What I remember about September 11, 2001: It was the day I had planned to move into a new painting studio. We were newlyweds living in a cramped 1 bedroom apartment, a corner of which I was using to make all manner of messes. I had finally made arrangements to rent a spot in a […]
Author Archive > galen dara
Storytelling with Ian McCaig: wants, needs, and burning bridges
About 8 years ago I started writing my epic fantasy novel. (As one does.) I loved writing character sketches, scene ideas, doing research. But when it came to stringing it all together into, you know, an actual STORY, well that proved to be a bit tricky. So I just kept creating character sketches, scene ideas, […]
Guest Post: Outlining, by John Klima
John Klima previously worked at Asimov’s, Analog, and Tor Books before returning to school to earn his Master’s in Library and Information Science. He now works full time as a librarian. When he is not conquering the world of indexing, John edits and publishes the Hugo Award-winning genre zine Electric Velocipede. The magazine has is […]
Guest Post: Doing Research at the Library, Part II. By John Klima.
John Klima previously worked at Asimov’s, Analog, and Tor Books before returning to school to earn his Master’s in Library and Information Science. He now works full time as a librarian. When he is not conquering the world of indexing, John edits and publishes the Hugo Award-winning genre zine Electric Velocipede. The magazine has is […]
Guest Post: Workspace. By Evan Jensen.
Ironically enough, my family is in the process of boxing things up to move at the end of the month. So when illustrator Evan Jensen queried the idea of a guest post on keeping workspace in mind when relocating, I couldn’t wait to read it. Thank you Evan! ******** Do you have a unique, inspiring […]
Guest Post: What NOT to do with your Website, By Lisa Grabenstetter
I’ve been doing some soul searching lately on the topic of websites, very aware that I need to streamline my online presence. So when illustrator Lisa Grabenstetter decided to write her guest post on the subject, I could not have been more pleased. Thank you Lisa! ******** A Brief History Of The Internet, or How […]
the taxman and the artist
So. A few weeks ago, I took my receipts, pay stubs, and pages and pages of handwritten notes to an accountant to see about filing taxes as a freelance illustrator. It was my first time doing this and I was nervous the accountant would take one look at my stack of tattered papers and tell […]
things I got from the surrealists
Recently I went to LA to go on an art date with some friends. We went to this show: In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and The United States. (More about the exhibit at the LA Times, the Huffington Post, and by our own Andrew Penn-Romine.) It was an amazing, thought […]
Guest post: Anatomy of a Murder, By Lee Moyer
How important is the cover of a book to it’s success? In this post Lee Moyer gives an insightful breakdown of composition, color and typography on two different book covers to reveal a possible reason for why one sold so well and the other didn’t. Originally posted to his personal blog, Lee has graciously permitted […]
A deep breath and a jump.
Last year I saw a tweet by Irene Gallo promoting the Illustration Masters Class and it put a little hook in me that I couldn’t shake. I had been thinking about ways to level up my art making and this resonated in an intriguing way. But that was last year, and while I *talked* about […]
