The Art of Ooo

Hey there, just a quick post to gush about a book I received for Christmas: 'Adventure Time's The Art of Ooo'

As you may have guessed its a 'Making of Adventure Time' book, and its jam-packed full of sketches, doodles, storyboards, concept art, character development; as well as interviews from the many people who helped the original animated short to become a TV Show. Aaaand not forgetting interviews with the talented staff who helped form and grow the Adventure Time story and characters.

Its a bit of a treasure trove of a book, not to just fans of the show but to anyone who is interested in animation or comics. The staff interviews and development sketches are a mine of information, allowing you to see just how much work - from a plethora of people - go into making such a show. I was guilty of believing the inventor of any cartoon show (in this case, Pendleton Ward) kind of designed/created everything involved in the show. But this book shows me that thats not the case (unless the creator of a show is a gigantic control freak, which Pendleton Ward is not)! Its a collaborative effort, with everyone contributing their own ideas and spin on things... which I just think is pretty cool.

So there ya go. I would recommend owning this book if you love animation/comics/cartoon shows/Adventure Time.
Boom.

Book Titles 2014

I'm a bit late with this this year, but here is a bit of stupid illustration I did to show my reading list of 2014:

Just click to get a more zoomed in view!

Its messy and incomprehensible but hey, thats me!

Here is an actual legible list of the books I read last year:

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
The 3 Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case by Agatha Christie
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Murders in the Rue Morgue & Other Tales by Edgar Allan Poe
The Edge Chronicles: Book 1 of the Twig Saga by Chris Riddell
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
The Spanish Cape Mystery by Ellery Queen
The Berlin Novels by Christopher Isherwood
The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
A Game of Thrones by George R.R Martin
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

(Apologies if I have made any spelling mistakes there).

I pretty much enjoyed all the books I read last year, some were more gripping than others but still all well worth a read! I'm not sure which I would say was my favourite though, there were some good-uns in there. So I'll do a top three (in no particular order)!

1. The Moonstone - Said to be one of the first sort of detective mystery novels to be written. I liked it as the narrative was told by a number of people throughout the book which made it quite varied.

2. And Then There Were None - Another mystery, but this time with murder! A short book, but oh so good. Just read it is all I can say.

3. The War of the Worlds - Sci-fi. Perhaps because I love the musical so much it was destiny for me to really like the book too!

Now on to new reading escapades for 2015!
Currently reading: A Room with a View by E. M. Forster (and dagnabbit, its good)!

Custom Duck Watercolour

Merry Christmas and a Happy New 2015! I hope everyone had a great holiday!

Just a quick post of a little custom piece I did a few months ago...

A Mandarin Duck watercolour!

If you or anyone you know would like to have a Custom Original Watercolour illustration adorning their wall, then please don't hesitate to contact me. You can e-mail me at claire@nafftastic.co.uk or contact me through my magical Etsy page and just click the button on the left hand side which says 'Request Custom Order'. I reply very quickly and can also create your watercolour piece at top speed if need be!
(Prices start at £20, depending on the sort of animal you would like painting).

I also have a few original pieces currently on sale in my Etsy shop.

I'm about to start cracking on making some **new** stock for the coming year, so keep your eyes peeled!