NEIL GAIMAN Awesomeness and ART!!
I went to "An Evening With Neil Gaiman" Wednesday night. :DD He is definitely one of my favorite writers, and it was so much fun to see him in person! He was on tour, promoting and signing his latest book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane. It was truly a delight to listen to him talk, answer questions from the audience, and read a bit from his book. As it happened, a thunderstorm rolled in just as he came on stage, and he told us with understated glee that he had promised himself that if that ever happened during his tour, that instead of reading the usual bits from the first chapter of the book, he would read the really scary part from the middle of the book that happens during a thunderstorm. So as the actual thunder rumbled and growled outside the auditorium, he did just that. It was marvelous, as many times the thunder seemed to come just on cue. Hee! :D
Sadly, I didn't get to actually meet him or get a personalized autographed book. Circumstances were that I couldn't stay that night as late as it would have taken to stand in a line of over a thousand fans to get my turn at the signing table. I opted for a pre-signed book, but I was able to stand for a bit on the outside of the ribbon from him and just enjoy the aura of Neil Gaiman nearness that came across while he signed other (early luck of the draw) people's books. ^.^
Two pictures, the second one was taken by my friend L:
AND, there was another recent connection with me and Neil Gaiman! Earlier this spring, Neil created a mass participation project called, A Calendar of Tales. He asked twelve questions, one for each month of the year, and invited anyone who wanted to, to answer in a sentence or two. Then he picked one answer for each month, and wrote a short story based on it. Finally, he posted those stories and invited anyone who wanted to, to illustrate them. So I did!
The window for creating and submitting the illustrations was about two weeks. O_o I managed to do three - one for February, April and July, and all told, he received over 5,000 entries. My July piece was short-listed for the final published project, so I was thrilled. I now have a lovely e-mail that I may save forever that says, "Congratulations, your art was short-listed by Neil Gaiman... :D I have absolutely no quarrel with the art that was chosen for the final project - they were all brilliant! You can see the final project webpage and read the stories here.
My illustration for the February Tale:
Grandmother's Locket
My illustration for the April Tale:
Don't Bet Your Socks
My illustration for the July Tale:
Walking Home from the Heartbroken Ice
Sadly, I didn't get to actually meet him or get a personalized autographed book. Circumstances were that I couldn't stay that night as late as it would have taken to stand in a line of over a thousand fans to get my turn at the signing table. I opted for a pre-signed book, but I was able to stand for a bit on the outside of the ribbon from him and just enjoy the aura of Neil Gaiman nearness that came across while he signed other (early luck of the draw) people's books. ^.^
Two pictures, the second one was taken by my friend L:
AND, there was another recent connection with me and Neil Gaiman! Earlier this spring, Neil created a mass participation project called, A Calendar of Tales. He asked twelve questions, one for each month of the year, and invited anyone who wanted to, to answer in a sentence or two. Then he picked one answer for each month, and wrote a short story based on it. Finally, he posted those stories and invited anyone who wanted to, to illustrate them. So I did!
The window for creating and submitting the illustrations was about two weeks. O_o I managed to do three - one for February, April and July, and all told, he received over 5,000 entries. My July piece was short-listed for the final published project, so I was thrilled. I now have a lovely e-mail that I may save forever that says, "Congratulations, your art was short-listed by Neil Gaiman... :D I have absolutely no quarrel with the art that was chosen for the final project - they were all brilliant! You can see the final project webpage and read the stories here.
My illustration for the February Tale:
Grandmother's Locket
My illustration for the April Tale:
Don't Bet Your Socks
My illustration for the July Tale:
Walking Home from the Heartbroken Ice