【開箱．圖像小說】水晶孔 Crystal Kung｜流浪小孩 The Little Drifter

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Titlehomeless children
English TitleThe Little Drifter
AuthorCrystal Kung
PublisherBig Spicy
Publication Date: 2016-03-30
Language：Traditional Chinese
ISBN13: 9789866634598
BindingPaperback / 172 pages / 17 x 23 x 0.86 cm / General audience / Full color printing / First edition
Price399 yuan (Books.com.tw 博客來)

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20230125

Crystal Kung, a Taiwanese illustrator, represented Taiwan at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in France in 2016. She currently works as a character designer at Pixar and is skilled at accurately depicting the spirit and posture of her characters.

"The Little Drifter" is her first collection of graphic novels.

These six short comic strips, based on my personal growth experiences, span six cities: Tibet, New York, Xinjiang, Xi'an, Shanghai, and Taipei.

Crystal Hole's illustration style is highly personal. Without the aid of text, the details and tension of the story can be felt even more strongly through the visuals themselves!

Besides this bookThe Little DrifterTwo more works were subsequently published.Red Line A Love Gift"and"Four Days in Love》~

Official Introduction

Wandering is for the sake of returning home.

Crystal Kong, a rising star in online creative art, has produced his first physical work.
He transforms his own childhood story into that of a homeless child, allowing readers to immerse themselves in the story.
To understand why Crystal Hole's paintings always have a wandering spirit and an untamed freedom.

Wandering is an ancient activity. From mythology to history, from saints to mortals, from East to West, it has called upon and tempted generations of young people (or those whose passion remains undiminished). Sometimes it is to find the meaning of life, sometimes for self-realization, sometimes for reflection/relaxation/transformation... Wandering has become a romantic and enduring behavior from ancient times to the present.

A total of 6 short comics document Crystal Hole's 20 years of growth as she travels to and from various cities, searching for her self-identity and sense of belonging.

Crystal Hole observes the cities and places she has visited with youthful eyes. Each stranger, for different reasons, visits a different place (or revisits years later), their silent performance like a mime, drawing the reader quietly into a story of wandering. And in the six stories, the recurring child seems to remind the wanderers of the beautiful things they once possessed, or even those they have never lost.

Content

01 Tibet [Karma]
- I've heard that in late summer and early autumn, a star appears in the southeastern sky to guide lost travelers. That star is called "Gama"...
02 New York [Self-Portrait]
- Constantly depicting other people's faces will make you forget what you look like.
03 Xi'an [Lantern]
- When everything familiar is shrouded in smog, we can only follow the blurry lights to try and find our way back to how it used to be.
04 Xinjiang [Under the Lake]
- Some things are better left to remain a mystery forever.
05 Shanghai [Umbrella]
- In a rainy city, you might see your past reflection in the puddles by the roadside...
06 Taipei [Fish in Cages]
- Sometimes I feel isolated from the whole city, moving through one iron cage after another, as if I'll never get out. But actually, I'm just missing a key.

About the Author

Crystal Kung

Born in Xi'an, China in 1994, and raised in Taipei, she is about to graduate from the Department of Media Communication Design at Shih Chien University. She also works as a freelance illustrator and comic artist. She specializes in 2D graphic design for pre-production animation. Most of her works depict characters she has encountered or characters she has created.

Her work primarily focuses on illustration, comics, and animation, with expertise in character design and art direction. In 2016, she was selected as a participating cartoonist at the Taiwan Pavilion in Angoulême, France, and was one of the 11 global focus creators in the 2015 Wacom Create More global event. Her work has been shortlisted for the Taichung International Animation Festival, the Taipei Digital Arts Festival's Magic Animation Exhibition, and the Epson Creative Talent Design Competition. Her works have been featured in publications such as *Frrresh*, *Apportfolio*, MOOV, and *Inspire*.

Crystal's artwork stands out among the mainstream Japanese manga styles in Taiwan, but she has not yet been able to define a style, because she is still growing and exploring her own possibilities, and pursuing a personal style is always her goal.