Summer Project: Tripping the Art Fantastic

The library's Summer Reading Program is happening right now, with the theme "Every Hero Has a Story". Fantasy fiction is a great place to find heroes - Frodo in The Lord of the Rings, Kvothe in The Kingkiller Chronicles, Fitz from The Farseer Trilogy, Ged from Earthsea, Harry Potter. Some of the art associated with fantasy worlds is, well, fantastic - just take a look at drawings by Tolkien. If you are artistically inclined, perhaps you'd like to use some time this summer learning more about fantasy art and how to make it?  The library catalog has some suggestions:

Create

How to Draw and Paint Fantasy Combat by Matt Stawicki

How to Draw and Paint Fantasy Architecture by Rob Alexander

Carving Fantasy & Legend Figures in Wood by Shawn Cipa

Dreamscapes: Creating Magical Angel, Faery & Mermaid Worlds with Watercolor by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law [eBook]

The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures by Emily Fiegenschuh [eBook]

Discover

Fantasy Worlds by John Maizels

Spectrum 18: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art edited by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner

Drawing Down the Moon: The Art of Charles Vess with a foreword by Susanna Clarke

Extra Credit

Fantastic Flesh: The Art of Make-Up EFX
The magic of special effects makeup makes us believe in aliens, monsters, and the possessed. Takes an inside look at the creation and execution of some of Hollywood's most unique special effects.

Knits for Nerds: 30 Projects - Science Fiction, Comic Books, Fantasy by Joan of Dark, a.k.a. Toni Carr
A collection of 30 knitting patterns inspired by popular science fiction and fantasy culture includes designs in the style of such iconic articles as Lieutenant Uhura's minidress, Hobbit slippers, and Hermione Granger's secret beaded bag.

Fey Enchantments

Fairies have come a long way, baby.  It's not all Tinker Bell style when it comes to reading about the land of the fey in current titles for young adults & older-there's urban faerie, as popularized by Holly Black (co-writer of The Spiderwick Chronicles) & Melissa Marr, for teens; for adults, Laurell K. Hamilton & Karen Marie Moning have created suspenseful novels with more mature content.  On her website, young adult author Cassandra Clare (who refers to her novels as "urban fantasy") sums up the genre thusly: "I wanted to write something that would combine elements of traditional high fantasy — an epic battle between good and evil, terrible monsters, brave heroes, enchanted swords — and recast it through a modern, urban lens. … In fairy tales, it was the dark and mysterious forest outside the town that held the magic and danger. I wanted to create a world where the city has become the forest — where these urban spaces hold their own enchantments, danger, mysteries and strange beauty.”

I am a diehard fan of Laurell K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series, eagerly awaiting the next volume in the series to publish. In the interim, one of my reading challenges this year is Book Soulmates' ifae challenge. Earlier this year I read  Rosemary & Rue by Seanan McGuire, Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater & Ash by Malinda Lo (all young adult books), & I'm trying to get back into it to finish the final 6 of the 10 books I need to read to complete this challenge.  Also consider:

Young Adult Fiction

Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin

Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan

The Faerie Path by Frewin Jones

I Was a Teenage Fairy by Francesca Lia Block

Fiction

Darkling by Yasmine Galenorn

Eccentric Circles by Rebecca Lickiss

Ink & Steel by Elizabeth Bear

The Ladies of Grace Adieu & Other Stories by Susanna Clarke

Steward of Song by Adam Stemple

The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce

For all sorts of items about faerie, including humor, art, poetry, juvenile films, comic books & Fairyopolis, try searching in the library catalog using the subject heading "Fairies".

Of course, looking up titles for this post just led me to more books I want to read, as usual.  Next on my list: Lost Voices by Sarah Porter.  It's mermaid fiction!