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!
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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.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following images or video!!
One of my favorite operas is Jacques Offenbach‘s The Tales of Hoffmann(Les contes d’Hoffmann). This opera is a fantastical retelling of the life of the German Romantic author E. T. A. Hoffmann, casting Hoffmann as the protagonist of his own stories.
Placido Domingo performing the “Chanson de Kleinzach” aria.
Désirée Rancatore performing ”Les oiseaux dans la charmille.”
Through The Tales of Hoffmann, I developed an interest in Hoffmann and his stories, quickly leading me to Sigmund Freud’s The Uncanny. In Freud’s essay, he uses many of the same Hoffmann stories as Offenbach, but in this case to prove a psychological point (not that Offenbach’s opera isn’t deeply psychological). If I remember correctly, Freud even mentions Offenbach’s opera.
Portrait of E. T. A. Hoffmann
I’m sure you are all wondering, “What does all this have to do with The Nutcracker?” Well, little do most people know, E. T. A. Hoffmann wrote in 1816 one of the earliest versions of The Nutcracker story, entitled The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (Nussknacker und Mausekönig).
Alexandre Dumas was also a fan of Hoffmann, employing allusions to Hoffmann’s stories in The Count of Monte Cristo. Dumas even went as far as creating a revision to Hoffmann’s Nutcracker in 1844 called History of The Nutcracker (Histoire d’un casse-noisette), or The Tale of the Nutcracker.
Towards the end of the 19th Century, Hoffmann’s Nutcracker was adapted to ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, perhaps the most famous incarnation of the tale. I write this post because my dad purchased tickets to the San Francisco Ballet to see The Nutcracker at the end of the month. Perhaps later I’ll add my thoughts on the production to this post.
Tchaikovsky’s music is always wonderful, if not a little too overplayed for the holidays. A lot of people tend to associate The March from The Nutcracker or The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy not with Tchaikovsky, but with the thousands of Christmas commercials that use these pieces. This also happens with The Chinese Tea Dance from The Nutcracker with Disney’s Fantasia and The Sleeping Beauty Waltz with Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.
I believe the most creative and exciting production of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker is Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut. The Hard Nut is set in 1950s America with a very retro feel inspired by the comic artist Charles Burns — a strange but brilliant compliment to the classical music. I hope to one day be able to attend a live performance.
Advertisement for The Hard Nut.
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Today, I wanted to share the work of the extremely talented Ryan Thompson.
I befriended Ryan back in July through Twitter — I followed him, he followed me back, and then we got to chatting a bit. He told me how he’d learned a lot from the first webcomic he did and was starting a new project “from the ground up.”
And that new project turned out to be a fantastic webcomic named Frolic.
In short, Frolic is a fairy tale about an animated doll who finds herself in a nightmarish world. Frolic just recently premiered (only 10 pages up online so far), but anyone can tell Ryan has invested a lot of time and effort into this project. And his dedication is clearly paying off! Frolic has a wonderfully unique and quirky style, set (at least so far) is beautiful shades of pink and blue to compliment its intriguing premise.
Meanwhile, you can catch up on Ryan’s first webcomic called Fajita. Fajita is fun and action-packed, following the adventures of a strange girl named Widow and a possibly stranger girl named Shea. There’s a whopping total of 448 pages thus far, so you’ll have a lot to read while waiting for a new page of Frolic each Monday.
Below are a number of my favorite images/pages from Frolic.
The following images belong to Ryan Thompson.
For more from Ryan Thompson, please check out the following websites…
Yesterday (December 3rd), I decided to try messaging a fellow webcomic creator that I strongly admire: Shelby Lynn Criswell, writer and illustrator of Awkward Shelby.
And, boy, am I glad I did! She’s not only super talented, but also super sweet! She even checked out The Flea and is now a fan! So I wanted to do everything in my power to promote her comic and share her work with all of you.
Awkward Shelbyis a series of autobiographical strips detailing the awkward moments of Shelby’s life. Shelby is a self-procliamed “androgynous weirdo,” but I think her awkwardness is very universal (or at least I personally relate to many of her plights). Her drawing style is very whimsical and full of movement and life.
Also, she’s working on a more serious graphic novel called This is Your Life, which looks very very very promising!
Below are a number of my favorite strips from Awkward Shelby.
The following images belong to Shelby Lynn Criswell.
For more Awkward Shelby, please check out the following websites…
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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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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★ The Portfolio of G. E. Gallas,Writer & Illustrator
Questions, comments, or requests? gegallas@hotmail.com
Mission Statement
For as long as I can remember, I have been telling stories through words and images. I am a graduate of New York University: Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where I created my own major: a cross-cultural study of storytelling within film, literature, graphic novels, etc. In writing and illustration, I adapt this interdisciplinary approach, pursuing my diverse interests with in-depth research and imagination.
Here is a brief update on my current creative projects and endeavors…!
★ Important Note: “The Poet and the Flea100 Day Countdown to the Premiere” begins August 20th!
Busy, busy, busy, busy, busy…
But it feels like things are coming together! (ﾉﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ
Wednesday, July 25th
In between working on The Flea, began some character sketches for graphic novel collaboration with Shannon.
Detail of rough character sketch for collaboration.
Friday, July 27th
In between working on The Flea, conducted some image research (46 images and counting) for collaboration with Shannon.
Received e-mail from Brian (Pixel Flick Entertainment). Trying to schedule a one-on-one meeting with him. Next Alliance meeting on Saturday, August 18th.
Sunday, July 29th
Continuing to help fellow screenwriter/filmmaker Jay Dial. Had a great (hopefully productive) phone conversation with him.
Received inquiry about my screenplay-in-progress The Man Who Never Smiled from an interested (and enthusiastic) production company. Although I originally intended this screenplay to be full-length, they’re interested in a short. Will bang out a draft (about 15-25 pages) and send them a copy by the end of August.
Monday, July 30th
Received e-mail from a potential director/producer interested in making “one or two” of my short films. He suggested chatting on the phone. Very busy this week, so will call him either Wednesday (August 8th) or Thursday (August 9th).
The Man Who Never Smiled:about 6 pages into research/outlining/writing.
Some lat minute “spring” cleaning…
Tuesday, July 31st
In between working on The Flea, worked on some text/font samples for Shannon.
Heard from The Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Competition. Did not make it to the quarterfinals — knew it was a long shot. But I can always try again next year. Or perhaps I’ll have more success with a different route?
Wednesday, August 1st - Thursday, August 2nd
Continuing work on The Flea and The Man…
Friday, August 3rd – Sunday, August 5th
A family vacation of sorts…!
Monday, August 6th
Received e-mail from Film Independent Screenwriting Lab 2012. Although my screenplay Who is Laurence Harvey? was not selected for this year’s lab, I was given some encouraging feedback: “…the script is a definite contender for the lab. It’s a unique idea with a capable writer at the helm… a noteworthy project…”
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 37 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-18, 21 completed, and 19-20, 22-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
Working on Inside the Display Case (title may eventually change?) bit by bit. About 17 pages of script (+notes).
To Do:
Call potential director/producer next Wednesday or Thursday.
Work on research, character sketches, etc. for Shannon.
Schedule second meeting with Shannon for mid-August.
One-on-one meeting with Brian (Pixel Flick Entertainment).
Attend The Pixel-Flick TV Actor/Filmmaker Alliance Second Meeting (August 18th).
Finish The Man Who Never Smiled by end of August.
Sign up with IMDbPro.
Apply to the Bluecat Screenplay Competition (before October 15th).
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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
Portrait of E. T. A. Hoffmann
Portfolio
★ The Portfolio of G. E. Gallas, Writer & Illustrator
Questions, comments, or requests? gegallas@hotmail.com
Mission Statement
For as long as I can remember, I have been telling stories through words and images. I am a graduate of New York University: Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where I created my own major: a cross-cultural study of storytelling within film, literature, graphic novels, etc. In writing and illustration, I adapt this interdisciplinary approach, pursuing my diverse interests with in-depth research and imagination.
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(Click on images to enlarge.)
Graphic Novels
The Poet and the Flea (Premiere: November 28th, 2012)
Read from the beginning here!
The First Reich (Coming soon!)
Children’s Books
Elias & the City of Cats
For more images, click here!
Figure Drawing
Mixed Media
Abstract Painting
Acrylic on Colored Paper
Costume Design
Three costumes from Cyrano de Bergerac
Paper Cutout
Cartoon
Colored in Adobe Photoshop
Created in ArtRage App
Animation
Coming soon!
Sketchbook
Markers
Pencil
Photography
For more photography, check out Plastic Journey on Vally and Odd Playground.
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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
115 comments | tags: Abstract, Abstract Painting, Acrylic, Adobe Photoshop, Animation, Approach, ArtRage, Cartoon, Character, Colored Paper, Comic book, Comics, Coming Soon, Comments, Costume, Costume Design, Costumes, Creative, Creativity, Cross-cultural, Cute, Cyrano de Bergerac, Diverse, Figure Drawing, Film, G. E. Gallas, Gallatin, Graduate, Graphic Novel, Graphic Novelist, Illustration, Illustrator, Images, Imagination, In-Depth, Individual, Individualized Study, Interdisciplinary, Interests, Literature, Logo, Major, Markers, Mission Statement, Mixed Media, New York University, Painting, Paper, Paper Cutout, Pencil, Pens, Photo, Photograph, Photography, Photoshop, Play, Portfolio, Questions, Requests, Research, Sketchbook, Story, Storytelling, Strange, Study, The First Reich, The Poet and the Flea, Theater, Theatre, Weird, Wilhelm Reich, William Blake, Words, Writer | posted in Brainstorming, Illustration/Design