Just a brief note to thank everyone so much for the kind birthday wishes, and to mention that ~Griffin8891 has interviewed me for his blog, Jersey Boys Hunt Dinosaurs, which may be of some interest to the palaeo folks among my watchers.


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I apologise that I have been so long in doing so, but I want at last to say the most heartfelt thank you to everyone who has responded to my last journal entry. I thank everyone who has replied to the entry itself; who has expressed their sympathy; who has passed the word on by whatever means, whether via their own journal entries here or elsewhere; and of course, everyone who helped make a purchase. Thank you all so much. I am very, very touched. I am still rather far from being out of woods, and my debts with the bank are not yet alleviated, but the earnings I did make have helped a great deal during this exceptionally lean time.

The irony is that although I have very little funds coming in, I have still been extremely busy in spite of it. The simple fact is that I have spent an inordinate length of time working on a project which I consider to be my best work so far, and had exhausted all my existing funds in the meantime, with the prospect of the next payment upon its completion still a long way away.

With this in mind, I also want to apologise to those who have sent me requests for commissions which, in spite of my financial situation, I am unfortunately unable to take up. I apologise too that I have been little able to reply to everyone directly.

Finally, for the present, I wonder if I can now appeal to the same kindness you have shown me and ask whether you may consider turning it in the direction of my dear friend ~Heliocyan too, who now finds herself in a similar situation. I know that these circumstances are shared by a great many of us, but if anyone can help in any way at all, you know how enormously grateful we are.

With sincerest gratitude,
N


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Morning and evening
Maids heard the goblins cry:
"Come buy our orchard fruits,
Come buy, come buy..."

Christina Rossetti, Goblin Market

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Ah, it's been a such a long, long time since I last prefaced a journal entry with a quotation. Does anyone remember those days? Are there even any watchers remaining from then?

I shall come to the point directly. I'm afraid to report that I am presently in dire financial straits. I have almost nothing to live on and am overdrawn on the bank by a sum which will leave me in anticipation of yet more debt in the coming months once it is paid off.

If I could appeal to anyone's generosity in visiting my print shop and making what little purchase you can from it, I shall thank you humbly and gratefully for your support. I know the selection is poor, but I hope there might be something that might suit you. Cards, mugs and magnets are also available on most of the images as alternatives to prints.

My Redbubble store has a similar selection, in case anyone prefers making a purchase from there instead. Though I should like to point out that I have set my cut here on dA a little higher, as the base prices are lower (you won't be making a greater loss thereby).

Alternatively, you may prefer to show your support by purchasing some of my available books, three of which *HouseofChabrier has so kindly reviewed over on Amazon. For the moment, print earnings will be of more immediate aid, but I am truly grateful in the longer term if you do indeed choose the books. They are, of course, the real heart of my output and profession.

Thank you so much.

N.

ETA: Prints of two illustrations from Myths and Legends of Russia are also available from my agent's website: The Frog Princess and Right and Wrong. Plus a selection of prints from some of my Folio Society books which have not been enabled here are available from their website.


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I've been informed that someone who went by the handle of '@silcavie' ('Camila') on Twitter has been tweeting my words (and those of others) verbatim as her own, including material from my dA, LiveJournal and elsewhere. She had even used my picture of my desk as her profile page background.

Since being warned by my informant, she had made her account private, so that her activity can no longer be tracked. But a browse of her earlier tweets reveals a startling number of my words and sentiments. You may be able to recognise or detect them, whether you already follow me there or are otherwise familiar with my writing.

She had even posted a journal entry of mine which is extremely personal to me, to which she had appended a few of her own words at the very end. That shook me quite a bit.  

What worries me most is whether or not she has been posting my artwork too. I haven't seen any in her earlier tweets, but I notice people complimenting her on something which I cannot see because of her newly set privacy. She has also been receiving compliments for the 'lovely words' and thoughts which she did not write.

As I write this, I find that the above account name no longer exists. I had anticipated as much and have taken a number of screencaps in case they should provide necessary evidence. She now goes by @csvie. This, too, has been set as private, and may also disappear before long.

I'm not trying to thunder any moral outrage in posting this. I wish only to appeal to my watchers to help me keep an eye out on her future activity if possible, and formally report her as necessary. If anyone is at all aware of her identities here or anywhere else, it would be extremely useful to me and to others. She is clearly aware of my accounts on other sites.


There need be no disproportionate reaction in this. Twitter accounts (or even online journals) are no great works of literature. But the manner in which one expresses oneself is one's own, and intellectual property must be respected. It does not count any less for being couched in snippets of one hundred and forty characters at a time. Plagiarism is simply wrong, by whichever means and in whatever medium. I hope 'csvie' will appreciate this.


N.

ETA: Both the above accounts have now vanished. She now goes by '@oldmila'.

Thank you so much to everyone who has responded and for your help in this.

Latest edit: the last  account has now also vanished, and I am no longer able to track her. I don't know whether this means that she has stopped altogether or acquired an entirely new account with a new email and/or name which is presently escaping detection. It's evident that she is reading this very journal.

'Camila', I harbour no vindictive anger; but please recognise the complete impropriety of your actions and put an end to all this. I wish you well.


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I received news yesterday that Aladdin has earned its first batch of royalties; my second book to have done so after The Night Before Christmas. The sum is modest (and as I'd fully expected, nowhere near that first earned by Night), but not insubstantial, and is certainly something to be grateful for. As I understand it, it seems to have sold the most number of copies in Spain, followed by France and Italy. I'm now wondering (or perhaps romanticising) whether Spain's Moorish history might have lent her a greater affection for tales such as those found in the One Thousand and One Nights?

I thank everyone who has lent their support and shown their appreciation in purchasing the book. I'm truly very grateful.

I would also like to take a moment to say a very heartfelt thank you to *HouseofChabrier, who, as I found to my great surprise, has written extraordinarily kind reviews to three of my books on Amazon UK (I only found them in preparation to writing this journal entry, and was able to recognise her from her account name). I'm very, very touched indeed by so kind a regard -- probably far more than the books deserve -- and for the appreciation and loyalty she has shown to the varied aspects of my work here on dA.

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In other book news, I now find that the new Vintage Classics edition of Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle with my cover illustration has become available for pre-order. This book happens to be a particular favourite of mine; one of those books to which one remains loyal through life. If you have not read it, shame on you I urge you to do so at the soonest opportunity.


If you missed out on securing a copy of the 150th anniversary edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám in its limited edition release back in 2009, the good news is that The Folio Society are planning to re-issue the book in a smaller, less costly edition. It will have all of the original illustrations, the main differences being that its production details will be altogether less lavish (but still very much up to the usual Folio standards for their regular editions), and there will be no signed limited edition etching. I surmise that there must have been some demand for it after selling out within a month of its release to have prompted this decision on Folio's part. Although I can honestly say that I shudder at some of the work I did for that now, and were I given the chance to re-do this book again, I would so happily leap at it.

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Finally, I should have posted this a while ago, but it continually escaped me: there is a rather useful profile of me together with a handy list of publications on Palazzo Editions' website. There also happens to be, unfortunately, a (mercifully small) photograph (argh), which, by the way, was taken outside Number 4, Sydney Place in Bath, where Jane Austen spent a period of her life.  I will include the link on my profile page here, too.

Thank you for reading.

N.


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...Of failing to notice the request in this description?

Knowing how often artists' comments are overlooked, I tried to circumvent the error further by putting the request directly in the title itself. And yet...

I can only surmise that some of you had perhaps deliberately chosen to favourite it all the same out of a sense of loyalty (really? ). In which case I can only thank you for the display, and for knowing that I could possibly ever inspire such feelings. For the others, well, I have a choice of simply remaining mystified, or charging you with... What shall I call it? A momentary stupor, let us say. It is a more delicate 's' word to use on the occasion.

(Please bear in mind that my tongue is firmly in my cheek. )

If, however, I could persuade any of you who made the mistake to very kindly pay the same attention to the original deviation (which, by the way, can be viewed larger than the ID piece, and which is pining after your misapplied favour ), then I shall be truly grateful.

For the deviant who kindly requested a print of this, a print has been made available -- on the original piece.


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I asked the heaven of stars
  What I should give my love—
It answered me with silence,
  Silence above.
  
I asked the darkened sea          
  Down where the fishes go—
It answered me with silence,
  Silence below.
  
Oh, I could give him weeping,
  Or I could give him song—   
But how can I give silence
  My whole life long?

Sara Teasdale, Night Song at Amalfi


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I built a little House of Dreams,
And fenced it all about,
But still I heard the Wind of Truth
That roared without.

I laid a fire of Memories
And sat before the glow,
But through the chinks and round the door
The wind would blow.

I left the House, for all the night
I heard the Wind of Truth; —
I followed where it seemed to lead
Through all my youth.

But when I sought the House of Dreams,
To creep within and die,
The Wind of Truth had levelled it,
And passed it by.


Sara Teasdale, The House of Dreams,
From Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems, 1907


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The copy is now sold. Thank you!

!slightlytriangle has a copy of the Folio Society's 150th anniversary edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám which I illustrated for sale to help raise much-needed funds for some rather pressing vet bills.  

As some watchers may recall, the edition was limited to 1,000 copies, all of which sold out within a month of the book's publication.  

Thank you.


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I will be at the Celebrating Jane Austen event as part of the Bath Festival of Children's Literature on Wednesday 28th September to launch the publication of the bicentenary edition of Sense and Sensibility, and will be signing copies of the book.  The main event itself will be a discussion about Austen with a panel of enthusiasts, chaired by writer, teacher and passionate Austenite, Katharine Reeve.  Tickets for the event are £5.  For further details and to book, please visit the Bath Box Office.  If anyone is interested and able to attend, do introduce yourself; it would be lovely to see you!



Also, on an entirely separate though not altogether unrelated note, I simply had to share this wonderful clip of Kurt Vonnegut on the Shape of Stories.  Pure genius.


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This is a hastily posted entry (whilst my internet access is still sporadic) to point my generous watchers to what may turn out to be two foolhardy new ventures of mine.  After much vacillating, I have embarked upon not one but two new blogs (help).  I still question the wisdom of doing so even now, but I decided that  Himmapaanensis could act as the saurian off-shoot of the 'regular' blog to make it easier for those more interested in my meagre palaeo-illustrative attempts to follow.

Although I must say (with considerable sadness), if you're interested in no other work of mine at all but the dinosaurs alone: why, for shame, O ye philistines! ~_o

Conversely, if you have no interest in natural history at all, why, for shame -- simply!  

Thank you!


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Thank you so much to new watchers, to everyone for all your favourites, for your continued interest, and quite simply for your general tolerance.

I am not always able to reply to every comment, and I have had to choose not to thank everyone individually for favourites and watches, for which I do apologise. Please be assured, however, that I appreciate them all very much.


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Thank you so much to new watchers, to everyone for all your favourites, for your continued interest, and quite simply for your general tolerance.

I am not always able to reply to every comment, and I have had to choose not to thank everyone individually for favourites and watches, for which I do apologise. Please be assured, however, that I appreciate them all very much.


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Once again, I am hopelessly late with sharing important news.  Several people had already heard of this themselves at the time and had sent me kind messages, for which I thank you again.

Back in September, I was awarded the bronze prize in the Books category of the Association of Illustrators' annual award: Images 34 - the Best of British Contemporary Illustration 2010  [link] .

The winning illustration was The Frog Princess, from Myths and Legends of Russia, published by The Folio Society.



The award ceremony and private view of the exhibition of winners' work were held at the London College of Communication in London on Tuesday, 7th September 2010.  The exhibition is currently on tour throughout the UK,   more information about which can be found here: [link] .  You can also find out more about the Association of Illustrators and their Images awards in general from both of those links above.

All the award winning illustrations can be seen here: [link] (click on the thumbnails to enlarge).  There are photographs from the award ceremony and party, among which, alas, I was also lamentably captured (cringe): [link]

The pictures in which I appear are in the third (I34 Award Ceremony) folder.  There is a very obvious indication in one of the pictures which should help you to identify me, even if you had never seen a picture of me before.  Thereafter, it is just a matter of spotting that same freakish person in several other pictures...

I could scarcely believe it at the time.  I never imagined I would have even made the shortlist, let alone win anything.  I'm extremely grateful to The Folio Society, not only because they had commissioned the book to begin with, but it was also they who entered my work into the competition.

Thank you for reading!


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This is just a very brief note to mention that I've been featured this week (17th to 23rd August) on Bluecanvas: [link]

I had hoped to mention it sooner when I received the news a few days ago, but I was being hopeless as usual and quite forgot.  It wasn't until I received a congratulatory message from *SethFitts (who is also there) that I was reminded that it started today!

Thank you and take care.


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For those who have already seen me mention this elsewhere, do please forgive the repetition, but I just wanted to send out a small warning that a good number of existing deviations are going to be replaced with scans of the original artworks over the next few weeks, as I've had many of them returned to me from my publishers recently.  

Older watchers may recall that the illustrations for The Red Fairy Book which are in the gallery at the moment were scanned from the printers' proofs.  Even earlier than that, before I had my scanner at all, colour photocopies were sent to be scanned for me by !slightlytriangle.  So in effect, this set of illustrations will have been updated here twice, which I am sure accounts for the sense of déjà vu I predict many of you are experiencing (!).  I apologise for any tedium this may cause, particularly as I have so little new work to share at present (see below); but perhaps you will agree that the improved fidelity to the originals is altogether more preferable.  And newer watchers who haven't quite become familiar with these illustrations yet may perhaps find them interesting.

Aside from these, several of the Austen illustrations will also be updated.  I may also upload one or two illustrations for Myths and Legends of Russia which have not been submitted here before.  I will try to space all these out fairly evenly and not flood your inboxes all at once.

In other news, I have been very busy working on something which I'm afraid won't be published until about October/November next year.  This gallery is going to experience a very dry period indeed during the intervening sixteen months, it seems (I wonder how many people will stay the course ).  Although judging from past feedback, the new book probably won't meet with much interest here at ay rate (but may do better 'outside'), so it may be of no consequence after all.

Thank you.


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These artists: visit them. At once, I bid you!
They have been among my watch list for a long while, but the opportunity to feature them has constantly escaped me.  I shall employ a similar tactic as I once did, and quite without shame.  I have far too bewildering a number of watchers; more than I can make sense of.  If I find that these artists
do not receive a very significant increase of attention in the next few days, I shall consider something as seriously amiss.  I feature just these two for the present, the better that they may be properly and thoroughly noticed. Please try not to merely click and drag to add to your favourites.  I urge you to visit their galleries and view the work as fully as they deserve.

~LuisSanchez
Sheer virtuosity of application, execution and craftsmanship.  A true traditional artist in all the best senses of that description. A modern master.






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~micorl
A master watercolourist such as I could never even presume to tread the shadow of. I'm utterly in love. (*Weeps disconsolately*)







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Please, disprove my ever-growing but less than magnanimous thoughts about some portions of dA's audiences, and bolster the reputation of this place (after all, it is the audience and members who reflect the place; the place itself has little to do with it). Show your appreciation for those who truly deserve it.

Thank you, and goodnight.

Niroot (Peng)
นิรุตติ์ (เป้ง)

Thank you so much to new watchers, to everyone for all your favourites, for your continued interest, and quite simply for your general tolerance.

I am not always able to reply to every comment (though I do try), and I have had to choose not to thank everyone individually for favourites and watches (but again, I try to acknowledge the latter as much as possible), for which I do beg your pardon. Please be assured, however, that I appreciate them very much.


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If anyone is thinking of donating towards Haiti's relief efforts but is undecided as to which charity to contribute, I'd like to put in a word for Médecins Sans Frontières as one of the best choices. They already have hospitals in Port au Prince and have set up emergency clinics in many locations.  The most minimal fractions of donations go towards management and fundraising (only 1% for the former and 12% for the latter in 2008, and the remaining 87% went towards real services).

US citizens can donate online here: [link]

Other countries, please visit this link to find your local website: [link]

You can also all help simply by clicking. [link] It won't cost you a thing. Each click generates donations from the sponsors of Care2 (here's how it works), so please return there to click daily, once a day, to continue helping.  If you can forward it to as many people as you can, so much the better.

  
Would someone be able to advise this clueless Luddite on whether it is at all possible to construct something resembling a tutorial (except it won't be a tutorial) without the need of some graphic programme or other?  Believe it or not, I do not know how to put text and images together digitally to save as one file, though I'm sure it's common knowledge.  I did think at first that I could simply post images as thumbnails and type up the accompanying text; but it is a cumbersome exercise and involves the necessity of clicking to and fro for readers.  I would also prefer not to inundate watchers' inboxes with the number of deviations this would require.  I would only be uploading to my scrapbook, of course, but I'm aware there are watchers who watch that too.  

I'm hoping (without yet promising) to post a similar thing on LiveJournal, so if all else fails, perhaps I can post a link to there.  I'm sorry it may not be as convenient as having it posted here; and those who do not read these journal entries here won't be notified of it, but I'm afraid it may have to do.

Thank you!

Niroot นิรุตติ์

Thank you so much to new watchers, to everyone for all your favourites, for your continued interest, and quite simply for your general tolerance.

I am not always able to reply to every comment (though I do try), and I have had to choose not to thank everyone individually for favourites and watches (but again, I try to acknowledge the latter as much as possible), for which I do beg your pardon. Please be assured, however, that I appreciate them very much.


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