Cake Book Tag & Addictive Blog Award

   The only thing that might possibly be better than books is cake. Thanks again to the lovely Alyssa for tagging me; I haven’t blogged about books in a while, so the timing is perfect.

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Cake Book Tag:

Flour: A book that started slowly but turned out amazing

It took me quite a while to get past the first page, but once I did I couldn’t stop reading.

Butter: A book that had a thick, rich plot 

Immigration to a foreign country, a manuscript smuggled away in a viola, and not one but two unexpected romances. What more could you ask for?

Eggs: A book you thought would be bad but turned out great

I didn’t think it would be horrible, but I had only average expectations for The Year Money Grew on Trees. And then I actually read it. It makes owning and maintaining an orchard sound like fun, and how can you not love a story where the kids get to drive their own tractor into town? Plus, it ends on a surprising but satisfyingly bittersweet note.

Sugar: A sugary, sweet book

Pumpkin Moonshine by Tasha Tudor. A simple, old-fashioned story wrapped up in beautiful illustrations.

Icing: A book that covered every single element that you enjoy in a book

I had a tough time picking this one…I’m far from picky when it comes to choosing favorite books, but they’re not many that cover every base. The King of Attolia has fantastically believable world building, sword fights, political intrigue, snarky characters, kind characters, snarky and kind characters, and one of the most twisted yet wonderful romances I have ever read. I also love how transparent the writing is—you almost forget you’re reading and just begin to live the story.

Sprinkles: A book that always cheers you up

This is a bit of a weird example, seeing as the story itself isn’t all that cheerful, but rereading The Outsiders always puts me in a good mood. I read it for the first time three or four years ago, and since then it’s been my book version of comfort food.

The Cherry on Top: The best book of the year so far

I’m going to have to go with Fool’s Assassin. I don’t read much high fantasy, and this one’s a doorstopper. It’s not the most suspenseful read, but I loved the concept and characters and finished it in record time, considering. But be warned: it ends with a horrible cliffhanger.

Cupcakes: An awesome short with the epicness of a book

A boy with god-like powers cuts off his hometown from the rest of the world on the day he’s born. It goes about as well as you’d expect. It’s a Good Life is one of the creepiest stories I’ve ever read (they made three Twilight Zone episodes out of it), what with “snapping” people’s minds and “wishing things to the cornfield”. But the thing is, the boy, Anthony, isn’t evil. At least not exactly. Most of the story takes place when he’s three years old, so he really can’t be expected to act any better—especially since everyone is scared to death of him. Anyway, it’s a great story with a concept that I would love to see in a book.

Addictive Blog Award:

Rules:

1. Thank the person awarding you.
2. Share a little about why you blog and how the journey started.
3. Paste the blog award on your page.
4. Nominate 10 other bloggers you feel deserve the award.

Why I blog:

   Because it’s fun and I’m semi-good at it. I’m never 100% satisfied with any of my posts, but I love sharing my opinions and connecting with other bloggers. And I love getting ideas for shiny new posts. That’s it, really.

How I started:

   Third Star to the Right was my fourth(?) blog and the first where I decided to buckle down and stick with it. I blogged about the things that interested me—writing, books, a bit of art—and eventually people started reading (hey, guys!) It’s only been a few months, and I’m still figuring things out, but I’m happy with how it’s coming along.

I’m tagging:

   If you’d like to answer these questions, consider yourself tagged. If you post them, be sure to leave me a link in the comments—I’d love to check it out!

Artist Spotlight: Honor C. Appleton

Honor Charlotte Appleton was born on the 4^th of February, 1879 in Brighton, England. She studied art at the Royal Academy and went on to illustrate more than 100 books, including editions of Charles Perrault’s and Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales. She died in 1951.

…And that’s about all the information I could find online—Honor Appleton doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page. I discovered one of her illustrations (the first one below) in Fairy Tales from Hans Christian Andersen, the same book that introduced me to Kay Nielsen. Her paintings have a very delicate style, and to be honest, sometimes it’s a little too sweet for my taste. Still, her Snow Queen will always be my favorite. 

The Snow Queen

The Princess and the Pea

Little Red Riding Hood

The Little Mermaid

P.S. Gobs and gobs of thanks to everyone who commented on my last post—your tips and encouragement were exactly what I needed.

Blocked

    So…my blogging juices have been running low for a while now. It’s not that I don’t have any ideas for posts…I just can’t find the energy to write them. It takes me ten minutes to type up a satisfactory sentence, which stays satisfactory for about five seconds before I delete it and start over. Nothing sounds right; I can’t get into the flow at all.

   Slogging through and writing anyway is probably the best cure, and I try to…sort of. I also read, goof around on the internet, switch gears to work on something else, come back, write another draft, listen to music, take breaks on weekends, take breaks on weekdays, make lists, cross things off lists, and try to get through the whole thing as quickly as possible. When it comes to inspiration, I actually have a pretty predictable pattern of highs and lows, and knowing that it will all eventually repeat itself keeps me from going completely insane. Mostly.

   Anyway, I'd love to know how you guys deal with blogger's block. Drop me a note in the comments if you have any tips and/or survival stories. (And despite all this, I've been having a fantastic spring break so far, and I hope you are too!)

A Spring Playlist

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   I like to listen to music while I plan my stories; songs can provide either pretty background noise or inspiration for a specific scene (and I need both). I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorites from this month--expect a lot of soundtracks and an obscene amount of Celtic music.

Beautiful Day--U2

Wide open spaces, the outdoors, a feeling of openness. That’s about the best I can describe this one—it’s a song about possibilities (or at least I think it is).

Aniron--Enya

A really old favorite—Aragorn and Arwen’s theme from The Lord of the Rings.

Opening Title--Alex Heffes

From the movie Dear Frankie; it’s sweet and upbeat but also very soothing.

You Were Born--Cloud Cult

I first discovered this one through The Blacklist.

The Parting Glass--The High Kings

My favorite cover of a particularly bittersweet folk song. I listen to it when I’m planning ending/parting scenes.

She's Like the Swallow--Cara Dillon

Another folk song. Dark, tragic, and completely unearthly.

Perfect Day--Miriam Stockley

The main theme for The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends; it’s a lot less sugary-sweet than you’d expect but still quite whimsical.

Liam & Nuala--Mason Daring

The Secret of Roan Inish was one of my favorite movies when I was younger. Nothing captures the haunting, half-magical feel of the story better than this song. I can't listen to it without getting chills.

Where--Lisbeth Scott

You can find this in the CD soundtrack of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but not in the actual movie. "Where" deals with the sad/angsty aspects of leaving a fantasy world, something the books (at least The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) never quite got around to.

The Legend Spreads--James Horner

An essential when I’m planning adventure/fantasy. 

   What have you been listening to this March? Any favorites? Let me know in the comments!

Hello, March

Just a few thoughts…

 

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On Tasha Tudor--She was a 20th century artist who preferred an 18th century lifestyle, complete with petticoats, wood stoves, and very few modern conveniences. I rediscovered her last month, and while it all seems unbelievable and a bit crazy, I don't think her illustrations would have been so wonderfully detailed and unsentimental if they hadn't been drawn from real life. You can learn more about her here.

 

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On Writing--I have about a million different ideas composting in my head; the really good ones keep resurfacing with new inspiration. I’m doing a bit of planning, like a promised back in December, but at a (very) leisurely pace--most of my ideas still seem very half-formed and vague, which frustrates me. I’ve also tried drafting some flash fiction and short stories, but none of those have quite stuck yet.

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On Pelmeni--Russian wontons, basically. We made a batch over the weekend (they taste best homemade). Folding every single dumpling by hand is time-consuming and really boring, but eating them (with sour cream, or vinegar and red pepper) is always worth it.

Artist Spotlight: A Guest Post by Kelsey Hammersley

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    Hey guys! For this spotlight, I thought it would be neat to get an actual artist’s perspective on what goes into creating fairy tale illustrations. I've admired Kelsey’s artwork for a long time, and I’m so happy to feature her here! If you like her post, be sure to check out her blog and her Tumblr. 

    

First of all, I'd like to thank Alex for inviting me to write a guest post for Third Star to the Right! I've never guest blogged anywhere, so needless to say, this a squee-worthy experience for me. I love seeing Alex's artist spotlights on here (plus all of her pretty fairy tale pins on Pinterest), so I thought I would talk a bit about the impact fairy tales have made on my art.

Oh, and just so you know, my name is Kelsey, I live in Ohio, and I am a Christian artist who's interested in going into illustration.

Fairy tales have been a huge influence and inspiration to me over the years. The first real artwork I encountered as a child was H.J. Ford's illustrations from the Andrew Lang Color Fairy Books. I actually picked out the fairy tales I wanted to read based on how pretty or intriguing their illustrations were. I discovered some of my absolute favorite artists while browsing through the illustration gallery of the fairy tale site Sur La Lune Fairy Tales--artists like Arthur Rackham, Kay Nielsen, Edmund Dulac, and Walter Crane. I can't quite pinpoint what it is about fairy tales that attracts me so, but I think part of it is their hopeful examples of perseverance through adversity, along with how the tales ignite the imagination.

The Enchanted Wreath by Kelsey Hammersley

For creating my fairy tale-esque illustrations, my ideas tend to start with a vague sense of the emotion I want to get across and the style I want to use. I try to hold onto that feeling as I work on the project. Emotion plays an important part in art for me; I want to create something beautiful, but I also want it to have meaning, something that people can connect with. The method that works best for me right now for creating paintings is to start off with an accurate pencil sketch as a base. Getting the drawing down right can be pretty tedious for me (the shading and the coloring are my favorite parts) but it helps me a lot in the long run by (ideally) sparing me from making big adjustments when I'm further into a painting. Once I'm done fiddling with the drawing, I clean up the pencil marks as much as possible so that the graphite won't mix in with the color too much and make it muddy. When adding in the paint, I tend to go through a lot of trial and error, playing around with the project and doubting myself--basically jumping from This is so much fun!!!! to I am a horrible artist. I can't finish this. But perseverance really does pay off. 

Lately I've really been inspired by the work of Albrecht Durer, particularly his woodcuts and engravings. I love how the subjects in his prints push forward into space. My linework is frequently inspired by Arthur Rackham, who's pretty much my favorite artist. My ambition in art is to both use my imagination and take inspiration from the beauty of the world around me--and hopefully inspire others in the same way that fairy tales and their illustrations have inspired me.

I'll finish off with a few tips for other aspiring artists, or basically anyone who wants to get better at drawing. Tip #1: Look at the work of other artists. Better yet, practice by copying works of the masters. You notice and learn so much about something when you try drawing it yourself. Tip #2: Take classes, or get lessons if you can. If this isn't an option, there's a wealth of online tutorials out there. I know plenty of completely self-taught artists have found success, but getting advice from other artists is a great way to encounter new ideas that you would be hard-pressed to happen across on your own. It's kind of like having someone else read your writing in order to figure out where you could improve. Sometimes you need a fresh set of eyes, or a fresh set of ideas. Tip #3: Keep drawing! The best way to learn is to try. Even if you make mistakes (and mistakes are inevitable), with each attempt you make, you will see improvement.

Thanks again, Alex, for hosting me here! :)