Trying SO hard to focus...

I'm trying to organize my notes this evening; attempting to bring order to chaos... and it's impossible!

I've struggled this week, with focusing on anything but eating, sleeping, and watching Doctor Who. I'm finding it difficult to read, write, and even think! 

So I have to be strict with myself – which is never fun – by forcing myself to focus... which it's probably healthier than being a chesterfield vegetable...

So, I got bored of note organizing (rather quickly) and drew this:

Doodle!

Nothing soothes an unfocused mind like doodling! I'm sure this picture is full of hidden meanings (since doodling is a great way to unlock the subconscious mind). Maybe the Tin-Man-ish character at the bottom means I'm heartless. 

Hmmm, it's probably best not to over-analyze it...

So, I'm currently attempting to go through my notes for the second time this evening...

Which brings me to the next topic of the post: book recommendations for potential novelists!

I may not be a successful novelist (I'm working on it) but I'd love to recommend two, special books that can help anyone get pointed in the right direction:

The Elements of Style – William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

Almost every source on novel-writing, or writing in general, recommends this book. There's a reason for that... it's flippin' amazing!

The Elements of Style teaches usage, composition, form, commonly misused words and expressions, and style. Most importantly the tone of the book is humorous, or sarcastic; which helps keep the subject matter interesting!

It is a must-have for potential writers, or anyone who simply loves the English language (and how complex it can be).

Write a Novel: And Get it Published – Nigel Watts

This is the best book on novel writing I've ever read; and I've read a lot!

Published in the Teach Yourself series, this book covers everything a potential novelist needs to know, straight from a celebrated professional (who knows what he's talking about!).

Nigel Watts was a successful novelist who, later in life, decided to teach novel writing courses.

I love how concise and organized his book is! No frills or useless information! 

Absolutely recommended!

So, there you have it!

If only I could focus long enough to write something fictional! I'd settle for the ability to organize my notes... or my thoughts!

Gah, back to my notes... poo.

My bedroom...

I would like to take a second to give you a quick tour of my bedroom!

It's a small bedroom with no closet, and not much room for anything but my bed and bookshelf...

These pictures make it look bigger somehow...

Having a small bedroom isn't too bad. It's really cozy and easy to decorate. Of course, most of my belongings are stuck in storage because of the lack of space... but I'm learning to live with less stuff.

I caught Geethy making friends today! He's becoming a very sociable rat!

Now, I must go watch Doctor Who... or maybe continue reading The Lovely Bones... or maybe try finishing my FanFiction... or maybe just have a nap!

FanFiction linkage...

I don't think I've shared this link on my blog before. It takes you directly to my Alice in Wonderland FanFiction, The Wonderland Haunting, written under my pen name Ervin Fielder.

The story's a bit strange. I'd love to finish it, but I don't know what direction to take it in.

I started this FanFiction as a warm-up exercise for my more serious writing. I received some nice reviews, so I kept writing more chapters. It'd be great to finish it now, and get it off my mind!

So, here's the link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4421008/1/The_Wonderland_Haunting

I hope you enjoy!

I'll leave you now with an image I once used as Ervin Fielder's avatar on FanFiction.net. It's a mini canvas painting I did back in the day, when I used to have the patience to use acrylics.

Announcements and such...

I am pleased to announce that my blog has two new segments for me to update regularly!

New Segment #1:

I'll now be writing book reviews! I try to read a novel every month anyway, so why not blog about what I've read? I'll be kicking off this segment later in this post, by listing 10 of my all-time favourite novels/series.

New Segment #2:

Last month I was buying sock monkey supplies with my friend (alias: Oprah), when I discovered the most amazing creature waiting for me in a clearance bin: a furry rat I named Geethy!

He's the best fake pet ever! My pride and joy!

My living pets want to eat him, so he sleeps on my bookshelf, out of reach.

I want to start a segment showing pictures of Geethy doing things, going places, meeting friends... And who knows, maybe you'll all grow to love Geethy as much as I do!

Ladies and Gentlemen, here he is, the rat himself – Geethy:

Now, here are my choices for "Top Ten Novels/Series of All Time" (in no particular order):

1. Harry Potter Series – JK Rowling
2. Cirque du Freak Series – Darren Shan
3. Shutter Island – Dennis Lehane
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
5. Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking-Glass – Lewis Carroll
6. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
7. The Reader – Bernhard Schlink
8. The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom
9. Stardust – Neil Gaiman
10. The Shadow of the Wind/The Angel's Game/The Prince of Mist – it's kinda cheating to squeeze them all in, but I love anything written by Carlos Ruiz Zafon!

If anyone is reading this, I'd love to see your top 10 list!

And to celebrate the beginning of my book review segment, here is Geethy's first adventure:

We all have these days...

I'm feeling strange today... tired, headachy, pensive...

and I've noticed something: I need to post more often!

The purpose of this blog has always been to document my adventures as an artist. Lately I've been posting finished projects, and writing personal updates every 2-3 months. That's not enough!

I forget to comment on the days, like today, when I do nothing creative, and then feel horrible for doing nothing! Many of my days are spent like this... blocked and creating nothing!

I can't, in good conscience, write a blog about creative life without mentioning these uninspired days! My uninspired days are, undoubtably, similar to those of other artists. I want to share my experiences, in case you can relate. I know I'm not alone in this!

I put a lot of pressure on myself to create: especially now that arts and crafts are my only source of income (and so far I've sold nothing). The pressure can be intense, and intimidating! So intimidating that, even on days when I am feeling inspired, the pressure to "get it right the first time" keeps me from starting or finishing projects.

For some reason, I must have something physically accomplished every day, or else I feel useless. This isn't practical; it adds to the pressure, and distracts me from spending time thinking about projects, which is an extremely important part of the creative process!

Most of my illustrations are inspired by times when I've sat, alone in the dark, listening to music. But, I can't remember the last time I've spent an evening doing that! Instead, I'm up late at night, staring at blank documents, expecting something to appear... or reworking the shit out of ideas I've found successful in the past.

My creative goals are often too strict. I try to complete illustrations in one sitting, scared that my inspiration will have moved on by morning. It adds to the pressure, and results in work that looks rushed, incomplete, or uninspired.

So, that's a quick glimpse at the challenges I face on my "darker days." It's a dangerous cycle I get caught in regularly. It's triggered by a number of things, and does go away at times. Also, it's not impossible to create around these problems; the pressure may be there, but some days it's easier to ignore it.

I'm glad I decided to write about this topic. I believe the solution starts with allowing myself to relax! I've been learning how to not be a perfectionist, and embrace flaws (not just art that looks flawed on purpose – real flaws). I'm less concerned about impressing people; I am out to impress myself.

A new me is on the horizon! A better, more inspired me. It's time to focus on myself; mentally, physically and creatively.

Troll Puppet (as promised)

This is my first tutorial post! (although it's more of a guide than a tutorial).

For the Billy Goats Gruff project I wanted the troll to have a movable mouth (for more differentiation between the photographs). So I made this puppet (in spite of my tight deadline), spending more time on him than the three goats combined.

In the end, I didn't use his mouth controls during the shoot, because I didn't have enough hands. But I'm glad I made him anyway. I may use him for something in the future. You never know.

He's partly inspired by King K. Rool (Donkey Kong villain) but mostly looks like a very scary, gothic, drag queen (which isn't what I intended, but I love it when projects take on a life of their own).

I've drawn a quick cross-section of my troll puppet, to show you how it works. I was going to take photos, but this drawing is probably easier to understand.

I'm just realizing how creepy this drawing is... eergh... nightmares anyone? It looks like a torture device from Saw, or something.

As you can see, the puppet is pretty simple. The head is made of clay (Super Sculpey), with a hole in the bottom for the stick. Another whole goes straight through the head, for the string. There's a bead tied to the string to keep it attached to the lower jaw. A piece of paper acts as a hinge (painted black to match the inside of the mouth). The mouth is operated by pulling and releasing the string. There's a groove in the back of his head (the part that sticks out) to help prevent the string from moving around. The hands are attached with floral wire covered with green fabric.

He's pretty straight forward, but probably the best puppet I've ever made on my own... and I've made MANY in my lifetime. It'd be great to make more puppets using this method; maybe larger than the troll.

I'd like to experiment with marionette puppets too. I've always been scared to attempt them. Something tells me a project like that requires crazy planning... balancing the pieces on the strings; making the joints work right; fashioning the contraption you hold onto... there's a lot to string puppets. Gonna need more sketches!

I hope this post inspires you to make a puppet of your own! They make great bookshelf ornaments!

Curiouser and curiouser...

Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with Alice in Wonderland. When I was young we had an old copy of Alice (Parts 1 and 2 together) kicking around the house. Although I was too young to read, I used to love flipping through the pages, looking at the spectacular illustrations.
The typography of the book was also intriguing (although I didn't know the word "typography" at the time); there was a poem arranged to look like a rats tale, and some of the type was backwards.
I used to point out to people that chapter eleven was only eight words long!
I now own at least 5 editions of the book. One I recieved a few years ago has been in the family for quite some time! It's a very old edition of "Through the Looking-Glass."
In Applied Communication Arts last year I decided to print my own edition of Wonderland for my end-of-year project. I decided to go with a modern spin on Alice by dressing her in jeans and a blue hoodie.

Side note: Alice is public domain, and downloadable (for free) on the internet (complete and unabridged).

A lot has changed since then! A new Alice film has been released, and I'm almost finished studying Graphic Design. I want to put my new skills to the text... and what better way to chart my progress than to redo last years project? So that's exactly what I am doing!
This time the book will include both Wonderland and Looking-Glass, which means it will be much thicker. The cover will be black, the ribbon bookmark will be teal, and the endpapers will be marbled (black, white, and teal). There will be only two illustrations, but they will be large double-page images (a montage of characters) one for each "book".

I'm considering doing one illustration per chapter... I dont know yet... that's a LOT of work.
The overall tone of the book will be darker than my previous edition.
I have an entirely new look for Alice. She's embracing her dark side.
Intoducing Jason's fantastic inspiration board:

This board holds images that have inspired my new Alice, and some of my early sketches.
My original plan was illustrate each chapter (which I might still do, as mentioned before). The following are two full-colour chapter illustrations I may or may not use in the finished book. "Down the Rabbit-Hole" and "The Pool of Tears."

And finally, I have three page samples to share. The inside cover, table of contents, and chapter one.
Arranging the text is the most challenging part of the process. It's much easier this time around though.

So there you have it! I've probably written the longest blog post in the history of blogs, but this is a major project.
Oh, the things I get myself into! "Stop taking on so many projects at once," I tell myself... but as Alice says: I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it.

Let the games begin...

I dont like to keep people hanging, so here is one of my current projects: THE GOBLINS!



I have a notebook I have been writing in for almost a year. Whenever I have an idea (any kind of idea... crafts, creative writing, thoughts on life, last night's dream...) I write it in my notebook. I recommend you do this too! You never know how you'll be able to use these ideas later in life. Ideas get lost very easily!
Anywho, I was obsessed with fairy tales last summer after reading an awesome novel (that I forget the name of)... One fairy tale in particular caught my attention. One about a traveling salesman who sells clothing (I think it was). "One size fits all," he would promise his customers... and he was always right, of course, because he would stretch or squash his customers until they were the perfect size.
Well, from that my goblins were born! ... but don't worry, although they look kinda creepy, they wont harm you. They actually help keep away bad dreams. I'm still working on their story.
I like the clay heads. They are going to have posable felt bodies when they're finished. The sewn one is just me experimenting with felt... He should turn out alright. Sewing takes practice, and I haven't practiced much :)

Allow me to introduce myself...

My name is Jason Chandler, and I live in Nova Scotia, Canada.
I actually have two homes at the moment. An apartment in the city, and my parent's house in the country. It's no fun being torn between two places, especially when they're an hours drive apart. I have stuff scattered in both locations (mostly art supplies... which complicates things when I'm trying to do something creative).
Here is a picture of my apartment...



It was tidy that day! It's normally a mess. I work better with a bit of clutter...
I like to think of myself as an artist. Some people think the term "artist" sounds pretentious and snooty... but I don't know what else you could call it. I'm simply addicted to creating. I don't view my work as anything particularly outstanding, art takes practice and patience (and patience is tricky!)... but I'm comfortable with my style, and personally believe that ALL art has value.
I've been studying graphic design lately. I love it, except my dream is to do something a bit more "crafty". I did some research and I think it's called a "Graphic Crafts Maker". They tend to make crafts with paper, or anything else they can print type and graphics on. Journals, books, bookplates, stationary, photo albums, etc.
Also, I like making stuffed creatures, clay figures, paintings... seriously anything!
That's all I have for introductions right now. The rest will come later as I start posting more. Must keep my public in suspense! Heehee.
Current projects, and tutorials (that sort of thing) are on the way soon!

My First Post

Hello, it's always awkward getting started, so I'll just dive right in.

This is my first blog post! I've decided to start a blog to document my journey as a starving artist. I've been told blogs are great for networking too... so I hope I get some followers!

I'll be back with a more interesting post shortly, I hope.