Monday 4 February 2013

Artful Readers - January 2013

I am a bit late in posting this as we have been quite poorly here this last wee while. Anyway, better late than never!! My first book for the Artful Readers group was “A Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin. I did not enjoy the book and really struggled to get through it. I usually love anything in the fantasy genre but just couldn’t get into this at all. Then I realised I had read this book before. Not literally but it was very similar to a) the Dune series by Frank Herbert b) the Lord of the Rings books by Tolkein and c) The Galactic Milieu series by Julian May and I felt I was reading an amalgam of the three with a bit extra thrown in. I know many, many people who love these books but unfortunately I am not one of them. The book is based on a dynastic struggle for the crown of a large but divided kingdom, achieved via intrigue, murder, betrayal and even incest. Apart from the feeling of déjà vu, I found it difficult to engage on a personal level with any of the characters. The “main” character in this particular book, who is the lord of the Northern kingdom, seemed the only interesting personality but even he seemed to behave completely out of character later on in the book and then was killed off anyway so there was not much that made me feel I wanted to continue with the series and plough through another FIVE books in total (with another one to come yet I believe).

I hope you enjoy my artwork to go with the book. I am trying to master the digital program Craft Artist Professional as one of my challenges for 2013 and this piece is part of that challenge.

Lynn x


14 comments:

Janet said...

Such a shame you did not enjoy your book choice but well done to your persistence at completing it! Lovely
dragon. Craft Artist is well worth the effort to learn - a whole new world will open up to you!

Janet xx

Carmen said...

There's been a lot of hooha about these books but I must admit - they don't appeal to me at all.

Just love your art work and it doesn't "look" digital at all if that makes sense (totally meant as a compliment!) Gorgeous, love the colours and the map and... everything. Never heard of the program you are using but I would think you are well on your way to mastering it.

Maz said...

Shame you didn't enjoy it that much, hopefully I'll like it a bit better! Love your art and that you're using this challenge to fulfill another challenge in mastering Craft Artist. x

Darcy Marshall said...

Fabulous dragon, love the jewellery around his neck. I don't think I would have known it was digital if you hadn't pointed it out.

Shame about the books, I have heard lots about them and was tempted to read them but if the characters aren't engaging then i don't think I will bother, especially as there are so many of them lol

P.J. said...

I have never really been into books like this too much, but I really dig your artwork. Very nice!

Jen said...

Shame you did not enjoy the book but your artwork is great. Craft Artist is wonderful in my opinion.
Jen x

Gina said...

That is a real pity...the tv series was awesome lol, but I know what you mean about not getting attached to any of the characters :D Your digi art is gorgeous, love the "faded book cover" feel it has :D XXX

Jez said...

Well,at least it inspired a wonderful piece of artwork. That dragon is convincing, even if the book's characters weren't. I like the relationship with the map in the background and the dagger, which clearly illustrate part of the book. I think the publishers would have done better to use your artwork rather than the tame cover they have used. I assume To the Victor the Spoils comes up in the book somewhere.
Not my genre - I liked your review, so it really wouldn't even tempt me!
I love digital artwork, so I will look up Craft Artist Professional. Your work is a very good advert for it.

Shirley said...

Well done on getting to grips so well with the digital art. He really is an awesome Dragon. Shame that the book was such a let down but at least it inspired some great art.

Teri said...

COOL dragon!! Love his 'bling'!

Catie Cuddles said...

You did a fab job with CraftArtist for this!
Never read the books but v and I enjoy the TV series on sky ... Although quite rude and unpleasant to watch at times!
Don't think I will add them to my reading list although think v was tempted!
C xxx

Ali said...

I am one of those who enjoyed these books, but wouldn't the world be boring if we all thought the same way! Your dragon is great!

Diane said...

It is too bad that you didn't enjoy the book more. It does seem that there are a lot of books in this genre that seem the same. I love your artwork. I agree with Carmen, it doesn't look digital and that is a compliment. I had never heard of that software. I will have to check it out. I've been doing more digital manipulation with Photoshop and may want to expand into this as well. I hope you use it for your February artwork as well.

lorig said...

Beautiful artwork in spite of a difficult read. Thank you for the review.