The one who wrote Coraline, and co-wrote the book of Good Omens and made the TV show, also the Sandman comics writer and co-creator who made the Sandman TV show. Quite nice really.
For this semester’s illustration class, we were required to pick a short story and turn it into a storybook. I’ve chosen @neil-gaiman‘s October Tale from ‘A Calendar of Tales’ since it’s my favourite out of the others, and here are the illustrations used for it!
Yesterday I went to the beach with some friends of mine. At one moment, one of them went for a walk near the shore. It was in the afternoon, and the wind was bringing some cool air, so she put on her long yellow beach t-shirt. When I saw her on the distance, looking to the sea (her father was a sailor and she loves the sea), with her yellow t-shirt, I inmediately though of Neil Gaiman’s February Tale. I know it’s not a raincoat; I know it was not a grey day, but it was a bright yellow spot and the sea.
I had to take the picture. And do it before that moment went away, so I took it and it was only coming back home that I realised it was a bit blurry. Honnestly, I don’t really care, not this time. For me, it was a moment of creation, of being inspired by someone to make something personal, something mine. Maybe I would have never thought about taking that picture if I hadn’t read A Calendar of Tales, so in a way of speaking, this picture is as his as it is mine.
This was suppose to be for The Calendar of Tales competition that Neil Gaiman was holding. You had to illustrate one of the stories…but alas I read the date totally wrong so I missed the closing date.
Neil gaiman has been a favorite author of mine for a long time now and I used to read Coraline to my youngest daughter Mercy (it is also one of her most frequently watched movie favorites).
When I first saw the ‘call’ for submissions I knew I had to give it a go..tbh I didnt think we stood a cats chance in hell of getting anywhere given the standard of entries, so when the ‘youve been selected as a shortlister’ email came through I was thrown sideways, though not as sideyways as when another email came through saying that Neil himself has chosen my two entries(for March and Jan) as runners up..and we were going to be on the website..
It took around 10 minutes to calm down a really hyper 8 year old when I told her :D TBH that part was probably the best moment of it all, to see her so excited.
They even used the pirate shot in one of the blackberry videos o.O
Up until recently I had hit a wall workwise, we run a ferret rescue centre from home, so time to shoot was sparce and I had let it all slide, my inspiration had just buggered off..and the lack of spare time to shoot only compounded that..
Its given me a well needed ass kicking all this, to start picking up my camera more often…
In fact, its given Mercy and I a lot more than we thought..and a massive massive thank you to Neil Gaiman himself.and all those involved :D
This was selected as the featured image for the May Tale in A Calendar of Taleswith Neil Gaiman and Blackberry. The amount of effort that so many people put into it is remarkable and inspired. It’s taken a few days to process it all. So glad I got to be a part of it. Such a neat-cool thing.
Yes, this is an homage to Edward Gorey - I’m an admirer - but it is also a product of my love for silent movies, practical cats, and some things that make me laugh. : )
Can I please bug you with it a bit more? These are all the bits and pieces about my illustration being a part of Neil Gaiman’s amazing project A Calendar Of Tales. You can download the complete book here, please do, it is magic itself, I promise. My illustration is for July’s Tale, and can be found on 24 page:) So happy and so proud to be a part of it!
I love how good this is, and how happy it’s been making people…
Not scary. No eye-buttons. Mostly I’m just talking about art, and moving on, and looking back on what we made with the Keep Moving project and the Calendar of Tales.
Alright, NOW I can finally announce what I’ve been keeping bottled up for ages!
It is worth noting that this is the most exciting and fantastic thing that has ever happened to me. I’ve always dreamed about illustrating a Gaiman book, and this is more than I ever could have hoped for.
Neil Gaiman’s Calendar of Tales website is finally up, and I am very flattered and very honored to announce that he chose my illustration for November. I remember finding out while I was at work and sitting in front of my computer and crying on the library books. Now the kind comment he’s written is making me cry again. I’m a bit of a mess right now.
I don’t think I can express how honored I feel to have been part of this, and how happy I am that I was able to give back a little. Neil’s work is incredibly inspirational to me. I have been lucky enough to meet him twice (and Amanda Palmer once as well!), and I cannot say enough how wonderful they are.
Please do go and look at all the wonderful submissions, and check September for my friend Katie’s submission!
And again Neil (I already tweeted this at you, but I’m going to shout it into the void of the internet yet again in the hope that it will reach you), thank you a thousand times! I can’t say that enough.
