I haven’t really had a chance recently to record my daily activities like I used to. And I guess that’s a good thing since it means I’ve been super busy working on some amazing projects!
Here’s what I’ve been up to for the past few weeks:
Working on my first real freelance illustration job!!! I’ve been more or less hired to design some covers and interior illustrations. More details to come.
Working on blog posts documenting my Cannes/London trip. There are about 20-23 related posts I’ve been working on since I got back. I just want to polish them all before sharing them!
Figuring out inventory for upcoming online store and expos/fests/conventions. This includes putting together my first zine and The Flea plush toy among other products.
Production of my first zine. I’ve been printing, cutting, and assembling like mad and can’t wait to share my work! Plus, I already have a great idea for my second zine.
Production of The Flea plush toy. This has involved a few failed attempts, but I’ve finally hit upon a great prototype and am ready to start making more.
Setting up a Storenvy account. Drafting product descriptions, etc.
Pre-production for The Man Who Never Smiled. One of my short scripts is being made into a film!!! I’ve been working with a Sacramento-based director named Josh on this. We’re planning on filming in July. More details to come.
Planning on finishing the first 10 pages of The First Reich. As soon as I’m done with the first deadline for the freelance illustration job, I plan to work on this.
Officially began writing my third full-length screenplay. I’ve had this strange idea floating around my brain for a while now. Without giving anything away, I think the best way to describe it is as a dark dramedy.
Planning on submitting some new short screenplays to various contests. While at Cannes, I had a chance to write a few new shorts.
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:
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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.
Some of you have probably noticed me occasionally mentioning a project called The First Reich. This is a graphic novel collaboration I’ve been working on for a number of months with the very talented Shannon Brady. She wrote the incredibly compelling script/storyboard for The First Reich, carefully plotting out each panel to the best of her artistic ability — stick figures though they may be. It’s my job to transform her wonderful draft into a finished illustrated work.
The First Reichis more or less a biographical account of the Jewish-Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, and deals thoughtfully with a number of subjects including the history of psychology, World War II, Nazism, Communism, McCarthyism, and beyond.
Currently, The First Reich‘s website (thefirstreich.wordpress.com) is bare bones, but you can hop over there and read a fascinating and eloquent statement by Shannon about this project. At the moment, I’m working on the first 10 pages of the graphic novel and hope to post them online sometime in the coming months. Below are details from the progress I’ve made so far.
It’s really a pleasure and honor to work on this project. It’s an absolute joy collaborating with Shannon. And it’s the perfect opportunity to reflect on my own Jewish heritage and family history.
Any questions or comments are gladly welcomed!
Preliminary Character Designs: Wilhelm Reich
Preliminary Character Design: Shannon
“The First Reich” Cover Detail
Detail from Page 2
Detail from Page 3
Detail from Page 4
Detail from Page 4
***
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.
Received e-mail informing me I have a phone interview, yay!!
Worked with client on translation job.
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 53 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.
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
Today, was hired for a 4-day cat sitting job by our sweet neighbors Paula and Gabie. They want me to be with the cats as much as possible, so I figure I can earn a little extra cash while having a window of opportunity to do some work. I’m hoping to use the time to make some major headway on The Flea script — like a little writing marathon. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, November 20th
Another wonderful meeting with Gabe! Showed him color samples for Elias and he seemed rather surprised at how colorful they are, but delighted! Now, I just have to finish up the second draft and then scan and send it all to Gabe so he can tinker around with the text some more.
Worked on some upcoming blog posts.
Wednesday, November 21st
Ran some last minute errands.
Worked on some special illustration birthday/holiday presents with watercolor and pen!
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 1-6 pages of illustrated work in progress.
To Do:
December 8: The East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest
Just wanted to share some of the work I’ve been doing collaborating with writer Gabe (G. Martinez Cabrera) on the children’s book Elias & The City of Cats.
I’m really enjoying working with Gabe — we’re good at bouncing ideas off one another and both have the creative energy to push one another to make the best book that we can!
Currently, we’re working towards creating a mockup of Elias to shop around to publishers.
A few weeks ago, Gabe took the time to cut up his story and arrange it into a format that gives me a better idea of the images he’s looking for. From that, I worked on a rough sketch storyboard draft of sorts.
Recently, I showed Gabe this first rough draft, and from our discussion I’m putting together a second rough draft. I’m sure both of us will be doing a good number of drafts before we have a polished mockup!
Elias and Ignis, preliminary character designs.
Ignis, another preliminary character design.
Two pages from the first rough draft.
Another two pages from the first rough draft.
The second rough draft, in progress!
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
Meeting with Gabe: I surprised myself by creating a rough draft for Elias in less than a week! Went through entire draft with Gabe, and discussed options for various pages. Next step, experiment with watercolors, markers, etc. to create samples in order to give Gabe a better idea of the final illustrations.
The Poet and the Flea: 49 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.
As I mentioned before (here), I’ve only recently become interested in the world of zines. Not only do zines appear to be an incredibly flexible channel for creativity, but I think that this medium would be a great compliment to my graphic novels and children’s books. I like the idea of the zine being very hands on — a real artist book, the artist not only illustrating, but also cutting and pasting the finished pamphlet together. This process reminds me greatly of Andy Warhol, his factory, and 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy.
Before I begin any zines of my own, I’ve been trying to get a better sense of their mercurial world. At APE (Alternative Press Expo) 2012, I talked with Tugboat Press, who produce annual free comics and an anthology called Papercutter. Tugboat led me to Parcell Press, who seems to carry a vast array of zines, comics, etc. I also found “How to Make a Zine” on Rookie. I guess the one true rule of creating zines is that there are no rules!
As I ponder the pre-existing zine world, my own ideas for zines just keep pouring out of me. I scribble these ideas down furiously in a Gallatin notebook I received upon graduation and was saving for something important (who knew that important something was zines). Endless ideas — everything from opera parodies to The Death of Chatterton. I’m not sure when I’ll actually have time to realize these zines since I’m already working on so many projects that need to get done (The Poet and the Flea, The First Reich, etcetera, etcetera). I’m hoping to take a stab early next year, June at the latest. We’ll see how that works out…
Some useful zine-related websites I’ve discovered:
Zines 101 has some basic but good advice. They suggest submitting zines to sites that review them (Broken Pencil, Xerography Debt, Zine World, etc.) as well as posting on online zine communities (We Make Zines, etc.) to get larger exposure.
Etsy, Storenvy, and Big Cartel seem to be used by a huge number of zine creators. There are definite pros and cons to all of them, but I think I’m leaning more towards Storenvy at the moment. (I’m also thinking of selling other products [T-shirts, tote bags, greeting cards, etc.] with images from The Poet and the Flea as well as my zines.)
I’m also considering self-printing versus printing with a printer. Most sites seem to recommend working with a local printer. In San Francisco – H&H Imaging, Your Printer, Autumn Press, etc.
Update Nov. 6: Discovered issuu.com — seems like many zines publish online using this site. Pretty neat!!
Plus, I figure if I make enough zines, then eventually I can release them all in one book.
Any comments, suggestions, or thoughts would be truly appreciated!
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
I have always loved Halloween. Dressing up, trick-or-treating, jack-o’-lanterns, et cetera, et cetera. Perhaps that’s because I would watch Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas on VHS over and over and over again as an impressionable 6-year-old.
I believe my all-time best Halloween costume as a child was The Patchwork Girl of Oz. I read L. Frank Baum’s book that summer — I think I was most impressed by the idea of the “Square Meal Tablet.” For the costume, I just remember my mom helping me stitch “doll seams” into pink stockings — a bit like Sally from Nightmare.
I love Halloween so much that, in high school, I wrote a graphic novel called Every Day Should Be Halloween. The basic premise was about a high schooler plagued not only metaphorically but literally by a monkey on his back. I never finished the series… But I completed the written script, the character designs, the costume designs, and a rough sketch outline (see above) of every last page (a little over a hundred in total).
Disclaimer: I do not own this image!!
Now, my default costume is Daria Morgendorffer, as in MTV’s animated series Daria (see above). I label this “default” since I just pull from my closet a number of articles from my high school days and voilà!!! This year, it’s a particularly fortunate costume since Wes told me his very first crush was on Daria (´∀｀)♡ (okay, I admit it — I totally had a crush on Trent; and Wes does an uncanny impression of the Mystik Spiral vocalist).
Anyway, here’s a sneak peak of my costume…
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
“The First Reich”: Behind the Scenes (Part 1)
Related Post: “The Poet and the Flea”: Behind the Scenes (Part 1)
***
Some of you have probably noticed me occasionally mentioning a project called The First Reich. This is a graphic novel collaboration I’ve been working on for a number of months with the very talented Shannon Brady. She wrote the incredibly compelling script/storyboard for The First Reich, carefully plotting out each panel to the best of her artistic ability — stick figures though they may be. It’s my job to transform her wonderful draft into a finished illustrated work.
The First Reich is more or less a biographical account of the Jewish-Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, and deals thoughtfully with a number of subjects including the history of psychology, World War II, Nazism, Communism, McCarthyism, and beyond.
Currently, The First Reich‘s website (thefirstreich.wordpress.com) is bare bones, but you can hop over there and read a fascinating and eloquent statement by Shannon about this project. At the moment, I’m working on the first 10 pages of the graphic novel and hope to post them online sometime in the coming months. Below are details from the progress I’ve made so far.
It’s really a pleasure and honor to work on this project. It’s an absolute joy collaborating with Shannon. And it’s the perfect opportunity to reflect on my own Jewish heritage and family history.
Any questions or comments are gladly welcomed!
Preliminary Character Designs: Wilhelm Reich
Preliminary Character Design: Shannon
“The First Reich” Cover Detail
Detail from Page 2
Detail from Page 3
Detail from Page 4
Detail from Page 4
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
***
Copyright 2013 by G. E. Gallas
12 comments | tags: Ability, Account, Announcement, Artist, Artistic, Artwork, Austria, Austrian, Bare, Beyond, Biographical, biography, Blog, Bones, Carefully, Character, Character Designs, Collaborate, Collaboration, Comic, Comic book, Comments, Communism, Communist, Compelling, Cover, Detail, Details, Doodle, Draft, Drawings, Eloquent, Ethnic, Ethnically, Europe, Eva Reich, Family History, Fascinating, Finished, Freud, Germany, Graphic Novel, Heritage, Historical, History, Honor, Illustrated, Illustration, Illustrator, Immigrant, Immigrated, Incredibly, Jew, Jewish, Jewish Heritage, Jewish-Austrian, Job, Joy, McCarthy, McCarthyism, Months, Nazi, Nazism, Notice, Number, Online, Pages, Panel, Pleasure, Plotting, Post, Preliminary, Progress, Project, Psychoanalyst, Psychology, Questions, Script, Shannon Brady, Sigmund Freud, Statement, Stick Figures, Subjects, The First Reich, The Poet and the Flea, Thoughtful, Thoughtfully, Transform, Web Comic, Webcomic, Website, Welcomed, Wilhelm Reich, William Blake, Wonderful, Work, Work in Progress, World War II, Writer, Written, Wrote | posted in Graphic Novel, Illustration/Design, The First Reich