At the beginning of March, the chair of the Blake Society Tim Heath confirmed my invitation to speak to the society as well as asked that I put together a title, description, and bio for this year’s programme of events.
To give me a better idea of what to write, Tim offered to send me a copy of last year’s brochure. And, late last week, this beautiful printed booklet arrived (see photos below)!
I can’t wait to see how this year’s programme will turn out!
P.S. I only just realized that Philip Pullman is the president of the Blake Society. What!? I mean, it makes complete and total sense, but I’m still trying to wrap my brain around that fact.
Yesterday, I was incredibly excited to discover that the awesome Ms. Blake Woodruff of imoutoart.wordpress.com (I’ll call her Ms. Woodruff as to not get confused with Mr. Blake!) posted a fan art of my graphic novel The Poet and the Flea. As far as I know, this is the first ever fan art of The Flea and feels like a huge milestone in The Flea‘s progress!!
I asked Ms. Woodruff for permission to repost her illustration here on my blog (see below) and hope that all my readers/followers will take a look at the impressive work on her blog and website!
I especially admire the deep colors/tones she used for this piece and get a total kick out of The Flea lurking in the background!
Next, I plan on creating a fan art page on thepoetandtheflea.wordpress.com and will post Ms. Woodruff’s piece there as well.
I wholeheartedly welcome all The Poet and the Flea fan art and would be more than delighted to showcase your work on my blog!
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
Prepared for tomorrow — the first day of my new internship!!!
Wednesday, January 30th
Zest Books Internship, Day #1: Wonderful first day! Having an easy time getting into the flow of everything. Staff is extremely friendly and excited to get to know them better. Get awesome sneak peaks of upcoming titles. Friday, will be working on Tumblr and possibly doing some image research — can’t wait!
Thursday, January 31st
Not ready to announce anything yet, but amazing news (from January 20th) continuing to develop!
Received e-mail from follower Hannah Meiklejohn (bellusmundus.wordpress.com) asking if she could write an article for a magazine about The Poet and the Flea, yay! Excited to learn more details about the article and magazine. (^-^)
Zest Books Internship, Day #2: Worked on historical-themed image research for most of the day, which was mostly a lot of fun! Started working on Zest’s Tumblr (zestbooks.tumblr.com). Ate lunch in nearby park, which is very pleasant and relaxing and will definitely be repeated.
Saturday, February 2nd
Happy Groundhog Day!!
Filled out the rest of Cannes paperwork and made a checklist for what to bring (I’m Going To Cannes!!!).
Went to see Warm Bodies with Wes! Not the most brilliant movie, but adorable and a lot of fun. (︶ω︶)
For those of you watching the new Netflix series House of Cards, I highly recommend watching the original BBC version starring the brilliant Ian Richardson also available on Netflix.
Ran into a neighbor on the bus to work today, and she’d like to hire me to help her with her WordPress. We’ll see what happens… (^-^)
Zest Books Internship, Day #3: Worked on creating prom tips for Zest’s Tumblr as well as a mailing project. Getting to know everyone in the office better — everyone’s super easy to talk to. Took home a copy of Zoo Station to read.
Wow, I adore this new FX show The Americans! Amazing character development and really scary/exciting. Can’t wait for the next episode.
Zest Books Internship, Day #4: Continuing work on Tumblr! Sat at Ann’s desk today — she happens to have a David Bowie paper doll (with multiple outfits) taped to her computer, which brings me endless joy. Got to know fellow intern Olivia a bit better. Extremely excited to proofread/edit the back cover blurb for an upcoming book. Also got to share my opinion on some cover art!
Today’s constant companion: David Bowie!
Saturday, February 9th
Went to see Lewis Black with Wes and the folks! Stomach hurts from laughing so much!
Sunday, February 10th
Finally got to talk with my good friend from high school Tina! Talked on the phone for over 2 hours! (^-^;;)
Worked on TOP SECRET project.
Monday, February 11th
Went downtown today to pick up some more supplies from Britex for The Flea plush toy.
Did a little shopping in preparation for Cannes. A lot more shopping to do in the next few months.
Finished writing responses to Hannah’s questions. Just have to edit a bit and then send them to her.
Worked on TOP SECRET project.
Wednesday, February 13th
Zest Books Internship, Day #5: More historical-themed image research and Tumblr. Asked to do some brainstorming for book ideas. Ended up walking all the way home today since the bus skipped a lot.
A few days ago, e-mailed the Tate Gallery about information on their William Blake collection. Today, received response with good news. Will talk about this more in upcoming post.
Received e-mail from Hannah! She sent a draft of the article, and it looks really wonderful so far. Just have to answer a couple follow-up questions. \(^-^)/
Zest Books Internship, Day #6: More historical-themed image research and Tumblr. Also, talked about a potential book idea I came up with, and some of the staff seems interested! Next week, will be attending the Teen Advisory Board on Wednesday and a staff meeting on Thursday. Very excited!
Saturday, February 16th
Ordered a beautiful dress to wear at Cannes. I needed a maxi dress for pool parties, etc. and couldn’t find the right one in stores. So I browsed Etsy and found the talented Nicole Lebreux! Not only does Nicole have really fun designs, but also she was extremely helpful in answering my questions. So go ahead and check out her shop!
Went to see a simulcast of the new Met production of Verdi’s Rigoletto. The opera is usually set in the 16th century, but this production cleverly reimagines the story in 1960s Las Vegas. Wonderfully creative and engaging production with incredible singers! Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-zXLKd76fk.
Sunday, February 17th
Worked on some upcoming blog posts.
Date night with Wes!
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 63 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-24, 27-30 completed, and 25-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
The First Reich: about 1-10 pages of illustrated work in progress.
First Zine: about 6-8 pages of illustrated work in progress.
As some of you may know, I was originally planning a trip to the UK for February 2013. Circumstances have changed a countless number of times and I thought I wouldn’t be able to go at all. But, thanks to The American Pavilion Cannes Film Program, I think I’ll be able to make my dream of seeing some of William Blake’s work in person come true (among other dreams of screenwriting, filmmaking, etc.). I’ll be in France for about two weeks, and I hope to tack on a few days in London during my journey back to the States!!!
I’m currently in the process of figuring out my travel arrangements. There are so many different routes to Nice, France, it’s difficult to decide the best way to go. Possibly, I could stop over in New York or Amsterdam or even Paris. I’m hoping my dad (Mr. Globetrotting Lawyer himself) will be able to find me the best deal. Or perhaps I’ll try a travel agent.
The wonderful Naomi Billingsley at The Blake Society sent me a fabulous e-mail detailing all the best ways to see Blake’s work and historical sites in person. She suggested that I make a list of what I want to see, so I’ll be making a number of lists on my blog in an attempt to figure out how to schedule everything into two or three days.
The Tatepossesses an impressive collection of Blake’s works, but I believe many pieces just returned from Madrid and are not currently on display. I’m hoping that by May this will change. My #1 dream is to see The Ghost of a Flea in person — so I guess I’ll try contacting the Tate and ask them for more information. Naomi pointed out that there are a number of “view by appointment” Blake works at the Tate’s Print Room and that I could make an appointment to see them. I’ll have to browse their online catalogue.
The British Museum has some Blake works in their Print Room as well and they are accessible without an appointment.
According to Naomi, The Victoria and Albert Museumhas four of Blake’s “fresco” paintings on permanent display and a collection of Blake’s watercolors in their Print Room, accessible without an appointment.
Naomi also recommended a really amazing page on the Tate’s website detailing Blake historical sites (http://www2.tate.org.uk/williamblake/lambeth/london_intro.html). All these sites seem like they’re in a pretty concentrated area, so I think I’ll be able to see a lot of them!!
From here, I’d like to further explore the museum websites/online resources and figure out how much I can see and what I want to see the most in the few days I’m in London!
***
Updates
January 28th
Today, finalized my travel arrangements! On the way from San Francisco to Nice, will be stopping over in Frankfurt. And on the way to London, will be stopping over in Belgium. Will be staying in London for three full days, staying at a decent hotel not far from all the museums and Blake historic sites. Can’t believe this is really happening!!!
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
Yesterday, I posted the 10th page of The Poet and the Flea– I can’t believe it! The Flea premiered online November 28th, 2012 and has already received almost 5,000 views. I’m so excited that everyone seems to be enjoying my graphic novel so far and I hope more and more people will begin to read it.
For those of you who have yet to check out The Flea (and for those who wish to read the first 10 pages over again), I’ve included links below. Enjoy!
***
In related news, I just discovered a very long and detailed review of the first 9 pages of The Poet and the Flea by Sarah Goode at University College Oxford on the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies’s website! Wow!!! Check it out here!
First and foremost, I’ve been working on goal #1, making progress on some of the finished illustrations for Elias & The Cityof Cats. I’m hoping to make a bit more progress in the coming days and then meet up with Gabe on Friday to show him my work.
In the meantime, I’ve been brainstorming on goals #6 and #7, my first self-printed zine and my online storefront!
Possible envelopes for first zine.
The other day, I decided that my first self-printed zine will be an illustrated poem.
I was doing some research on The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and came across the perfect poem for my first zine! I think this poem will be unexpected and exciting while still tying in with The Poet and the Flea. The poem will remain a secret for now, but I’ll give a free copy of my zine to the first person who can correctly guess which one it is. Hint: The Seven Deadly Sins. I’ll be truly impressed if anyone gets this!
As far as production goes, I’d like to keep this zine relatively simple since it’s my first: about 6 to 8 pages, black and white with simple lines, a number of special hand-watercolored copies, all packaged in a lovely envelope. I’ll probably print about 25 or 30 copies, but I’d love to know if anyone is seriously interested in purchasing a copy so that I can figure out if I need to print more or less.
I’ve been planning my online storefront for a while now, but I’m waiting for the right time to set it up and launch it.
I’ve decided to use Storenvy, because it seems user-friendly and stylish. And it helps that it’s free.
Other than my first self-printed zine, I’d like to offer a wide range of products including The Poet and the Flea merchandise (prints/posters, t-shirts, tote bags, badges/pins, etc.). For prints, I’d like to keep them high-quality but made-to-order so that one can request any page of The Flea or whatnot.
The most ambitious product I’d like to see in my store is a The Flea plush toy. I’ve been playing around with many ideas for this, but know it has to remain relatively simple. The plush toy will definitely be handmade in black fabric, possibly with buttons for eyes and silver/gold (maybe glow-in-the-dark) fabric paint to add texture/scales. It will take me a while to get to this project (and I might recruit some help for it), but I’m excited to see how everything turns out.
Also, I’d like to offer commissioned illustrations, but I have to work out the details on that!
Again, feedback is very welcome! Just leave a comment below or send me an e-mail at gegallas@hotmail.com!
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
Sent out some more fellowship/internship/job applications.
Worked on The Flea script.
Saturday, December 15th
Last day of cat sitting!
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Worked on The Flea script.
Sunday, December 16th
Went to see The Hobbit with Wes and the folks! I was a major fan of The Lord of the Rings films when they first came out (and still am), so of course I was (and still am) super excited for The Hobbit. Even my dad, who was skeptical and didn’t really want to come, loved the movie (and even shed tears at the bromance between Bilbo and Thorin, I kid you not). (^-^) I know this is bizarre, but I think my favorite part was when the Great Goblin’s secretary cackled as he ziplined through the air!
Wes is so sweet and got me a Rose Vampire figurine from Super7 – IT’S SO CUTE!
As usual, great meeting with Gabe. Working out the next few steps for Elias & The City of Cats and thinking about our future projects.
2:30 p.m.:Phone interview with The American Pavilion for the Cannes Film Program. I think it went pretty well. I’ll be hearing from them this Friday. Wish me luck!
Came up with a really cool idea for The Blanks screenplay collaboration. Wrote an e-mail to Gabe and waiting to hear what he thinks!
Thursday, December 20th
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Applied to the Creative World Awards (a screenwriting competition). For more information, click here.
Worked on The Flea script.
Did some more research on fellowships/internships/jobs.
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 60 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-24, 27-30 completed, and 25-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
The First Reich: about 1-10 pages of illustrated work in progress.
“Night Startled by the Lark” (1820) by William Blake
The other day, I got in touch with The Blake Society (www.blakesociety.org) hoping to bring their attention to The Poet and the Flea and to ask them about next year’s Blake Society Tithe Grant.
To my surprise and delight, The Blake Society had already heard of my graphic novel and had made an announcement on their December newsletter as well as their Facebook page.
I think it’s really wonderful that The Blake Society seems to keep tabs on as many Blake-related projects as possible. They have a great website with many resources, including a full biography of William Blake and links to other useful sites.
If only I were in London, I would have joined this society long ago. But San Francisco is so far away and I’m unaware of any local societies here (although according to The Blake Society, there was a William Blake society in Palo Alto around 1940 ).
***
Excerpt from The Blake Society December newsletter:
BLAKE IN THE WORLD OF GRAPHIC NOVELS
A new graphic novel is being published in installments on the web. The Poet and the Flea is written and illustrated by G. E. Gallas and a new page appears every Wednesday. Gallas is inspired by Blake as ‘the junction between Dante Alighieri and Allen Ginsberg’.
***
Excerpt from The Black Society on Facebook:
The Poet and the Flea is a new online graphic novel by G. E. Gallas which re-imagines the life of Blake. A new page is added every Wednesday; today we reach page 7, when William tells Kate about seeing a tree full of angels.
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
Date with Wes! We ran all over the city today. Activities included calendar shopping (“Aw, look at the corgis!”), eating very tasty meals, and going to see the film Hitchcock (while not brilliant, was thoroughly enjoyable).
Take a look at the super cute calendar I bought. You can get it here!
Disclaimer: I do not own this image!!
Sunday, December 2nd
Did some more research on fellowships and jobs and sent out some more applications.
Monday, December 3rd
My sister Sydney’s birthday is today! So check out her amazing costume designs: sydneygallas.com.
The Poet and the Flea: 52 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-24, 27-30 completed, and 25-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
The First Reich: about 1-10 pages of illustrated work in progress.
To Do:
December 8: The East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest
First Zine and Future Shop
★Please Note: Feedback on this post would be extremely appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Only January, and I’m already beginning to tackle some of my New Year’s goals (New Year’s Resolutions, Anyone?)!!!
First and foremost, I’ve been working on goal #1, making progress on some of the finished illustrations for Elias & The City of Cats. I’m hoping to make a bit more progress in the coming days and then meet up with Gabe on Friday to show him my work.
In the meantime, I’ve been brainstorming on goals #6 and #7, my first self-printed zine and my online storefront!
Possible envelopes for first zine.
The other day, I decided that my first self-printed zine will be an illustrated poem.
I was doing some research on The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and came across the perfect poem for my first zine! I think this poem will be unexpected and exciting while still tying in with The Poet and the Flea. The poem will remain a secret for now, but I’ll give a free copy of my zine to the first person who can correctly guess which one it is. Hint: The Seven Deadly Sins. I’ll be truly impressed if anyone gets this!
As far as production goes, I’d like to keep this zine relatively simple since it’s my first: about 6 to 8 pages, black and white with simple lines, a number of special hand-watercolored copies, all packaged in a lovely envelope. I’ll probably print about 25 or 30 copies, but I’d love to know if anyone is seriously interested in purchasing a copy so that I can figure out if I need to print more or less.
I’ve been planning my online storefront for a while now, but I’m waiting for the right time to set it up and launch it.
I’ve decided to use Storenvy, because it seems user-friendly and stylish. And it helps that it’s free.
Other than my first self-printed zine, I’d like to offer a wide range of products including The Poet and the Flea merchandise (prints/posters, t-shirts, tote bags, badges/pins, etc.). For prints, I’d like to keep them high-quality but made-to-order so that one can request any page of The Flea or whatnot.
The most ambitious product I’d like to see in my store is a The Flea plush toy. I’ve been playing around with many ideas for this, but know it has to remain relatively simple. The plush toy will definitely be handmade in black fabric, possibly with buttons for eyes and silver/gold (maybe glow-in-the-dark) fabric paint to add texture/scales. It will take me a while to get to this project (and I might recruit some help for it), but I’m excited to see how everything turns out.
Also, I’d like to offer commissioned illustrations, but I have to work out the details on that!
Again, feedback is very welcome! Just leave a comment below or send me an e-mail at gegallas@hotmail.com!
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
***
Copyright 2013 by G. E. Gallas
35 comments | tags: Ambition, Ambitious, Appreciated, Appreciation, Badges, Beginning, Black & White, Black and White, Blog, Brainstorming, Buttons, Cats, Chic, Children's book, Comic book, Comics, Comment, Constructive Criticism, Copies, Copy, Correct, Correctly, Creative, Creativity, Cute, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Drawing, Drawings, Dream, E-mail, Elias & The City of Cats, Envelopes, Etsy, Exciting, Fabric, Fabric Paint, Feedback, Finished, First, Free, Gabe, Glow-in-the-Dark, Goals, Gold, Graphic Novel, Guess, Handmade, High Quality, Hint, Ideas, Illustrated, Illustrations, Illustrator, Impressed, Interested, Interesting, January, Long-Term, Lovely, Made-to-Order, Meeting, Merchandise, New Year, New Year's Resolutions, New Years, Online, Page, Perfect, Pins, Play, Please, Plush Toy, Plushie, Poem, Poetry, Possible, Post, Posters, Print, Prints, Production, Products, Progress, Project, Purchase, Purchasing, Range, Remain, Request, Research, Rome, Scales, Secret, Shop, Short-Term, Silver, Simple, Sin, Storefront, Storenvy, Stuffed Animal, Stylish, T-Shirts, Tackle, Texture, Thank You, The Poet and the Flea, The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, The Pre-Raphaelites, The Seven Deadly Sins, Tie-in, Tote Bags, Truly, Tying, Unexpected, User-Friendly, Watercolor, Watercolored, Welcome, Whatnot, Wide, William Blake, William Holman Hunt, William Morris, Work in Progress, Writer, Zine, Zines | posted in Announcement, Graphic Novel, Illustration/Design, Shop, The Poet and the Flea