Book Review : Twas The Night Before Christmas

Good evening my lovelies!

Always wanted to do book reviews for picture books to YA; but for some reason never knew where to start, so, today I thought I would dive in head first. 

I don't celebrate Christmas, not in a long time anyway, though seeing all the coloured lights and gorgeous sweets at this time of year, I always get taken back in my memories of my childhood.  And there is nothing that says Christmas more than the delightful poem by Clement C. Moore's  "Twas The Night Before Christmas".  What makes this version particularly delightful is the beautiful and detailed illustrations of Gyo Fujikawa. Making it a truly magical experience!

Excited children, dancing sugar plumbs, eight flying reindeer and a tiny jolly elf, St. Nick himself dazzle the eyes with all the tiny details only Gyo can do.  Her illustrations make you want to just sit back and stare at all the pictures, straining to see all the tiny things she's hidden in there.

I loved books like this when I was a child.  Instead of reading the story, I would sit for hours pouring over every nook and cranny of the drawing. Running my fingers over the pages in awe of how the artist even created it. It was only then, after being fully done with ogling, would I read the actual story for the next delight.

If you have not yet heard of Gyo Fujikawa, I highly, highly recommend that you do! I'll leave you with a link to her wikipedia page to take a peek if you like.  She was a prolific creator of over 50 picture books, and wonderfully, her books are still in reprint.  I love her drawings of children. They are so cute with their happy faces, plump little bellies and sweet dot eyes.

So, with Christmas coming ever closer, what is your favourite Christmas story to read? Or your favourite Christmas illustrations?

Happy Chanukkah! And I'll see you in the next post! Cheers!

Hello new Blog!

Hi everyone! Welcome to my new blog home. I used to run the Mucha Cafe blog for a long time, but I felt like I needed a fresh start at thing and have a whole new look. I started posting less and less at my old blog because it just no longer felt like me or my style anymore. when I first started taking drawing seriously, Alphonse Mucha was a huge influence on me and pushed me forward with finding a style that worked for me, so, I made a blog title to honour that love of all things Mucha.
But, now that I've changed, my art and goals have changed; I wanted something to reflect this.
I tend to draw elves and faeries so much more now. In fact, they have completely won me over!

I still love Alphonse Mucha dearly and always will; but I now have my own style voice to go by. He will always live in my heart though, pushing me on still to create beautiful works of art.

It is my goal now to write and illustrate my own books and picture books.  I currently have a picture book challenge going on for myself. I will be sharing that with you fine people in the days to come and I truly look forward to your feedback on my book and art. I will cherish those insights and hope to make more improvements.

With that said, I hope you will join me on my story ramblings and illustrations and possibly inspire magic and creativity with you all.

To start this post off right, I'll add the first illustration! (I am having trouble with getting the Pages tabs to load up..going to keep trying, so it will make drawings easier to find)...

This little lady is titled, " Frost Faerie" - She was part of the December auction over on Twisted Ruby Red Slippers Artist Collective on Facebook.

She was created using pencils, coloured pencils and white ink. I added some little pops of blue for a wintry feel.  I was nervous doing this as I didn't want to ruin to drawing! I went really lightly at first before seeing that it was alright and going in a bit stronger.

Been working on creating a more realistic style. Still have a long way to go, but as a friend said to me, I've already come a long way already. She is available as a print.

Wishing you a lovely day and I'll see you in the next post! Cheers!