Reading something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue
Posts tagged illustration
Edward Gorey
May 20th
Edward Gorey is one of my favorite writer-illustrators. I love his lyrical and wickedly macabre stories — like a twisted Edward Lear or Lewis Carroll) and his equally macabre pen and ink illustrations!
I’ve blogged about acouple books of his in the past — Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (illustrations) and The Curious Sofa (story and illustrations), and I’ve got a couple more to show you in this post: The Iron Tonic and the pop-up book The Dwindling Party, both rummaged in bargain bins in two separate occasions, at P20 (US$0.5) and P95 (around US$2) respectively.
Robotars! (Earth Day 2010)
Apr 25th
Robotars: robotic tarsiers that were designed to destroy, but lived to love.
The first Robotars designer toy custom show is now open at the Art Asia Gallery, 4/F, SM Megamall until May 15, 2010!
What I’ve been busy with
Dec 9th
You’ve probably been wondering about the sporadic posting for the past couple of weeks… Well, on top of other things going crazy as the holidays draw nearer, I’ve been busy working on a piece for a special group exhibit with the most awesome illustrators ever!
Lookee – it’s Blowing Boxes!
Blowing Boxes, til Dec 29 at 1/of Gallery, 2/F Shops at Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Gallery hours: Mon- Sat 1-9pm
Opening Night!
Nov 20th
Opening night of FOReveRENEver (Ang INK's 18th Annual Exhibit).
I just got back from the opening night of FOReveRENEver, the 18th annual exhibit of the children’s illustrators’ group I’m part of, Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang INK). It’s a tribute to Rene Villanueva, (1954-2007) prolific writer of Filipino children’s stories, playwright, and even a television writer for Batibot, once the Philippines’ local counterpart to Sesame Street.
FOReveRENEver (Ang I.N.K.’s 18th Annual Exhibit)
Nov 12th
Join us on the opening night of
FOReveRENEver: Ang INK’s 18th Annual Exhibit
November 19th, 7:30 pm
at the CCP Little Theater Lobby
for a short program and cocktails
On its 18th year, Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang I.N.K.) presents its annual exhibit for 2009, entitled “FOReveRENEver,” a tribute to the late children’s writer Rene O. Villanueva, whose literature has showcased I.N.K. illustrators’ works for several decades now.
Ang I.N.K. pays tribute to one of the most celebrated figures in the landscape of Filipino children’s books with a showcase of more than 30 works that bring to life Rene’s never-been-illustrated literature
Join Ang I.N.K. in honoring the memory of Rene O. Villanueva, and in ensuring that his legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of future generations of Filipino readers.
Once upon a time, it was a dark and silly night… (Little Lit Roundup)
Apr 23rd
and I found myself with two great graphic anthologies!
The Little Lit series is a set of comic compilations for kids, edited by the great Art Spiegelman. I have two of them, because I lucked out on new copies at bargain prices — Folklore and Fairy Tale Funnies (from the NBS Book-sak sale, P200) and It Was a Dark and Silly Night (from the Book Sale warehouse, P170). I decided to read them for the 24-hour read-a-thon because they were easy to read and I wanted to get some variety in my read-a-thon books.
When I first saw the Little Lit books, I was literally agape at their visual impact — it’s a smorgasbord of creative juices from an amazing roster of top-caliber cartoonist and children’s book artists. Even now that I’ve had the books for some time now, I still thumb through the pages with reverence. It’s like holding an art gallery in your hands!
Revealing the actual stories would take away the fun from reading the Little Lit books, so let me just touch lightly on them, so you have an idea of what’s inside.
Folklore and Fairy Tale Funnies (book #61 for 2009) showcases a humorous collection of old and new story selections from different parts of the world, told through comics.
Aside from Spiegelman this book includes the works of Barbara McClintock, Chris Ware, Kaz, J. Otto Seibold, William Joyce, Bruce McCall, David Macaulay, and many more.
My favorites from this book include Barbara McClintock’s leonine version of the Princess and the Pea, the reprint of Walt Kelly’s (of Pogo Fame) 1943 comic The Gingerbread Man, Art Spiegelman’s hilarious Prince Rooster, Claude Ponti’s The Enchanted Pumpkin and Chris Ware’s interactive Fairy Tale Road Rage boardgame.
My second Little Lit Book is It Was a Dark and Silly Night… (book #62 for 2009), this time a showcase of imagination, with different comic stories that take off from the starting phrase “It was a dark and silly night… .”
This time, the masterminds are not only comic book artists and children’s book illustrators, but also novelists such as Neil Gaiman and Lemony Snicket.
My favorite selections from this book include Lemony Snicket and Richard Sala’s hilarious story about a girl and the Yeti, J.Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh’s penguin treasure story, and Patrick MacDonnell’s moon story.
I still lack Strange Stories (my cousin Dianne has this one, though, I must borrow it sometime) and the Big Fat Little Lit collection. Hopefully I’ll get lucky and find bargain copies again for my Little Lit collection one day; they cost about P800 each at the bookstore.
*All book photos from the Little Lit website.
***
My copies: both hardcover
My rating: both 5/5 stars!
Drawing on endpapers
Apr 4th
One of the factoids I listed in the previous post inspired this entry, because I dug up a bunch of photos that had me cracking up last night.
I mentioned that I used to think endpapers and flyleaves were blank so that you could draw on them, and so I did.
Here are some drawings from when I was 4 or 5 years old, in an old encyclopedia set that my mom gave away a couple of years ago.
Animal drawings. I see a bird on the lower right and what looks like a cat on the upper right but I don’t know what the bug-eyed, big-eared critters are. I’m guessing they’re mice? Ooh, and I think it’s sort of a maze. They’re labeled A, B, C, D and there are crisscrossing lines, although does that mean the cat and bird are racing to get the biggest mouse?
Check out the club hands and the curly feet. I’ve always hated drawing hands and feet. But I like the striped tie and the lacy cropped pants.
I think this is an attempt to draw angels; I’ve drawn wings instead of hands. And I’ve got some strange numbers up on top.
What appears to be a cat, some floating heads and a guy presenting flowers to his lady love. They look like clowns.
This time in ballpoint pen. I think this is a princess? Hahaha, club hands again, and a giraffey neck. But she’s wearing high-heeled boots!
And here are some more floating heads that I’ve put random names on.
I don’t know where my mom donated the books to, but I hope someone keeps them and I’ll be able to see these drawings again one day.
Yodelayheehoo! (The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip)
Nov 20th
Posted by Sumthinblue in Bargain Books
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Lane Smith (of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Hooray for Diffendoofer Day, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and many others) is one of my all-time favorite illustrators, and I’ve got a growing collection of his books (mostly the result of foraging in bargain bins!).
I’d been eyeing the book The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip by George Saunders (illustrated by Lane Smith) at a specialty bookstore for ages. Earlier this year, I finally scored a copy at one of the book store sales for only P59!
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