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Sources of Inspiration II - Page 2

© Joe Jeskiewicz

While I don't know of an active game or site that offers up these possibilities (other than artexercise), there are some things out there to get involved in for a little fantastical inspiration. I am speaking about role playing games (RPGs). I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really enjoy these indulgences into other worlds. I've gone so far as to create a few of my own.

For many interests there are games that exist. For people who like the dragons of Anne McCaffrey's Pern there are several lists. Tolkien like games litter the newsgroups. And Science Fiction fans may enjoy a random Sci-Fi game or Star Wars or Star Trek group. Joining and participating or simply joining and reading along will provide you with mental imagery that can easily be translated onto canvas, cloth or digital. I suggest find the majority through yahoo groups (http://groups.yahoo.com).

It may take some time in order to find a group that stays together and writes prolifically but the search will be worth it. A good group that uses good description will provide entire scenes and vivid accounts of events and people and things that you can sketch out. In essence you will be watching the fantasy movie of your mind and you get to pick the scenes and angles to show the world. You are the Director, Producer, and Camera of your creativity.

And as a shameless plug for my own games I'll include one here. Right before Christmas two years ago I was writing for suite101 on the topic of Designing New Games. One of the games I created and still work on little by little is called DragonGrace. In essence it is simply a world. But I have descriptions and ideas and stories to share from that world. You can find the entrance here, http://www.geocities.com/fechik/DragonGr...

And if you want to get in on the ground level of a game I just recently took over, try Selevhan here, http://mobius_strip.tripod.com/selevhan/...

Remember there are worlds out there that the rest of us don't even know.

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