Fantasy

 Fangsong
I love the name of this font, Fangsong. For me it evokes all sorts of images that I doubt have anything at all to do with the font. It comes from a Chinese company by the name of C & C Joint Printing Co., (HK) Ltd.

My research into this company, trying unsuccessfully to find the creator of the font, lead me to this very interesting site about Chinese fonts in the computer world: http://epeuthutebetes.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/chinese-serif-italics/. I especially like the discussion of how one tackles the problem of trying to italicize Chinese characters.

French Script by Stephenson Blake, 1905. I simply adore the look of this font.
Finally on fonts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_typefaces, a place that lists a great many typefaces by type.

FANTASY
You would think this would be an easy subject. I write fantasy, I read fantasy, and my imagination runs wild along fantastic lines of thought. This is one of my favorite subjects, but where to start in defining and explaining it?

Fantasy is something produced by imagination that is somehow removed from a semblance of known realities. It is fiction and often features strange settings, rules that fly in the face of traditional science or concrete beliefs and yet are made real enough that when the reader immerses themselves in the story they believe every word.

Fantasy is child’s play

It is also advanced visions, social commentary, satire, and almost assuredly something that has very little chance of every happening. If you prefer the things that have the illusion of possibility then reading science fiction will plunge you more into worlds where it is easier to suspend disbelief. Fantasy is an impractical or unrealistic idea made real.

While it’s true that by definition all fiction is made-up, in fantasy there is an extra step out of the realm of believability.

A very good site that dissects the elements of fantasy in today’s mediums: http://www.k12.hi.us/~mkunimit/MKt3/fantasy3.htm..

Originally fantasy sprung from themes found in myth and folklore, but the genre now includes all variations of imagination. Today’s fantasy makes its own rules. There can be magic, talking animals, themes and creatures from myth & folklore, other worlds, science, speculative, dystopian, cross-overs into other realms such as romance and horror, and many more. The limit is the imagination of the writer.

We will revisit fantasy many times over the life of this blog. I can tell you the bare-bones of what the genre is, but to fully comprehend the joy, the life, the child’s play that so many of us have forgotten, is to take a dip in the pool, run with someone else’s dreams and visions, and then to make your own.

My hope on sparking even more creativity is to once again visit the World Fantasy Convention. I’ve only done so once, and would love to do so again.

There are many smaller, more accessible conventions and these too are well worth the immersion into fantastical worlds and the people who dream them, draw them, discuss them, map them, and can explain the joys they’ve found in particular worlds.

http://worldfantasy2014.org/. This year the convention is in Washington DC, November 6 to November 9.

This one also looks like fun: http://www.fantasycon2014.org/ City of York in England, September 5 through September 11.

If these are too soon for adequate planning, prep and reading, then you can find some of the next ones in the queue or closer to your region at these sites:

http://www.conventionscene.com/schedules/scifiandfantasyconventions/ One stop shopping for a convention near you.
http://www.scificonventions.com/
http://www.upcomingcons.com/

Where do you go for creativity?  Where are the best conventions and places to share your love and enthusiasm for the fantastical arts? What inspires you?