Tag Archives: Ideas
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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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
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Copyright 2013 by G. E. Gallas
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
Related Post: First Zine and Future Shop
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Everyone seems really enthusiastic about The Flea plush toy, so I thought I’d tackle this project sooner than later! Below details the progress I’ve made so far…
Tuesday, January 15th: I began drawing a rough outline for what will eventually become a plush toy of The Ghost of a Flea à la my graphic novel The Poet and the Flea. I’m still playing around with various ideas — size, fabric, etc. Ideally, I’d like the finished product to be simultaneously adorable and menacing. (^-^;;)
Friday, January 25th: Worked on a second outline, this time on a larger scale and with slightly more exaggerated features. When the time comes, everything will have to be hand-stiched since I currently don’t own a sewing machine. My mom has a lot of experience with sewing, so she’s going to help me out.
Monday, January 28th: After finalizing my travel arrangements for Cannes/London with an agent, my mom and I stopped by Britex Fabrics and picked up fabric and other supplies (stuffing, needles, thread, etc.). It might take a bit of experimenting to figure out the best materials, but I’m looking forward to it! Stay tuned for more details!
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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
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Copyright 2013 by G. E. Gallas
24 comments | tags: 18th Century, Adorable, Agent, Art, Artist, Artwork, Bizarre, Black, Black and White, Brainstorming, Britex Fabrics, Button, Buttons, Cannes, Character, Character Design, Chidlren's Toy, Children, Children's Toy, Color, Comic, Comic book, Comics, Concept, Craft, Crafts, Creative, Creativity, Creature, Culture, Cute, Design, Details, Doll, Dolls, Drawing, Drawings, Elements, Embroidery, England, Enthusiasm, Enthusiastic, Etsy, Exaggerated, Experience, Experiment, Experimenting, Fabric, Fabrics, Fantasy, Fashion, Features, Felt, Figures, Figurine, Finalizing, Flea, Fun, Future, Gothic, Graphic Novel, Hand-Stiched, Handmade, Help, Historical, Ideas, Illustration, Imagination, January, Larger, London, Macabre, Material, Materials, Menacing, Mixed Media, Mom, Monster, Needles, Outline, Photo, Photography, Plan, Plush Toy, Plushie, Preliminary, Product, Production, Progress, Project, Scale, Sewing, Sewing Machine, Sewn, Shop, Size, Sketch, Stay Tuned, Stiched, Store, Storenvy, Story, Strange, Stuffed Animal, Stuffed Toy, Stuffing, Supplied, Symbols, Textile, The Ghost of a Flea, The Poet and the Flea, Thread, Toy, Toys, Travel, Trip, Various, William Blake, Work in Progress, Zine | posted in Announcement, Graphic Novel, The First Reich
My head is spinning from all these award nominations!
Thank you so much to Eszter (felteddreams.wordpress.com) for nominating me a second time for the Liebster Award! Don’t forget to check out Eszter’s amazing felt/embroidery/quilting creations.
To view the post from my first nomination, click here.
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Rules
- Post eleven facts about yourself.
- Answer the questions the tagger has set for you and create eleven questions for people you’ve nominated.
- Choose eleven people to give this award to and link them in your post.
- Go to their page and tell them.
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Eszter’s Quetions
1. What inspired you to start blogging?
Well, I started this particular blog to keep track of my various creative projects and to organize my thoughts a bit.
2. Is there one thing you wish you could change about yourself, what would it be?
I’m never good at answering this sort of question. Even if I could magically change something about myself, I don’t think I would.
3. If you could meet someone famous who is still living who would it be?
This is a really tough question because I don’t want to jinx my chances at Cannes.
4. What was the most interesting class you ever took in school?
Another tough question since I went to New York University: Gallatin School of Individualized Study and took a number of amazing courses including “Dante’s World,” “Virtue and Villainy: Melodrama,” and “Globalization: Promises and Discontents.” The most life-changing class I ever took was “Yellow Peril: Documenting & Understanding Xenophobia” taught by the amazing Jack Tchen. For this class, I wrote a painstakingly researched 25-page paper (plus 5 pages of works cited) about Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Girls. Jack’s new book Yellow Peril: Understanding Fears of “the East” and What We Can Do About It is coming out at the end of February, so check it out if you’re interested!
5. What did you want to be when you were little?
I think I always wanted to be a comic book artist/graphic novelist/mangaka since I was in elementary school up through high school graduation. I drifted away from comics/graphic novels/manga in college, but as you can tell from The Poet and the Flea have regained my passion.
6. If you could decorate your work-space however you wanted, what would be your feature color?
Well, when I moved to San Francisco, I really got to decorate my workspace and I wouldn’t really change a thing (other than that it sometimes gets way too hot and there’s no air-conditioning). My room is mostly made of various shades of blue with splashes of yellow, tan, and salmon. It’s pretty funky!
7. If your life were a book, what would be the title?
Radiant Pessimist™ (this will also be the name of my future production company — I have Laurence Harvey to thank for that one).
8. What one happy memory do you have always coming to mind?
I don’t really have one memory that always comes to mind. But I recently thought of a childhood memory (when I was maybe six or seven years old) that I really hadn’t thought of for a long time — me and my dad bobbing in the ocean off of Kiawah Island. I remember that my nose was really runny, ha ha ha.
9. Do you prefer to read actual books or use an E-reader?
Actual books, hands down! It’s just not the same experience with an e-reader. The tactile feeling of a book, the smell of it, the typography and placement on the page, the action of turning from page to page… I really have a hard time reading on my iPad.
10. If you could keep only one item from your wardrobe, what would it be?
I’ve only worn it once, but the skirt of the prom outfit my grandmother made me. She died September 2011, so I’m extremely reluctant to let it go.
11. If you win some millions in lottery, what would be the first thing you buy?
I wouldn’t “buy” anything per se. I’d rather fund a full-length film of either my own script or that of a close friend.
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Nominations
Can’t I just nominate all my followers? You’re all so awesome and talented!
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My Questions
I liked the questions I wrote last time, so I’ll use them again…
- What is the strangest dream you’ve ever had?
- What is/was your favorite subject in school?
- When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
- Who is your role model?
- What is your favorite holiday?
- What is your least favorite vegetable?
- What is your guilty pleasure?
- Are you an optimist or pessimist?
- What are your short-term goals/New Year’s resolutions?
- What did you last eat?
- Do you have any special and/or bizarre talents?
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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
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Copyright 2013 by G. E. Gallas
16 comments | tags: 2011, Action, Air-Conditioning, Amazing, Answering, Answers, Award, Bizarre, Blog, Blogger, Blogging, Blue, Book, Buy, Cannes, Cannes Film Festival, Change, Childhood, Cinema, Classes, College, Color, Comic book, Comics, Courses, Creations, Creative, Creativity, Dad, Dante's World, Decorate, Discontents, Documenting, Dream, Dress, E-Reader, Eat, Elementary School, Embroidery, Eszter, Experience, Famous, Favorite, Fears, February, Feeling, Felt, Felted Dreams, Film, Food, Friend, Full-length, Fund, Funky, Future, Gallatin, Gallatin School of Individualized Study, Globalization, Goals, Graduation, Graphic Novel, Graphic Novelist, Guilty Pleasure, Gwen Stefani, Happy, Harajuku Girls, Hard, HIgh School, Holiday, Hot, Ideas, Illustration, Illustrator, iPad, Jack Tchen, Jinx, Kiawah Island, Laurence Harvey, Life-changing, Lottery, Magic, Magical, Magically, Manga, Mangaka, Melodrama, Memory, Movie, New Year's Resolutions, New York University, Nominate, Nominated, Nomination, Nose, Ocean, Optimist, Organization, Organize, Outfit, Page to Page, Painstakingly, Paper, Passion, Per Se, Pessimist, Phobia, Placement, Production Company, Projects, Prom, Promises, Questions, Quilting, Radiant Pessimist, Reluctant, Research, Researched, Role Model, Rules, Runny, Salmon, San Francisco, School, Screenplay, Script, September 2011, Shades, Short-Term, Skirt, Special, Splashes, Strange, Subject, Tactile, Talented, Talents, Tan, Thank You, The Divine Comedy, The Liebster Award, The Poet and the Flea, Thoughts, Tough, Track, Trademarked, Turning, Typography, Understanding, Various, Vegetable, Villainy, Virtue, Virtue and Villainy, Wardrobe, Works Cited, Workspace, Worn, Xenophobia, Yellow, Yellow Peril, Young | posted in About, Links, Research, Update
★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!
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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
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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
Don’t forget to check out my most recent posts!:
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Here is a brief update on my current creative projects and endeavors…!
★ “The Poet and the Flea 100 Day Countdown to the Premiere” is underway!! Join us on Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook!
Tuesday, November 6th
- Continued to work on application for Chronicle Books Children’s Design Fellowship.
- Added information to my Coroflot.com profile.
- Worked on The Flea script and the script for a comedic zine idea.
- Applied to a publishing job.
- Worked on my long abused Pinterest.
Wednesday, November 7th
- Finished work on application for Chronicle Books Children’s Design Fellowship
- Dropped off fellowship application at Chronicle Books!
- Attended Scary Cow information session.
Thursday, November 8th
- Took care of some errands.
- Worked on The First Reich.
- Worked on the second rough draft for Elias & The City of Cats.
Friday, November 9th
- Worked on application to the Cannes Film Program.
- Attended Cinema by the Bay with Wes.
Saturday, November 10th
- Decided to apply to a fellowship at Wired Magazine.
- Thoroughly enjoyed Skyfall. (´∀｀)♡
- Did some more research on fellowships and jobs.
Sunday, November 11th
- Took care of some e-mails and applied to a few more jobs.
Monday, November 12th
- Took care of some e-mails, etc.
Tuesday, November 13th
- Worked on The First Reich.
- Worked on the second rough draft for Elias & The City of Cats.
- Worked on some color samples for Elias & The City of Cats.
Wednesday, November 14th
- Coming soon! — Meeting with the Bay Area Film and TV Connection (Connect with Others in the Film and TV Industry).
Etcetera
- 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.
- The First Reich: about 1-6 pages of illustrated work in progress.
To Do:
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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
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Copyright 2012 by G. E. Gallas
2 comments | tags: Application, Apply, Bay Area, Brainstorming, Bubbie, Cannes, Cannes Film Program, Cats, Children, Children's Books, Chronicle Books, Cinema by the Bay, Color, Comedic, Comedy, Comic, Comic book, Comics, Coming Soon, Connect, Connection, Coroflot, Creative, Creativity, Design, Elias & The City of Cats, Endeavors, Errands, Facebook, Fellowship, Film, Film Society, Films, Graphic Design, Graphic Novel, Graphic Novelist, Hyde, Idea, Ideas, Illustration, Illustrator, Independent Film, Indie Film, Information, Jew, Jewish, Jewish American, Job, Jon Hamm, Meeting, Meetup.com, Much Ado About Nothing, New York City, October, Online Comic, Pinterest, Profile, Projects, Publisher, Publishing, Research, Roseland Ballroom, Rough Draft, Samples, San Francisco, Scary Cow, Screenplay, Screenwriter, Script, Skyfall, Television, The First Reich, The Poet and the Flea, Tumblr, TV, Twitter, VAMPS, Web Comic, Webcomics, Wes, Wilhelm Reich, William Blake, Wired Magazine, Work, Writer, Writing, Zine, Zines | posted in Graphic Novel, Illustration/Design, Update, Writing
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!
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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
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Copyright 2012 by G. E. Gallas
40 comments | tags: Arrange, Book, Books, Brainstorming, Cat, Cats, Character Design, Character Designs, Children, Children's book, City, Collaborate, Collaborating, Collaboration, Commedia dell'Arte, Create, Creating, Creative, Creativity, Cut, Discussion, Draft, Drafts, Drawing, Drawings, Elias, Elias & The City, Emperor, Enjoy, Eyes, Format, G. Martinez Cabrera, Gabe, Harlequin, Ideas, Ignis, Illustration, Illustrator, Images, Imagination, King, Kitten, Kitty, Mockup, Pierrot, Polished, Preliminary, Publish, Publisher, Rome, Rough, Rough Draft, Ruler, Shop, Sketch, Story, Storyboard, Storytelling, Words, Work, Work in Progress, Writer | posted in Illustration/Design, Writing
Here is a brief update on my current creative projects and endeavors…!
★ “The Poet and the Flea 100 Day Countdown to the Premiere” is underway!! Join us on Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook!
Wednesday, October 24th
- Uploaded portfolio to this blog.
- Requested invite from DreamUp.com (not at all sure how this will turn out…).
- Did some online research about zines, printers, etc.
Thursday, October 25th
- Working on submission to Fantagraphics.
- Continuing to work on some upcoming blog posts and project ideas.
Friday, October 26th
- Meeting with Gabe went very well as always. Gabe took the time to cut and paste his entire story, Elias & The City of Cats, into a children’s book format to give me a better idea of what I need to illustrate. From this prototype, I’ll start working on a rough sketch storyboard!
- Applied to the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival Screenwriters Competition. Information updated on “Applications” post, here.
- Completed submissions package for Fantagraphics. Now, I just have to put in the mail!
- Scanned character preliminary design for Elias and Ignis of Elias & The City of Cats. With this design, I was just experimenting with some Commedia dell’Arte (Pierrot & Harlequin) costumes which most likely won’t appear in the final children’s book. But Gabe seems to really like this image and wants to make some t-shirts. Any interest?
Saturday, October 27th
- Last night and today, working on rough sketch storyboard for Elias & The City of Cats.
- Did some experimenting with animation app on iPad.
Sunday, October 28th
- Worked on figuring out the crazy California ballot (so many props!) so that I can vote early tomorrow.
- Had a wonderful time with Wes today! Ate dinner at The Corner Store — both had these amazing “Grasshoppers” (crème de menthe, absinthe, chocolate, and vanilla ice cream). Can’t wait to see him again on Halloween! （○゜ε＾○）
Monday, October 29th
- I voted today!!
- Dropped submissions package for Fantagraphics in the mail!
- Applied for a part-time writing job. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, October 30th
- Working on rough sketch storyboard for Elias & The City of Cats.
- Discovered that my short screenplay Death Is No Bad Friend made it to the Kaos Films British Short Screenplay Competition 2nd Round Qualifiers (announced earlier this month). I have no idea how many rounds this competition is, but does that mean that judge Sir Kenneth Branagh has read my screenplay? (｡♥‿♥｡)
- Responded to a film director on Craigslist looking for a short screenplay, and got an almost immediate response of interest. Hoping this will be successful!
- Sent an e-mail to Scout Books enquiring about collaboration and their Good Ink’s literary line.
Wednesday, October 31st
- Completed rough sketch storyboard for Elias & The City of Cats.
- Happy Halloween!!! I had a great time at Wes’s house’s pretty dorky party, even though I don’t think anyone recognized my Daria costume (even though Shannon Woodward and Katy Perry dressed as Daria and Jane without my prior knowledge). Plus, Wes gave me a belated birthday present — meet Charles, the British alpaca!!
Thursday, November 1st
- Recovering from last night!
- Ran some errands…
- Also, my mom’s (Irene Zweig) new postcards (see below) came in the mail!
Etcetera
- 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.
- The First Reich: Began work on the first few pages…!
To Do:
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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
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Copyright 2012 by G. E. Gallas
5 comments | tags: 2nd Round, Absinthe, Alpaca, Animation, Announced, Announcement, App, Apparel, Application, Ballot, Big Bear Lake International Film Festivals, Birthday, Blog, Brainstorming, British, British Short Screenplay Competition, California, Cat, Charles, Children's book, Chocolate, Collaboration, Commedia dell'Arte, Competition, Completed, Costumes, Creative, Creativity, Cut & Paste, Daria, Death Is no Bad Friend, Design, Director, Discovered, Drawing, Drawings, DreamUp.com, Dropped Off, Early Voting, Edeavors, Elias, Elias & The City of Cats, English, Errands, Experiment, Experimenting, Facbook, Fantagraphics, Format, Fund, Gift, Good Ink, Good Ink's Listerary LIne, Grasshoppers, Halloween, Harlequin, Help, Ice cream, Ideas, Ignis, Illustrate, Illustration, Illustrator, IndieGoGo, Interest, Interesting, Interiguing, Intrigue, Invite, iPad, Irene Zweig, Jane, Job, Judge, Kaos Films, Katy Perry, Kitty, Literary, Literature, London, Mail, Meeting, Package, Part-Time, Pierrot, Portfolio, Postcards, Posts, Preliminary, Present, Printers, Project, Projects, Request, Research, Rouch Sketch, Rounds, Scanned, Scout Books, Screenwriter, Screenwriters, Sent, Shannon Woodward, Short, Short Script, Sir Kenneth Branagh, Sketch, Story, Storyboard, Submission, T-shirt, The Corner Store, The Poet and the Flea, Tumblr, Twitter, UK, Upcoming, Update, Vote, Wes, Wonderful, Work, Writer, Zines | posted in Application, Graphic Novel, Illustration/Design, The Poet and the Flea, Update
Rough sketch for zine idea.
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.
- Zinebook.com has an extensive list of zine distributors and reviewers as well.
- ZineWiki: The Independent Media Wikipedia encourages zine creators to add new articles about their zines.
- 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.)
- In San Francisco, Dog Eared Books, Needles & Pens, and other local bookstores seem interested in carrying zines. Not to mention there’s the East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest (Berkeley) and the San Francisco Zine Fest.
- 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!
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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
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Copyright 2012 by G. E. Gallas
16 comments | tags: 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy, Advice, Alternative Press Expo, Andy Warhol, Annual, Anthology, APE, Appreciate, Appreciated, Array, Articles, Artist, Artist Book, Autumn Press, Basic, Big Cartel, Bookstore, Brainstorming, Broken Pencil, Channel, Children's Books, Comic book, Comics, Comments, Communities, Community, Compliment, Cons, Creative, Creativity, Creators, Cutting, Distributors, Dog Eared Books, Draft, Drawing, Drawings, East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest, Endless, Etcetera, Etsy, Eventually, Expo, Exposure, Factory, Fest, Flexible, Free, Graphic Novel, Graphic Novelist, Greeting Cards, H&H Imaging, Hands-on, How to Make a Zine, Ideas, Illustrating, Illustration, Illustrator, Important, Independent, Interested, June, Local Bookstore, Local Printer, Media, Mercurial, Needles & Pens, Next Year, No Rules, Notebook, Online, Opera, Pamphlet, Papercutter, Parcell Press, Parodies, Pasting, Pre-Existing, Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Press, Printed, Printer, Process, Products, Pros, Publisher, Remind, Review, Reviewers, Rookie, Rough, San Francisco, San Francisco Zine Fest, Self-Printing, Self-published, Sketch, Storenvy, Suggestions, T-Shirts, The Death of Chatterton, The First Reich, The Poet and the Flea, Thoughts, Tote Bags, Tugboat Press, We Make Zines, World, Xerography Debt, Your Printer, Zine, Zine World, Zinebook, Zines, Zines 101, ZineWiki | posted in Brainstorming, Graphic Novel, Research
Here is a brief update on my current creative projects and endeavors…!
★ Send G.E. to the U.K.: http://www.indiegogo.com/send-GE-to-UK
★ “The Poet and the Flea 100 Day Countdown to the Premiere” is underway!! Join us on Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook!
Thursday, October 11th
- Designed and printed out The First Reich last-minute DIY postcards (seen in this post) for APE (Alternative Press Expo).
- Preparing for meeting with Gabe tomorrow.
- Continuing to work on some upcoming blog posts and project ideas.
- Working on promoting my IndieGoGo campaign through twitter.
Friday, October 12th
- Meeting with Gabe: went very well (as usual) since Gabe is great to talk to/work with/bounce ideas off of! He liked what I’ve done so far with my character designs, but I need to go back and tweak them, which is an very interesting process and great creative practice for me. Our tentative schedule: finish mock-up of Elias by end of December; begin working on The Blanks screenplay in January.
Saturday, October 13th
- APE (Alternative Press Expo): see post “Experience of APE.”
- After APE, hung out with Wes in Japantown. He showed me around the New People center (home of h. Naoto and Baby, the Stars Shine Bright), which I’ve been meaning to visit. Meandered around the area, visiting my favorite Kinokuniya Book Store and more. Ate dinner (chicken pot pie for both of us) at this really cute restaurant called The Grove Fillmore, which has a ski-lodge-type feel. Saw some strange sights, including furries and men in lederhosen. Such a fun day!
Sunday, October 14th
- APE (Alternative Press Expo): see post “Experience of APE.”
- E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
- Continuing to work on some upcoming blog posts.
Monday, October 15th
- Working on character designs for Gabe.
- E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
- Later, hung out with Wes in The Haight! ♪(┌・。・)┌
Tuesday, October 16th
- Working on character designs for Gabe.
- Went by Christopher’s Books in hopes of a part-time job for the winter. We’ll see what happens!
Wednesday, October 17th
- Working on character designs for Gabe.
Etcetera
- 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.
To Do:
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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
***
Copyright 2012 by G. E. Gallas
Leave a comment | tags: Alternative Press Expo, APE, Application, Baby, Campaign, Character Designs, Cheshire, Christopher's Books, Collaboration, Comic, Comic book, Comics, content, Continuing, Countdown, Creative, Creativity, December, Design, Designed, Dinner, DIY, E-mail, Elias, Endeavors, Experience, Facebook, Fund, Furries, Gabe, Graphic Novel, Graphic Novelist, h. Naoto, Help, Ideas, Illustrator, IndieGoGo, January, Japantown, Job, Kinokuniya, Lederhosen, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Meeting, Mock-Up, New People Center, Online Comics, Out of Town, Part-Time, Post, Postcards, Practice, premiere, Printed, Process, Projects, Promoting, Promotion, Resume, Schedule, Screenplay, Screenwriter, Send, Strange, Tentative, The Blanks, The First Reich, The Grove Fillmore, The Haight, The Poet and the Flea, the Stars Shine Bright, Top Web Comics, Tumblr, Tweak, Twitter, U.K., Update, Web Comic, Webcomic, Wilhelm Reich, William Blake, Winter, Work, Writer | posted in Crowdfunding, Graphic Novel, The Poet and the Flea, Update
Here is a brief update on my current creative projects and endeavors…!
★ Please vote for The Poet and the Flea at the UnHate Unemployee of the Year contest!!
★ Send G.E. to the U.K.: http://www.indiegogo.com/send-GE-to-UK
★ “The Poet and the Flea 100 Day Countdown to the Premiere” is underway!! Join us on Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook!
Friday, October 5th
- E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
- Launched my IndieGoGo campaign! For more information, please visit http://www.indiegogo.com/send-GE-to-UK and/or http://gegallas.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/indiegogo-campaign-send-g-e-to-the-u-k/.
- Entered The Poet and the Flea into the UnHate Unemployee of the Year contest!
Saturday, October 6th
- The Poet and the Flea was approved by the judges on the UnHate Unemployee of the Year website. Now all you have to do is vote!
- Busy promoting my IndieGoGo campaign.
- Went to see Frankenweenie and LOVED IT!!! (｡♥‿♥｡)
Sunday, October 7th
- Went with Wes to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park. It was quite a culture shock! But I had a wonderful time. (^-^)
Monday, October 8th
- Working on character designs for Gabe’s children’s book. Looking forward to further discussion with Gabe on Friday.
- On Craigslist, responded to a post — a production company interested in short screenplays. Wish me luck!
- Continuing to promote my IndieGoGo campaign.
Tuesday, October 9th
- The wonderful Infernal Reviewer wants to make a post about my blog and The Poet and the Flea. I’m so excited!!! (ﾉﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ
- ComicKick, “…a community dedicated to promoting comic book and graphic novel projects on Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, and other crowd funding sites,” has promoted my IndieGoGo campaign! Thank you so much!!
- Continuing to promote my IndieGoGo campaign.
Wednesday, October 10th
- E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
- Drafting ideas for The First Reich last-minute DIY postcards for APE.
- Working on some upcoming blog posts and project ideas.
- Interested in eventually creating a “zine” — brainstorming ideas!
- The Infernal Reviewer published his post about me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Etcetera
- The Poet and the Flea: 47 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.
To Do:
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
***
Copyright 2012 by G. E. Gallas
Leave a comment | tags: Add, Alternative Press Expo, APE, Approved, Attend, Brainstorming, Campaign, Character Design, Children's book, Comic book, ComicKick, Comics, Community, Contest, Countdown, Craigslist, Create, Creative, Creativity, Crowdfunding, Culture Shock, Dedicated, Discussion, DIY, Draft, Drafting, E-mails, England, Facebook, Festival, Film, Frankenweenie, Friday, Gabe, Golden Gate Park, Graphic Novel, Graphic Novelist, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Ideas, Illustrated, Illustration, Illustrator, Independent Film, Indie Film, IndieGoGo, Infernal Reviewer, Information, Interested, Judges, Kickstarter, Last Minute, launch, London, Love, Luck, Meeting, October, Online Comics, Please, Post, Postcards, premiere, Production Company, Promote, Published, Research, Review, Screenwriter, Script, Short Screenplay, Sketch, Sketching, Support, The First Reich, The Poet and the Flea, Tim Burton, Tumblr, Twitter, U.K., Underway, Unemployee of the Year, UnHate, Upcoming, Vacation, Vote, Web Comics, Webcomic, Website, Wes, William Blake, Wonderful, Written, Zine | posted in Crowdfunding, Graphic Novel, Links, Screenplays, The Poet and the Flea, Update
Comics I Admire: “Quarterly Stories”
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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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
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Copyright 2013 by G. E. Gallas
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