The Art of Toy Story 3, by Charles Solomon

As the resident animator, I couldn't resist a Pixar book.  I went out and bought The Art of Toy Story 3 yesterday, and then devoured it all in one sitting.  A light read by literary standards, it is still dense with information.  The book mainly focuses on the progression from the first film to the third and the color script.  Not to say that it isn't loaded with concept drawings, layouts, and behind the scenes photos.  All good stuff.
Some of the explanation for turning Toy Story into a trilogy sounds like justification, which I don't find necessary.  I was five when the first Toy Story movie came out.  By the time Toy Story 3 was in theaters, I was entering my third year of college and said good bye to my kid years.  Heck, I'd even applied for a summer internship at Pixar.  For my generation, Toy Story 3 is a very natural ending to the trilogy.

As for the color script, I've never seen one explored so thoroughly in an "Art of" book.  A color script is a "storyboard for color", as the light art director Dice Tsutsumi puts it.  It is the place for the director to map out the emotional and vision beats of the film.  It helps guide lighting and photography departments, among others. I'd seen them before and understood their importance to lighting a film, but never understood how much thought goes into a particular lighting scheme.  I was especially struck by the fact that they connected dappled lighting with the character Bonnie to suggest a safe and protected environment.  It's so subtle, but it says so much about the thought that goes into a Pixar film.

I would like to have seen more about the development of the individual character's personalities, especially the new ones.  There is some talk about the main antagonist, but there isn't much about the other characters' development.

Still, this is a great buy for anyone interested in animation or visual storytelling.  Highly recommended.

Book Gear

My guilty pleasure at the moment has been fitness blogs.  It's really not that detrimental, but it does take time away from painting and all things book related.  One such blog I have been enjoying is Carrots 'N' Cake, which had a post featuring an adorable shirt from Urban Outfitters.  Being the curious little blogger that I am, I decided to check and see if Urban Outfitters had some literary inspired shirts.  And indeed they did.

You can choose to support the classics.

Or go for something a bit more twisted.  I know Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is also something of a classic, but it's also a surreal drug-induced adventure. That has to count for something.

I also found this selection of book related tees.  I do so love my book tees.

Graphically, this one really stood out to me.  Then again, half my shirts are black.

I really hope to post more accessories-related posts on this blog as well as the reviews.  There's just too many gadgets and clothing items out there to ignore it.  Be sure to look out for a tablet-centric post some time in the future.

Un Lun Dun, by China Meiville

Meg says:

 We decided to start off our reviews with a glowing entry on a real hidden treasure.  "Un Lun Dun", by China Mieville was a very pleasant surprise when I picked it up about three years ago at our local Borders.  The story takes place both in modern London, and an alternate version of the city known as UnLondon.  Two young girls, Deeba and Zanna, are thrust into a fateful adventure consisting of a ghost town, living smog, a man who spills creatures from his mouth when he talks, and a spider window that can lead to anywhere
 But enough from me.  I'm sure Leandra has something to say.

Leandra says:

 Mieville has created a world rich in imaginative monsters, colorful characters, and unique settings. Un Lun Dun is a novel that adults will also appreciate for its intelligence, wordplay, clever characters, and familiar backdrop. It's moody, slightly spooky, and simply entertaining. You will fall in love with the well-developed characters, and will find yourself so drawn in to their stories that you may not be able to suppress shouting words of encouragement.

Meg says:

 So true.  So who was your favorite character in the book?

 Deeba. When the book first starts out, it seems as though she's going to play second fiddle to Zanna. But when they step into the parallel world, Deeba kicks off her sidekick boots and becomes the star of the show. She displays courage and intelligence in a very bizarre situation. 

Meg says:

 Deeba, the "un chosen one", is a wonderful character.  In the novel, she is forced to take on the responsibilities that destiny would thrust on her friend Zanna.  You have to love a character who decides to throw fate out the window and do what needs to be done.  Personally though, I preferred Hemi the half ghost.


 Hemi is an example of racism at it's worst in UnLondon and how it can be overcome.
 The Unlondoners are wary of the spooks that live in Wraithtown, a sort of limbo.  Unlondoners believe that ghosts will steal your body at any given chance, which turns out to be an unfounded belief.   Hemi, as a product of a human dad and ghost mom, has to cope with badmouthing from both the living and the dead.  He is a very complex character that has had to develop a thick skin very fast in order to survive.  Hemi reminds me a bit of the Artful Dodger in Dicken's "Oliver Twist" with his street smarts and an ability to swim in the grey areas of morality.


 My favorite moment of his in the book is when Hemi chooses to alter the graffiti that reads 
 "CHOOSEN ONE ROOLZ!" to "UN-CHOOSEN ONE ROOLZ!"
 This is a moment in the book when he is silently supporting his friend Deeba in her quest to stop the smog, the antagonist of the book

Leandra says:

 Hemi is a great character. I enjoyed the interactions between him and Deeba, and watching their friendship deepen over the course of the book. 

Meg says:

 Un Lun Dun was full of so many lush locations.  Which was your favorite?

Leandra says:

 One of my favorite aspects of Un Lun Dun is the various bizarre creatures that populate the alternate world. There are trash bins called Binjas that do karate, buses with reptile legs in place of wheels, men with birdcages for heads, and many other oddities. Mieville's world is made up of imaginative takes on famous locations such as the river Smeath, which is straight unlike its well-known counterpart, the Thames. My favorite location is Webminster Abbey, a very spooky play on the famous church which is populated by extremely large, terrifying spiders called Black Windows.

Meg says:

 The creatures definitely add a touch of realism to the story, because they are scrapped together from real objects and ideas that we take for granted every day.  The binjas are an excellent example of this.

Un Lun Dun also has smatterings of Alice in Wonderland in it's concept.  The beauty of it is that Mieville has been able to elevate a trip down the rabbit hole into a trial by fire for a young girl finding her way into a new world with old prejudices.

One critique I would have for this book is that it is advertised as a Children's book. I found it in the Teen section, and rightly so.  The concepts and verbiage are a bit advanced for anyone under the age of fourteen in my opinion.  In fact, most young readers won't get some of the more subtle jokes unless they are from an older generation.  For instance, the weapon used to fight the smog is called the "Klinneract".  Get it?  Get it?  Clean Air Act.  Ha ha ha.  I hate puns.


Still, this is a very engrossing read that I highly recommend.  I'm looking forward to reading more of Meiville's work to see if he can hold his own in other reads.

Welcome to Inkstinction

Welcome friends and foes alike, to the playground of Inkstinction!

Inkstinct is a treasure hunt of a blog, where the find is a good story.

We decided to start this blog after complaining endlessly of the difficulty in finding a good read. Both of us had grown up around books, so we knew there were a few good ones out there. It just seemed so hard to find new ones in a market flooded with zombie survivalist guides and vampire romance. This blog is not about either of those.

This blog is meant to be an honest to goodness review of every book we can get our hands on. This may get messy, since that means bad mouthing a few books. Still, it is in the pursuit of excellence, which is all we ask for. We promise to post reviews and suggestions for anyone who might be interested to look. We are just as interested in finding a great read for our readers(or even more so) as ourselves!

About Us:

Hi! I'm Meg, the crazy artist/animator/writer. I know. That's a lot of hats to wear. I grew up in Southern California, where the library was always the smart, read free, alternative to amusement parks and malls( both of which I love).  I can also be bought for tea parties and retro cartoons.  Especially English tea parties and Batman the Animated Series.

My reading tastes range from comic books, fantasy, ghost stories, historical fiction, horror, to mystery. One genre I tend to neglect is Western. We'll see if I can get past my prejudices and add one to the list.

Favorite Children's Book: The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash, By Tinka Hakes Noble. Illustrated by Steven Kellog

Leandra

[lee-an-druh]

–noun

1. A full-time college student.

2. Someone who shelves books at a library.

3. A person who suffers from bibliophilia, glossophilia, and an addiction to coffee.

Well hi there! As you can see, books are a big part of my life. This love affair started when I began reading at age five, and continues through to present day, which finds me working at a library part-time. I’m surrounded by books all day, and like to think that I have pretty good taste when it comes to a satisfying yarn. There was a time when good books were not so hard to find, but with this onslaught of zombies, vampires, and supernatural teen romances, good books are becoming inkstinct.

My favorite genres include: fantasy, sci-fi, historical fiction, and mysteries. More often than not, you will find me in the children's section of any bookstore or library, perusing the shelves of juvenile fiction. I also peruse the young adult shelves, but with slightly less enthusiasm. It took me a while to branch out to my own age group, but I've finally started journeying into books for the older crowd.

Favorite Children's Book: Madeline, written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans.