Illustrations of Alice

I have always been a fan of Lewis Carroll (more of his poems than his stories, but that's a whole other post). I even went as far as to adopt the pseudonym of "The Mad Hatter" for various circumstances. (Like my instagram Hatter_Halftone. It's not that exciting of an instagram, so it's not the focus of this post.)
The focus IS, however, Alice in Wonderland. These are a few pictures of an illustration I did for a friend. I tried to make them as true to the time period as I could, while still adding my own style into the mix.

This is where I was originally going to stop. I really enjoy things that are grey scale, and thought that it made this illustration that much better. But as it was not my project, I needed to get their opinion on it first. And of course, they wanted it to be colored. Thankfully, it still looks pretty good. 

 

Vallese Photography and Prehistoric Thoughts

Hi everyone!
I wanted to share a few of my friends sites, because I want everyone to know how interesting they are as well.
The first being lady who has been my friend for quite a few years now (although, funny enough, I have never actually met her!) She is an amazing photographer and artist, and I had the honor of designing her logo who she started getting her business set up. Enjoy!
http://www.vallesephotography.com/

The second is one of the smartest guys I know (which is saying a lot). He is my friend, and also one of my roommates, along with a paleo wiz. He can spout off dino facts like I can spout of reasons people should read a Fitzgerald other than "The Great Gatsby".
If you enjoy posts on the subject of the natural world, this is definitely the one for you.
http://gtmeitslise.blogspot.com/

Early Morning Bookstore

     It's one of the best times to work in a bookstore. Early morning. It's not the same forced wakefulness, gotta be up to get money, kind of early morning either. You are alert, you are happy, and you are ready for anything the day is going to throw at you. You feel invigorated at the idea of all the new books you are going to find in your own store, and a smile lingers on your face. I feel like shouting "Bring it on book-lovers! I will recommend so many books today! Not to mention all the amazing displays going up later on!" (Of course I won't actually yell this, as yelling has adverse effects on quiet.)
     And it is very quiet. You look around the bookstore and no one is here yet, all the shelves are neatly stacked and ready to be mangled by hordes of bibliophiles. The only thing that breaks the silence is that odd humming light (which you learn to drown out) and the occasional vehicle driving by. And quieter than both of those is the voices.
     Not in a creepy way "voices". If you work in a bookstore long enough, you learn that there are voices in each and every hardback, paperback, pop-up, and board book. They chat with each other in the morning too, as they wake up, ready to be bought and start their lives as endless entertainment. You learn to love it, I know I do. It is calming. And it is what makes a bookstore so amazing, if you can hear the voices, that is. So yea, I guess that sounds kinda creepy (and it can be at night) but not as creepy as the ghost who lives here.  (And there is a ghost. That's a subject for another post).
     So bookstores in the morning. Everything is clean, it's warm, it's quiet, tidy, and mellow. You know in a few hours it's going to be so busy that it would be a miracle if the store was ever empty again. You know that there will be books to put away and messes to clean up. Shelves to polish and sections to alphabetize. But it is worth every second of multiplex chaos for the few minutes of  quiet contentment with the voices of the books and the ghost that haunts upstairs.
   

 

A long fought battle against an evil empire

A not-so-long time ago, in the bookstore where I work....

It is a period of civil war. Local

booksellers, striking from a  small town, 

have won various sales

against the evil Amazon Empire.

During the holidays, Local Booksellers managed

to sell more books to people who actually read, 

the customers, and

sales where high enough that they hoped they'd have the

power to destroy an entire cooperation.

Pursued by the Amazon's sinister discounts,

Booksellers races to work at

bookstores,  hopeful for a chance

to save indie booksellers and restore

freedom to the bookworld...

Ok so this may have been a bit of an over exaggeration. Yes, amazon has amazing deals and they provide a lot of jobs to various towns dotted around the globe, as long as those towns don't collect taxes from Amazon. If so, than to bad. 

But unfortunately it is the sad truth that Amazon is forming a monopoly over the book industry (Yea. like the board game. Still illegal now a days too.) And even more unfortunate than that is the fact that Amazon is practically tho only one making money off of their sales. Their discounts are so low that the publishers, editors, book binders, even the authors, get very little profit. 

Various well know writers have vowed to only sell their books in indie bookstores (though I am growing more accustomed to acknowledging various chain bookstores as... well... bookstores now. Mostly out of hate for amazon.) This helps a lot because it means the people who actually know books, can help you buy books. Not having book worm booksellers is like buying a car from someone without a drivers licence. 

So here is the point of my rant: Booksellers dislike Amazon in almost a religious passion. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't come into our stores and then tell us how you're just looking for something to order online later. 

Honestly I have never been closer to kicking someone in the teeth than when I hear someone say this. 

Go into a nice restaurant, order something, and when it arrives, look at it then say you'll go home and make it yourself. 

Same thing.  

End of rant.

I GIVE YOU...PICKLE BABY!!!

Here is an illustration that I am quite proud of! Though I can't take all the credit. I did the face, and my 7 year old niece did the body. I added a few finishing touches and colored that baby in! (pun intended).