Month: July 2010

On the Workbench: Faerie Escape Atlanta

Just a quick post tonight as it seems an unexpected workload has been dropped in my lap! Hayley informed me of an interesting little convention in my area called Faerie Escape Atlanta, a new age and mythic themed convention here in the metro Atlanta area! It was just the excuse I needed to use that neglected roll of shiny new leather in the corner of my room to make some fun things to add to my artist alley presence. I already have plenty of art tile pendants, mousepads, and art prints to sell. I thought it time to add something different to fill up my dealer space, which is bigger than I’ve ever had!

A fan on dA suggested making matching masks and bracers out of leather, which really got my brain going! Tree bark masks and bracers with mushrooms growing on them? Climbing ivy? Wings? The possibilities are endless! My muse is in overdrive (oh hello! I’ve missed you)

But first, I’m doing a simple prototype so I don’t spend a lot of time on something only to mess it up since I am a newb at designing armor. I’m basing this first set on my Centurion Mask. I’m also working on leather butterflies to sell as keychains and centerpiece pendants for necklaces.

My progress so far!:
The bracers still need to be buffed with copper paint, which I’m doing tonight before there will be any kind of sleep!

I also had a surprise encounter with a winged visitor to help spur my inspiration:

He’s a lovely Polyphemus moth who was about the size of my palm! I saved him from bees, but didn’t have the heart to add him to my collection. I let him go to live out the rest of his probably short lifespan.
And now back to work with me!

HELP! I Need Ideas!

So, it looks like I’ve bit yet another bullet (I’ve been biting a lot of those lately) and decided to attend Faerie Escape Atlanta as an exhibitor! That means I’ll have a convention every two weeks for at least 3 months starting in August. Possibly more if I find I like the taste of bullets and sign up for more cons in the area to rear my head at.

But I am sitting here stumped on what I’m going to make for the great Faerie Escape! I have my prints and art tile necklaces to sell, of course, but what else? I’d really like to do something fun and faerie/angel/mythic themed, so I’m opening up the doors of inspiration! Let us CREATE!

I’m thinking of doing stuff along these lines:

But I’d like to think of things in a more mythic fantasy theme. Maybe faerie king/queen masks? Celtic knot masks? Leafy masks? More jewelry with leaf and feathers? Butterfly and angel wing necklaces and keychains?

Halp! My mind is all over the place. Would love to hear what you guys would like to see in a mystical fairy/angel theme from me 🙂 So fire away!

Disclaimer: By suggesting an idea, you are of course giving me permission to play with that idea however I see fit. I’ll credit where I can, but I can’t promise royalties. This is just casual fun brainstorming session, not an attempt to make a corporate enterprise.

Guest Post – When We Were Young…

My final guest post at Eventide Unmasked (for now!).
This week’s topic: What were you writing when you were young? Remembering the joy and staying inspired.

Greetings again, Bat-fans! This is Angela chiming in for my last post here before Hayley’s grand return from England!

It’s been fun and if you want to keep up with me, I have my own blog that’s actually mine here. It’s a grab-bag of art inspirations, writing experiments, and marketing adventures so be sure to come on in and join me.

For today’s post, I feel the need to reminisce, as I think we all should once we get to that point in our creative lives where we may be a little distracted by this grand thing in life called ‘making a living’.

Do you remember what you were writing when you were young? (In the early teen range, perhaps?) I certainly do!

(Read on at the full blog post)

Review: The Last Airbender

Every now and again in this journal I like to review movies or video games that have really made an impression on me as an artist and a writer. Let it be known before I even begin talking about The Last Airbender that I am a long-standing fan of the original animated series that inspired it (Avatar: The Last Airbender). As a child of the early 80’s, I grew up with the golden age of animation still lingering and the slick adventurous and bold animation of the 1990’s – before children’s shows became all about sponges wearing pants and random inanity.

For me, Avatar: The Last Airbender was a breath of fresh air. Finally! An animated show that looked beautiful and smooth, with pleasant stylization and a rich tapestry of a fantasy world that really drew me in. Finally, a series that was paying attention! Here we had characters who were flawed and who changed throughout the course of the show. Moral lessons were not always on the surface of a story, especially when our beloved characters often did things that they knew were wrong, but that suited them as characters. DiMartino and Konietzko had created a story worth telling.

Unfortunately, little, if any, of this wonderful story translated to the movie adaptation of the series called The Last Airbender (darn blue cat people taking the rights to Avatar!). It’s true the heart of the story is still the same. We have a young monk named Aang who is burdened by the responsibility of being the Avatar, a driving elemental force in a chaotic world who is meant to bring peace. Instead of facing his responsibility, he runs away and by a twist of fate, pulls a Rip Van Winkle and ends up awakening 100 years later, where friendship and guidance from folks he meets on his journey puts him back on track to being a hero.

The movie fails in the respect that the entire story felt rushed. Characters blurt out plot points with plenty of emotion, but the driving force of their motivation seems left to the cutting room floor (considering this movie is about an hour and 40 minutes and still manages to create little emotional attachment to the characters and condenses an entire first season of plotline). Decisions are reached too quickly, characters rush headlong into blind belief and friendship in one another, despite having just met. Fight scenes feel like a waste of time when half of the driving philosophy that made the Asian-inspired world of Avatar so enthralling was the dueling philosophies of the nations and their particular styles of Bending, or elemental manipulation. We’re gifted one line of philosophy about how you must ‘give in to Water’, but really, how deep is that in the context of the movie?

Not so deep, just like the rest of the cast and its stilted performance handicapped by a shortchanged plot. First Rule of Movie Adaptation, do NOT try to directly adapt a plotline without repolishing the original story to fit your new, often condensed timeline. Most of this movie felt as if it were merely trying to reach important plotlines that happened in season 1 of the animated show. Line by line, as if it was a checklist for those who watched the series.

When is Hollywood going to learn that you can’t just rush through a plot, toss in a few action scenes, and then rake in the cash? Just like the last blockbuster disappointment, The Prince of Persia, characters had no lows where they could really bond with one another or express anything further than stereotypical surface emotion. (Though I will say, I enjoyed Prince of Persia far more than Airbender). Without safe ports in the plot for characters to contemplate and develop as characters to contrast against the many scenes of frenzied action, there is no spark of interest or resonance with your audience. And for the love of all that’s sacred, please don’t reveal the emotional life changing moments of an important character in a 2 second flashback with a couple of explanatory sentences!

I’m not going to say the entire movie was a complete failure. The effects were fairly well done. Waterbending looked especially gorgeous in the second half of the movie where many battles take place in a frozen tundra riddled with battleships, soldiers, and tribesmen. The wardrobe felt authentic and reinvented in a suiting way for a rustic Asian-inspired look. Even still, good FX and atmosphere were not enough to save this from being a mediocre production and a major disappointment (this coming from a fan of Shyamalan!)

Perhaps Shyamalan was rushed? Perhaps he was pressured to cut the material that would have made this movie feel less splintered into plot points? Whatever the reason, this fan was not pleased. I hope for the sake of the fans, they get their act together for the next two movies, if they even gross enough to finish production on them after this major disappointment.

Perhaps I’m also being harsh, but for a director who has professed so much love and respect for the source material, I expected much more from this production. Go see it if you’re bored, but please, just go rent the animated series if you want the full story.

Guest Post – World-Building: Animal Lore

My series of guest posts continues at Eventide Unmasked. Join my latest discussion on animal lore. What is it? How can you implement it into your stories effectively? Tips, tricks, and examples at the link!

World-Building – Animal Lore

Hello all! Angela here again for a Wacky Wednesday guest post. Hayley’s been talking a lot lately about world-building so I thought I’d chime in with a particular niche in the world-building skillset – animal lore.

What is animal lore?

Animal lore differs from generic mythology for the fact that it specifically involves creatures which are a part of the natural or supernatural order of things in any given story’s setting. Some real world examples include Hayley’s infamous black dog, bringer of ill portent, the European and Asian dragons, unicorns, and all manner of beasts we can conjure up with a quick jaunt through our childhood memories.

Animals often convey the mythical beginnings of our universe, shedding light on mysteries that inform a culture’s mystical practices and even methods of dress. The raven who created the world, the spider whose web brings life, or the coyote who stole the secret of fire. A culture rich in animal lore also suggests a culture close to nature, magic, and the mysteries of the world. Most cultures with deep ties to Animalism are less inclined towards industrialization and generally less reliant on science and technology (a situation ripe for tension and change, if you’re looking for inspiration prompts!).

(Read on at the full blog post)

Guest Post – World-Building: Animal Lore

My series of guest posts continues at Eventide Unmasked. Join my latest discussion on animal lore. What is it? How can you implement it into your stories effectively? Tips, tricks, and examples at the link!

World-Building – Animal Lore

Hello all! Angela here again for a Wacky Wednesday guest post. Hayley’s been talking a lot lately about world-building so I thought I’d chime in with a particular niche in the world-building skillset – animal lore.

What is animal lore?

Animal lore differs from generic mythology for the fact that it specifically involves creatures which are a part of the natural or supernatural order of things in any given story’s setting. Some real world examples include Hayley’s infamous black dog, bringer of ill portent, the European and Asian dragons, unicorns, and all manner of beasts we can conjure up with a quick jaunt through our childhood memories.

Animals often convey the mythical beginnings of our universe, shedding light on mysteries that inform a culture’s mystical practices and even methods of dress. The raven who created the world, the spider whose web brings life, or the coyote who stole the secret of fire. A culture rich in animal lore also suggests a culture close to nature, magic, and the mysteries of the world. Most cultures with deep ties to Animalism are less inclined towards industrialization and generally less reliant on science and technology (a situation ripe for tension and change, if you’re looking for inspiration prompts!).

(Read on at the full blog post)