Short and powerful, I finished with a racing heart, hurting for the characters who’d lost hope and so much more. With these characters I felt hope rise and then fall, I recoiled with them and closed my eyes in regret.

The ending seemed fitting, though I did not see it coming. Poignant, that last scene will be burned into my memory as one of the best I’ve read. It leaves us asking many questions, but also instills in us a sense of doom.

This book was fast and painful, making me take a deep breath of clean air because I could. Because there was no plague. Because I suffocated with the characters as I read.

Blood and Water earns four stars for drawing me into a genre I don’t usually read. I look forward to more work from this promising young author with a talent for hurting readers’ feelings—a very good talent indeed.

Visit the author at her blog here!

Filed under: Book Reviews, Stray Thoughts Tagged: blood and water, book review, briana morgan

Academy of Media Arts: An Introduction

In the age of technology, art is no longer limited to what we can make with ink on paper. That sketch in your journal can be brought to life using the computer; however, we tend to define digital art as limited. Few people want to be trapped behind the screen of a monitor, learning complicated tools.

The Academy of Media Arts exists to challenge that stereotype, encouraging us to try a new form of creation, making the most of powers given to us by progress.

Watching the online workshop videos, I realized it was not a limiting process. No, they encourage you to go outside. It surprised me because, like many others, the words digital art made me think of hours glued to a laptop, combing through coding and cursing the wi-fi.

The Academy of Media Arts encourages you to take your imagination outside, letting it run through the woods. Later you capture what you find in a bold piece of 3D art.

You aren’t bound to your computer the whole time.

I asked educational and project coordinator Syd Wachs to describe their mission in a paragraph–and she replied with three words. It made me realize that the idea is simple and precise, but also full of magic we can all learn to use.

Q: In a paragraph, describe your mission.

A: To sum it up in 3 words: ARTISTS LEADING TECHNOLOGY.

To sum it up in a paragraph: We are a production-based media training school that harnesses visual design and emerging digital technologies. Think of us as a trade school for learning and developing skills and talents used in practically every industry today. This said, we take our craft seriously, regarding it not just as typical classroom learning, but integrating it with internationally renowned studios and clients for real-world projects. Creative exploration is what we LOVE to see!

Expanding on both: Going back to the ‘Artists leading technology’ motto, we are fully people-centered. We believe you are a working professional in the creative industry, whether you are right now or not. (Ponder this.) Our desire is to INSPIRE and EQUIP you personally to make international connections and grow your business and skill sets – as well as incorporate these skills and expanded knowledge into your classroom, whether you’re a student or teacher.

We empower creative entrepreneurs – that’s what creativity is: paving new paths! So many creatives settle for working under people their whole lives and put their own creativity on the back burner. Don’t get me wrong – that’s not all bad! We need people to work under people, and that’s where many people thrive. But we also encourage people to not conform themselves into the ‘employee’ image. ‘Inspiring creative entrepreneurs.’ We are propelling forward a creative hub that everyone will recognize.

Q: The videos were filmed at beautiful locations in New Zealand. Do you think nature the ideal place to create something “modern” like 3D art? Why?

A: Absolutely! A common misconception is that digital arts are supposed to stay digital. We have online Pinterest boards of inspiration when we all have the ability to walk outside and get inspired. We watch films and read books to take us places as close to physically as possible without moving. Then we get frustrated when we can’t get inspired and recreate the beauty that we see on screens and ads and described in books, etc. Technology is a great thing – but when it rules over the artists, it’s not being used as it was designed to be used. (Hence the ‘Artists leading Technology’ statement to which I keep returning.) 

I’m sitting here in Hong Kong right now, with both cityscapes and vast mountains in front of me. I just came from living outdoors in New Zealand for 5 months while conducting our workshops. I’m from a small town that has historic buildings, and a forest as my backyard. I’ve been both places, absorbed in the Pinterest world and playing touch-me-not with technology, physically immersing myself in real environments. There has to be a happy medium between the two for optimal creation.

A situation I use to illustrate this is: a 3D modeler is digitally sculpting a sword that will be used in a film. The sword is gorgeous and badass and ferocious and all the things people love to see. Yet when it’s incorporated with the character into the film, it looks great, but we viewers feel a tiny bit unsettled about it. Something isn’t quite right. We don’t know anything about swords, but we can tell something is off.

What should have been done: after the digital sculpting, the modeler then brings in a blacksmith who knows the feel of hammering the metal, the weight and balance of swords, the ergonomic shape of the handle. The swordmaker can take one look at the digital sculpt and advise the modeler how to adjust his design so the sword makes total sense in the film.

The swordmaker can’t digitally sculpt, and the modeler can’t physically make a sword. They have to collaborate so the best job possible can be done!

It’s the same way with nature and the digital world. Think about it, visual effects are effective when it recreates reality so it’s believable. Telling a visual story. We’re not impressed with fake stuff – we want to believe something. It’s all based on reality. So how can one recreate reality without understanding it? The way shadows bounce off leaves, or the shape of a nose, or the way an old person hobbles around, it’s all a recreation of what we see all around us, but rarely notice. And that’s something that we are very, very passionate about explaining to people. Our workshops aren’t always inside in studios. We often go outdoors to shoot. To understand nature and lights and shapes and motion in the purest sense.

We recently filmed the second video series, where I’m modeling on the forest floor. The project will be to wrap roots around me like they’re sucking me into the ground. Obviously that wasn’t actually happening, but in order to make the roots believable, we have to match the shadows at that time of day, and the texture of the real and fake roots, and the colours, and see how the roots wrap around other objects in the forest to see how they will wrap around my arms and legs as they drag me down the hill.

Q: Explain what a newcomer would find upon leaving their comfort zone and picking up this new medium. Beyond the videos and computer editing, how will it change the world we see?

A: Based on feedback from our workshops in New Zealand and in Asia, a lot of creators (most of them visual DIY people: painters, dancers, architects, seamstresses, etc) were in creative ruts before our workshops, and came out of that during and afterwards. There was one girl at our 4-week workshop in Gisborne, New Zealand. She’s a musician and sews little pillow creatures and paints and does arts and crafts…that general type thing. This was the first time she ever touched 3D software, and she was terrified in an adrenaline-filled way at first, but at the end realized she was ‘touching’ reality differently. 3D sculpting made her really draw on the knowledge of how things really felt – or how easily one little thing missing, or the slightly-too-narrow curve of the back of her character’s head, made the whole person feel awkward. Instead of confining herself to physically making things, she expanded her creativity to the tangibility of both.

As a painter and writer and someone who grew up without any advanced technology, getting involved with this world of 3D and emerging technologies has expanded myself as well. Because my brain early on wasn’t trained to think in this way, teaching old dogs new tricks has been quite the experience! So my perspective on getting out of my fine-arts comfort zone is similar to the girl I just mentioned – not only does it really make me pay attention to the dimension of objects around me, but makes me watch films, or read books, or look at ads, or even imagine things differently. I see things in a clearer way, a more thorough way. I really understand them as they fully are, and I thought I did before. But 3D work forces me (in the best way) to absorb and pay 100% attention to everything. As a result, I’ve grown to appreciate things and people around me in a difference sense.

I know a girl who is a champion 3D sculptor, having worked for 3D printing companies here in Hong Kong and even at Hasbro. She’s also a fine artist originally, and she did this 3D sculpt series of her (late) dog that were so real (in her trademark stylized way) I could almost touch them. The texture of the hair, the crumpling of the dog’s lips smooshed against the pillow – it was all captured so beautifully. And whereas looking at the sculpt from all angles, I could tell she had done them because of their slightly cartoony style – but even still, the reality of the sculpts made me believe I was actually looking at the real dog. If something digital has that kind of power to make one believe that what they’re looking at is real…that’s incredible.

As I said before, the goal with 3D work is to tell a story visually. The whole foundation of it all is to tell a story. Everything should have a back-story, just like writing a book. Every film has a story; everything in the film is there because of a story. And 3D artists can’t work alone – they need people who are fine artists, or craftsmen (like the sword example), or writers – because the whole purpose is storytelling. And the key to creative expansion is collaboration.

Visit the Academy of Media Arts by checking out their website, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed under: Stray Thoughts