Prepping For Black Friday #2 – Sale On Etsy Prints!

As we approach Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, I have another post about my wares, this time with a big, fat, site-wide discount!

Now Has Come The Time For Silence – © Sarah Allegra – fine art print

Enter code MYTHIC2014 to get a whopping 20% off any and all items from my Etsy shop!  This is a huge sale, the biggest I’ve ever created, so take advantage of it while it’s active!  It will be good until January 31st 2015; perfect for buying holiday gifts for yourself and others, as well as spending any Christmas money you might get 🙂

Let me tell you a little bit about my prints.  They are made at an extremely high-quality printer in downtown Los Angeles.  My printer is not at all easy to get to; there is always traffic and I manage to get lost and the entire experience of getting there is terrible, but I wouldn’t change printers for the world.  Even if I moved out of state, I’d keep using them and have them ship me my prints.  The incredible quality of the prints they deliver is just that high.

Aerie – © Sarah Allegra – fine art print

Each and every image is carefully calibrated to reveal even the tiniest details.  They somehow manage to keep the highlights high and the lowlights low without a single pixel’s worth of detail loss.  The colors are an exact match for how I intend the images to look.  These are NOT easy things!  I have been through many printers before I found POV Evolving.  And a special shout-out and thank you to Lauren, who always handles my orders!  She is a delightful person and makes sure each and every image created is perfect.

In addition to all that, they only use archival inks and paper, making prints that are museum-quality and which will last for a lifetime!  The paper they use is this thick, luscious paper, almost like watercolor paper; nothing cheap or flimsy.  Every single time I have an image printed, I’m impressed with how amazing it looks, even though I’ve been seeing how great they look for several years!

To The Lost – © Sarah Allegra – fine art print

In addition to the incredible quality of every print, all my images come in limited edition runs.  There are a few exceptions, but generally it looks like this:

12 size small prints at 8″ x 12″

10 size medium prints at 10″ x 15″

7 size large prints at 16″ x 24”

That means that there will only ever be 7 prints made of that particular image in that size, in the entire world, ever!

Occasionally, I also have props or wearable art available in my shop as well!  Right now, you can have your own Wind Goddess headdress, which also looks quite wintery, for not very much 🙂

Where Earth Meets The Sky – detail.

The Wind Goddess Headdress available on Etsy now!

I also have a section of my shop dedicated to ME/CFS/fibro-inspired prints from my Enchanted Sleep series!

Each and every print will come signed and numbered along the white border.  If you’d like a short, special message included, I’m happy to add that for you, free of charge!

One more word about my prints; the quality of them was high enough that Peter S. Beagle himself took them along legs of his The Last Unicorn screening tour.

Five of my prints along the left side of this photo (photo not taken by me)

This was extra special because not only was Peter S. Beagle, one of the biggest sources of inspiration to me and one of my two favorite authors (the other being Robin McKinley) had this adorable moment with Game Of Thrones author George RR Martin right in front of my prints:

Peter S. Beagle and George RR Martin with plushies, in front of my prints!

I’d like to say quickly that the above photo went a bit viral and I have been credited as the photographer, but I did not take this photo.  I wasn’t even in the same state as they were at the time!  I tweeted about the photo since it’s adorable and also in front of my prints, and then it really took off, but I did not snap the image, and though I have tried to correct news sources, they continue listing me as the photographer.  So, I’m sorry to whoever did take this photo; I have tried to set the record straight!

This Dying Body – © Sarah Allegra – fine art print

Take a look around my Etsy shop and don’t forget to use your discount code MYTHIC2014 to get 20% your entire order!  Let me restate that this is the biggest, farthest-reaching sale I have ever had on my prints, so be sure to take advantage of it while it lasts!

If there is a certain image you’d like a print of, or you see an image you like but want it in a different size, just let me know!  Some of my images are under contract and I am unable to sell prints of them for that reason, but the majority of the time, I will be able to accommodate you very easily!

Remember, the discount code is only good until January 31st 2015, so get ready, get set… go!!  Happy shopping!

Katie Jonson being silly and posing with a framed print she modeled in

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Prepping For Black Friday #1 – Red Bubble Items!

As we approach the Holiday Season, I’m dedicating the next few days to promoting my artwork-related items, which would make wonderful gifts for anyone!  Whether you’re looking for straight artwork you can hang on the walls, some inexpensive stocking-stuffer/Secret Santa gifts, or something with a more practical application, I’ve got you covered 🙂

Today I’m focusing on items which can be found in my Red Bubble shop!  I talked about this some in my last post, but I can go into it a little more in its own post.  What do I sell in my Red Bubble shop?  A LOT.  All of the following can be found with my artwork on it!

• Blank greeting cards/postcards (very inexpensive… and you could grab a couple for yourself and a few to give away!)
• Stickers (again, very inexpensive; grab some for yourself and some for a friend!)
• Tshirts and hoodies
• Laptop skins
• iPad covers
• iPhone covers
• Galaxy phone covers
• Throw pillows
• Tote bags (so, so useful, especially here in Los Angeles where plastic bags are banned!  Slide your purchases into one of these babies :))
• Duvet covers
• Mugs (who doesn’t use mugs?)
• Travel Mugs for liquid on the go!
• Lastly, my favorite, my new 2015 Calendars!

I started buying Red Bubble calendars before I ever started selling any of my own and I’ve been constantly impressed with the incredibly high quality year after year!  The paper is thick and lush, the inks print vividly and the design maximizes the room for artwork!  I truly love having one of these in my house each year (and I get frequent requests for these as gifts for friends and family).  It’s such a simple way to get 12 unique pieces of art to hang on your wall, adding beauty and magic every single day and it comes at a great price!

My 2015 Calendar!

And if that’s not enough for you, you can also shop by series!  Want to see everything DreamWorld-related?  Enchanted Sleep, for those who chronic illness has touched?  Orphans of the Mother Road for vintage-lovers?  Glass Walls for the animal-lovers in your life?  Pop Culture-inspired?  How about Music- and Literary-Inspired images?  Or are you a fan of a good old self portrait?

I have never had any issues with any of the items I’ve ordered from them myself, nor have I heard anything negative from others.  Red Bubble really makes buying fun and easy!  You can visit one site and take care of many people on your to-buy-for list and get your shopping done quickly!  And if you’re looking for any image in particular on any item in particular, just let me know!  I can very likely accommodate any requests!

As always, I sincerely thank anyone who helps support independent artists with their buying power!  You guys help make what I do possible 🙂  Keep an eye on the blog for the next couple days as we approach Black Friday and Cyber Saturday/Monday!  New items will be showcased and some really fantastic savings will be revealed as well!

Happy shopping to all!

Lady Death, by Sarah Allegra

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A Dropped Strand

***Spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn’t seen the first season of Boardwalk Empire!***

Keep reading to see an animated gif showing the whole editing process I used to create this image!  Many thanks to Handy Andy Pandy for imparting his knowledge of gifs upon me!

You guys all know I LOOOOVE me some Boardwalk Empire.  Or, at least, I did, up until last season’s finale.  I’m trying to work up to forgiving the show for its horrible end before the final season starts this fall, but I’ve got a ways to go.

I had to completely put the show out of my mind for a long time but I’ve started dipping my toe back into that intoxicating water.  As I was starting the whole series over again (for the manyth time) a new character caught my eye in a way she hadn’t before: Pearl.

Pearl

Played expertly by Emily Meade (currently on The Leftovers, also on HBO), Pearl is a prostitute at The Four Deuces in Chicago, which is where Jimmy retreats into hiding until heat from a botched robbery he and Al Capone attempted dies down.  She and Jimmy hit it off right away and form a quick, if somewhat odd, couple, shyly getting to know each other.

Jimmy’s ear is hurt after Al fires a gun right next to his head as a joke (seriously, who doesn’t fire dangerous weapons at their friends heads now and then?)  Pearl tries to fix him up and suggests he take opium for the pain; “It’s divine, it really is, for whatever ails you.”  Jimmy turns the offer down and the begin talking about their pasts.

Pearl, it turns out, is from Star Prairie, Wisconsin, a very small town where “Grampa was the first white man born in town, Pa was the first man got sent to state prison and Ma was the first woman run over flat by a car.  So you could say I have a lot to live up to.”

She tells Jimmy of her plan to head west to Hollywood and become an actress as soon as she saves up enough money.  Half-jokingly, she tells Jimmy he can come with her if he wants to, which he agrees to, and you can see that there’s a real affection growing between them.

But we all know, no one on Boardwalk gets to be happy for long.

Shortly after, Pearl finds herself being used as a means of sending Jimmy a message.  She had nothing to do with any of the reasons these men want to hurt Jimmy, she’s just caught in the ugly crossfire… and it costs her her face.  Warning for the squeamish, this is a bit brutal.

 

You have to think that with what little we know of her past and the fact that she’s a prostitute, life hasn’t been especially kind to this poor girl.  Not only are her acting dreams shattered, but even prostitution is taken away from her.  Jimmy feels responsible for her condition and tries to take care of her.  The Four Deuces wants to kick her out as soon as she stops making money, but Jimmy delays them.  Her face is stitched and bandaged and Jimmy spends a lot of time squeezing oranges into juice for her to take her opium in.

Despite her opium haze, Pearl realizes that her future has been erased.  At one point, she forlornly asks Jimmy who will love her now?  We wonder what this poor girl will do, but she’s quite calm and collected; she seems to have it figured out.  While Jimmy is caring for her, she asks him to tell her a story.

I can’t blame Pearl for feeling that was her only option.  Life had been quite unkind to her.  She deserved much more, but I’m glad that she at least had a few beautiful moments with Jimmy before she left.

But, much as no one on Boardwalk stays happy for long, no one stays unavenged for long either.

Unknown to Liam, the face slasher, Jimmy has just met Richard Harrow, the World War One sharp shooter.  At their first meeting, Richard tells Jimmy the story of how he once stayed three days in a blind, waiting for the single moment when he could kill a German shooter, finally taking him out with one shot below his right eye.  Jimmy has a soft spot for the lonely and lost and accepts Richard readily into his life.  And they concoct a plan.

While Pearl’s death is tragic, it is the catalyst for Jimmy and Richard’s friendship, which continues for the rest of the series.  If Jimmy hadn’t needed someone to help him extract revenge upon Liam, who knows what would have become of their relationship, and who knows how it would have changed Richard’s involvement in the show?  We might have never met the man who would become one of my favorite characters on all of television.

With a new appreciation for Pearl’s character, I felt like creating an image in her memory.  And I have to say, I was very proud of myself for how little time it took me to transform myself into a Pearl-like girl; maybe 15 minutes.  If I had more energy on a daily basis, I would certainly try and bring more of the 20’s style to my daily look!  As things stand, I will have to be content with just dressing myself and either putting my hair in a ponytail or hiding it under a hat.  But maybe some day…  🙂

Geoff was very kind and helped be my human shutter release for these self portraits.  Byron helped by photobombing as often as he could.  All said, this was a quick and easy shoot and editing it was quite a delight.  My friend Robert Cornelius helped me figure out how to add the tears to the photo later, which I’d forgotten to do at the time of the shoot.  Thanks, Robert!

Please enjoy the finished image and the detail shot where you can really see the tears!  Also, HUGE thanks to Andy for showing me how to create the animated gif below!  It’s a great way to show you guys the whole creation of the image in a fun way.  I’m hoping to do more of these now that I’ve got one under my belt!

Tell Me A Happy Story

 

Tell Me A Happy Story – detail

 

Watch the creation of this image from start to finish!

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7 Richard Harrow Spin-Offs The Boardwalk Empire Writers Never Considered

WARNING: this post contains major plot spoilers from the last season of Boardwalk Empire.  Turn back now if you haven’t seen it all!!

*******

My regular blog readers will know that Jack Huston’s “Richard Harrow” is my absolute favorite character on BOARDWALK EMPIRE.  And I was in disbelief when Richard died last week in the fourth season finale.

I recently read a quote from Huston that the writers killed off Richard because there was nowhere left to take the role.  I disagree. Did they for a moment even consider a Richard spin-off?  For example….

1. THE FACTS OF RICHARD

Richard becomes the house mother to a group of precocious boarding school girls.  Just imagine Richard guiding them through boy troubles or explaining the beauty of their first period.  “I’ve shot.  A lot of people.  But none of them ever took seven days.  To bleed out.” he would say in the stop-and-go cadence of his gravelly, yet reassuring, voice.

“Don’t let those boys. Pressure you into anything. You don’t want to do. If they do. I’ll kill their mother and sisters.  To draw them out.  Then I’ll kill them.“

2. RICHARD AND SHIRLEY

Richard moves to Milwaukee to work at a beer bottling plant… even though it’s still Prohibition.  There he meets a spunky roommate and moves into a basement apartment where he sews a giant “R” on each of his shirts, when not working on his scrapbook.

“Schlemiel!  Schlimazel!  Hasenpfeffer.  Incorporated!”

RICHARD AND SHIRLEY

3. RICHARD

Radio is becoming a big thing in 1924 and Richard is leading the pack.  He moves to Seattle and uses his raspy, soothing voice to dispense homespun psychiatric advice to people contacting him through the equally on-the-rise technology of the telephone:  “Your husband doesn’t.  Understand you?  Have you ever considered.  Shooting him in the face?  I once waited three days.  To shoot a German sniper.”

“I’ve been told that.  My voice is very.  Soothing.“

4. RICH

Richard leaves his friends behind and moves to Hollywood to pursue his dream of being in silent pictures.  However, once they realize how limiting it is to only be able to film the right side of his face, the spin-off is cancelled after three episodes…which means it lasted just a little longer than JOEY.

“How you. Doin’?“

6. HARROW

Richard moves to a small New England town where he opens a bed and breakfast, surrounded by a colorful cast of characters.  In the last episode, he wakes up in bed next to Nucky Thompson and realizes it was all just a beautiful dream.

“Nucky, I had. The strangest dream.”

7. RICHARD LOVES CHACHI

Is musical success in the cards for Richard when he and Chachi move to Chicago to start a band?  In spite of Richard’s angelic singing voice, the answer is, sadly, no.

It’s just as well.  Chicago is Al Capone’s territory anyway.

“Chachi, you’re. The love of my life.“

Come on, BOARDWALK writers.  Surely you could think of more gold to mine from such a rich, complex and utterly unique character!  In a spirit of hopefulness, I’ll leave you with my photo Cote of Arms.  This particular photo was inspired by BOARDWALK; Katie and I dressed up in vintage lingerie and pretended to be poor, cold, soiled doves from the show’s era.  Despite the bad situation they seem to be in, I see hope in it, and that they will take care of each other.  So I’ll hope that the writers will come to their senses and we’ll find out next season that Richard wasn’t really dead.

Though I ran it back and looked really close…and he wasn’t breathing.

Cote of Arms

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