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.