Tag Archives: Aesthetic

April 4, 2013

Comics I Admire: “A Space Boy Dream”

By gegallas

A while ago, I stumbled across A Space Boy Dream, a wonderfully clever and charming webcomic by Moira Zahra and Mark Scicluna.

Somehow, my first experience of A Space Boy Dream was somewhere in the middle of the comic and out of order. But I immediately perceived Moira and Mark’s refreshingly satirical portrayal of hipsters, struggling artists, and the average young person. Not only can I relate to the plight of the angsty and self-concious protagonist Vincent, but I also marvel in the amazingly expressive character designs and unique design aesthetic of this comic.

I didn’t realize until later that the artists live in and portray the Mediterranean island of Malta!! This fact went completely over my head because A Space Boy Dream‘s hipsters are identical to the ones I’ve encountered in Manhattan, San Francisco, and across the U.S. in general. I guess some components of society and subculture are far more universal than I originally imagined.

The following images belong to Moira Zahra and Mark Scicluna.

For more A Space Boy Dream, please check out the following websites…

aspaceboydream.com

aspaceboydreamcomic.wordpress.com

www.facebook.com/aspaceboydream

www.facebook.com/aspaceboydreamcomic?fref=ts

moirazahra.prosite.com

www.behance.net/markscicluna

Interview with Moira Zahra and Mark Scicluna: www.maltainsideout.com/22565/comic-strip-artists-life-space-boy-dream-character-vincent

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10 comments | tags: A Space Boy Dream, Aesthetic, Amazing, Angsty, Artist, Artwork, Author, Average, Bizarre, Cartoon, Character, Character Design, Characters, Charming, Clever, Comic book, Comic Strip, Comics, Components, Concept, Creative, Creative Process, Creativity, Culture, Design, Digital, Digital Art, Doodle, Doodles, Drawing, Drawings, Encounter, Encountered, Entertainment, Experience, Expressive, Fashion, Fiction, Geek, Gothic, Graphic Design, Graphic Novel, Handmade, Hero, Hipster, Hipsters, Identical, Illustrated, Illustration, Illustrator, Imagination, Imagined, Ink, Island, Live, Malta, Manhattan, Mark Scicluna, Mediterranean, Middle, Mixed Media, Moira Zahra, Original, Out of Order, Pen, Pen and Ink, Person, Plight, Portray, Portrayal, Project, Protagonist, Realize, Refreshing, Sanfrancisco, Satirical, Self-Concious, Sketch, Sketchbook, Sketches, Society, Story, Storytelling, Strange, Struggling Artist, Subculture, Surreal, Typography, U.S., UK, Unique, Universal, USA, Vincent, Web Comic, Webcomic, Wonderful, Work in Progress, Writer, Young, Youth | posted in Graphic Novel, Illustration/Design, Links

February 21, 2013

Comics I Admire: “Quarterly Stories”

By gegallas

Today, I am pleased to present Joshua Kemble and his new online graphic novel Two Stories.

I stumbled across the website Quarterly Stories whilst on my search for autobiographical/non-fiction webcomics. I’m not sure how I came across this amazing work, but I sure am glad I did.

Two Stories is an autobiographical graphic novel that deals with themes of “…life, love, loss, and depression.” As far as I can tell, the novel will consist of a series of short stories that are all autobiographical, but will be presented in various styles, tones, and genres (“serious to silly”).

Not only are Josh’s illustrations absolutely stunning, full of texture and movement, but his storytelling is powerful and compelling. For this first chapter, it is not just a story of attempted suicide, but more astonishingly a step-by-step examination of the protagonist/author’s thought process — a complex mind that makes connections (from Shakespeare to It’s A Wonderful Life and back to reality) and plays tricks on itself (“The Suicide Game” on page 4).

Josh is a Xeric Award-winning cartoonist who works as a freelance illustrator as well as an adjunct professor at Laguna College of Art and Design. With such an impressive background and body of work, I’m expecting Two Stories to be quickly snatched up by publishers.

The following images belong to Joshua Kemble.

For more Quarterly Stories and Joshua Kemble, please check out the following websites…

quarterlystories.com

joshuakemble.com

www.facebook.com/pages/Joshua-Kemble-Illustrations/130292550362837

Store: joshuakemble.com/?page_id=241

Numb: www.amazon.com/Numb-Lost-Love-Broken-Memories/dp/B002O746WA

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12 comments | tags: Absolutely, Aesthetic, Amazing, Art, Artist, Artwork, Astonishing, Attempted, Author, Autobiographical, Autobiography, Award, Background, biography, Black, Black and White, Blizzard, Blog, Body, Book, Brainstorming, Cartoon, Cartoonist, Chapter, Character, Character Design, Coat, Cold, College, Comic book, Comics, Comment, Compelling, Consist, Creative, Creativity, Dark, Deals, Depression, Design, Doodle, Doodles, Drawing, Drawings, Endeavor, Examination, Examine, Expectations, Expecting, First, Freelance, Freezing, Genres, Gorgeous, Grant, Graphic Design, Graphic Novel, Handmade, Hero, Idea, Ideas, Illustration, Illustrator, Impressive, Ink, Inked, Josh, Joshua Kemble, Laguna College of Art and Design, LCAD, Life, Loss, Love, Movement, New, Non-Fiction, Notable, Note, Noteworthy, Novel, Pen, Pen and Ink, Pencil, Powerful, Present, Process, Professor, Project, Protagonist, Publish, Publisher, Publishers, Quickly, Search, Self-Publish, Sequential Art, Series, Serious, Short Stories, Short Story, Silly, Sketch, Sketchbook, Sketches, Snatched Up, Snow, Snowing, Step-by-Step, Storm, Story, Storyteller, Storytelling, Stunning, Style, Styles, Suicidal, Suicide, Texture, Theme, Themes, Thought, Tone, Tones, Trick, Tricks, Two Stories, University, Various, Vary, Web Comic, Webcomic, Winner, Winning, Work, Writer, Xeric | posted in Graphic Novel, Illustration/Design, Links

January 24, 2013

The Versatile Blogger Award!

By gegallas

What, another award!?!?!?! Many many many many many thanks to the incredibly talented Kiki Lanbac (laofli.wordpress.com)!!! She has a wonderful aesthetic and a wicked sense of humor. Check out a sample of her amazing work below.

This image belongs to Kiki Lanbac!

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Rules

Post the award pic on the blog.
Tell everyone about who gave you the award with a link to their blog.
Nominate 15 more of your favorite blogs.
Tell 7 interesting facts about you.

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Nominations

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Facts

Check out these other posts for more than seven facts about me!

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Bonus

Here, have an adorable photo of my shiba inu Nikki!

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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.

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23 comments | tags: A Bit More About Me, About, Adorable, Aesthetic, Amazing, Artist, Artists, Artwork, Atelier Creative, Award, Blogger, Bonus, Claree Mily Obrien, Comics, Creating Miranda, Creative, Creativity, Cute, Dog, Drawing, Drawings, Facts, Filofax Love, Graphic Novel, Humor, Illustration, Illustrator, Incredibly, Inspring, Interesting, International, Kiki Lanbac, Liebster Award, Lika a Magnet, MDLIllustration, Mixed Media, Nikki, Nominate, Nominated, Nomination, October Moon, Paint Blotch, Paris Dream Time, Patterns, Paul Donnison, Photo, Photography, Post, Reader Appreciation Award, Rules, Sample, Sarah Petersen, Sense of Humor, Shiba Inu, Talented, Thank You, The Girl Rach, The Human Sarah, The Versatile Blogger Award, Tina Wan, Tumblr, Twitter, Versatile, Very Inspiring Blogger Award, Wicked, Witches Brew Press, Wonderful, Work | posted in About, Links, Update

December 3, 2012

Note on the Taishō Period

By gegallas

For many years, I have been fascinated by modern Japan — everything from the Meiji period (1868 – 1912) to current day. One of my favorite periods is a rather short one known as Taishō (1912 – 1926). What strikes me most about Taishō is the amazing blend of Japanese and Western aesthetics.

I think my interest in Taishō really began when I read Yukio Mishima’s novel Spring Snow (Haru no Yuki). This novel is actually a period piece — published in 1969, but set around 1912 – 1914. Mishima gives a detailed look at the Japanese class system of the period through a romantic tragedy (although I’m not sure Mishima saw this story as such).

My interest in Taishō developed further through a series of college courses on modern Japanese literature. I even did a project involving costume designs for a Taishō-set short story, involving research on fashion of the period from Kimonos and beyond.

I also find advertisements from this period interesting. Actually, the Shiseido ads from the 1900s through the 1930s are really remarkable! You can find out more about these ads on MIT’s Visualizing Cultures website.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a number of my favorite images:

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following images!!

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11 comments | tags: Ad, Advertisement, Aesthetic, Aesthetics, Beyond, Book, Brainstorming, Brilliant, Chic, Class, Class System, Clothing, College, Colors, Cool, Current Day, Developed, Era, Fascinated, Fascinating, Fascination, Fashion, Favorite, Graphic Design, Haru no Yuki, Historical, History, Illustration, Images, Interest, Japan, Japanese, Japanese Literature, Kimono, Kimonos, Literature, Meiji Period, MIT, Modern, Note, Novel, Period, Period Piece, Published, Remarkable, Research, Romantic, Romantic Tragedy, Share, Shiseido, Short Story, Spring Snow, Story, Storytelling, Strange, Taisho, Taisho Period, Tragedy, Turn of the Century, Unusual, Vibrant, Visualizing Cultures, Website, Weird, Western, Woodblock Carving, Yukio Mishima | posted in Brainstorming, Research

November 30, 2012

Reader Appreciation Award!

By gegallas

Wow, I can’t believe I was just nominated for another award — that’s the 3rd one in a very short span of time! I guess my dedication is starting to pay off. Feels especially good after receiving a number of various rejections over the past few weeks.

I would like to thank The Geek Transition for nominating me and for these kind words: “She just released a graphic novel called The Poet and The Flea, and I think it’s pretty cool. You can tell she put a lot of work into it. Congrats on the premiere, G.E.!” Thank you very very very much!!

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Rules

1. Link back to the person who nominated you.
2. Attach the icon to your site.
3. Answer the questions.
4. Nominate some other bloggers whom you feel deserve this award!

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Questions

Your favorite color?

As covered in my post “A Bit More About Me“: Since childhood, I’ve always favored blue. But nowadays everyone would accuse me of being passionate about the color black.

Your favorite animal?

Difficult question! I’m torn between llamas/alpacas, red pandas, and Shiba Inu (if a breed counts as an animal).

Your favorite non-alcoholic drink?

Tea! Especially Earl Grey, Darjeeling, and Chai.

Your favorite number?

I’m not particularly fond of numbers. Though I prefer odd to even — it’s a question of aesthetic!

Your favorite day of the week?

Don’t really have a favorite day. My least favorite day is Wednesday.

Your favorite flower?

I have developed a fascination with the history of tulips after reading The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas.

What is your passion?

As you can hopefully tell by my blog, writing and illustrating. Also, Japanese language and culture.

Do you watch television?

I am a junkie for high-quality dramatic series like Boardwalk Empire and Mad Men, including a million BBC shows like The Hour, Whitechapel, and House of Cards. I just fall in love with the brilliant writing, the multidimensional characters, and the amazing actors. I also love really cheesy Japanese dramas — right now, my favorite is Guilty: Akuma to Keiyaku Shita Onna (Guilty: The Woman who Made a Deal with the Devil).

Who is your favorite author?

Another difficult question! Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces is practically my bible (I mentioned I’m a Jewish atheist, right?). I’m also quite fond of Robert Graves’s I, Claudius, Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo, Yukio Mishima’s Spring Snow (Haru no Yuki), E. L. Doctorow’s Ragtime, etcetera, etcetera. My bookshelf looks frighteningly like a Penguin Classics library!

Do you like 80′s movies?

Not particularly. The closest I get are the BBC series Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979) and Smiley’s People (1982) starring Alec Guinness. And yes, I also love the 2011 version of Tinker Tailor.

What social issues bother you?

Oh, don’t even get me started — we’ll be here forever! Just know that I watch The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and MSNBC (Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, and all of them) religiously.

How do you like your eggs?

Usually, I like them scrambled. But I also like them poached, especially for an Eggs Benedict!

When did you discover blogging?

I truthfully can’t remember exactly. I remember first using a computer when I was 4 years old. And I started using deviantART sometime in middle school, if that counts.

Why do you like to blog?

I don’t always like blogging, but I’ve discovered how incredibly wonderful bloggers are on WordPress. Unlike other social media sites, bloggers here seem to have a bit more etiquette. I enjoy sharing my work and receiving positive feedback from other talented bloggers!

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Nomination

G. Martinez Cabrera

It’s been a true pleasure collaborating (Elias & The City of Cats) with Gabe thus far, and I look forward to our future projects!

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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.

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8 comments | tags: A Bit More About Me, Accuse, Actors, Aesthetic, Alec Guinness, Alexandre Dumas, Alpaca, Amazing, Animal, Announcement, Appreciation, Atheist, Author, Award, BBC, Bible, Black, Blog, Bloggers, Blue, Boardwalk Empire, Bookshelf, Breed, Brilliant, Chai, Characters, Cheesy, Childhood, Claudius, Color, Congratulations, Cool, Culture, Darjeeling, Day of the Week, Dedication, deviantART, Difficult, Dog, Drama, Dramatic, Drawing, Drawings, Drink, Dumas, E. L. Doctorow, Earl Grey, Eggs, Eggs Benedict, Emperor Claudius, Enjoy, Etiquette, Everyone, Fascination, Favorite, Feedback, Flower, Fond, Frightening, Good, Graphic Novel, Graphic Novelist, Guilty, Haru no Yuki, History, House of Cards, I, Icon, Illustration, Illustrator, Incredible, J-Drama, Japan, Japanese, Jewish, Jewish American, Jewish Atheist, Joseph Campbell, Kind, Language, Laurence O'Donnell, Least, Least Favorite, Llama, Mad Men, Middle School, MSNBC, Multidimensional, Nominated, Nomination, Non-Alcoholic, Number, Odd, Panda, Passion, Passionate, Penguin Classics, Poached, Positive, premiere, Questions, Rachel Maddow, Ragtime, Reader, Reader Appreciation Award, Receive, Red Panda, Rejection, Rejections, Remember, Robert Graves, Rules, Scrambled, Series, Shiba Inu, Smilye's People, Social Issues, Social Media, Spring Snow, Talented, Tea, Television, Thank You, Thankful, The Black Tulip, The Colbert Report, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Daily Show, The Geek Transition, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The Hour, The Poet and the Flea, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tulip, Tulips, Version, Wednesday, Weeks, Whitechapel, William Blake, Wonderful, Wordpress, Words, Work, Writer, Yukio Mishima | posted in Announcement

May 29, 2012

“Who is Laurence Harvey?”: Research

By gegallas

Over the course of researching and writing my first full-length screenplay entitled Who is Laurence Harvey? (about the forgotten international film star Laurence Harvey [1928 - 1973]), I developed a bit of a hobby.

“What hobby?” you ask.

Collecting every single last image of Laurence Harvey I can find on the internet, that’s what!!

I currently have over 450 images saved in my Laurence Harvey folder.

Here, I thought I’d share some of my favorite images. These are the images that I hope will one day influence the production/design of this film.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these images!!

(Click on images to enlarge.)