Viva Black Mermaid™ in Las Vegas!

Fresh from Jozef's computer ... our new Black Mermaid™ hits Las Vegas next month in our new Great Cities of the World range. She'll be up on the Black Mermaid Boutique in the next couple of days if you want to order your tee or your postcards or prints early. And don't forget the cushions .... If you're going to Mer-Con and the World Mermaid Awards, we'll have a selection of merchandise for sale from our Black Mermaid Productions™ booth.

Opening the Elf~Fin™ Conversation

We received this lovely letter from a reader – Pamela from Tasmania – a few weeks ago, who has given us permission to reprint it online (some identifying private information has been blocked out).

While we're not going to give away any upcoming plotlines, we will say that Pamela is very switched on. We're both of the mind-set that comics need to be explored. We usually have at least two sweeps through a comic when we're reading them—we read the words first and skim over the images and then on the second reading, focus and dissect the images and skim over the words. We can see that Pamela has done the same with the Elf~Fin: Hyfus & Tilaweed PREVIEW. There is lots of information embedded in the images if you care or have the time to look for it. Here are some examples of what Pamela's discovered ...

"I've read it several times, and will quite a few more, I suspect. Each time I catch something I didn't see before. So many little details – from the colour co-originating fin-webbing between the fingers ... [to] the colour changes to Hyfus' tail when his sea-seer power kicks in ... and many others.

The scene of the poor little sea-horses that were simply in the wrong place and the wrong time was quite heart-rending...

I really liked the gradual page by page darkening of the panels as afternoon progressed into evening, the greyed-out pages at night, and the golden quality of the morning light.

I thought it interesting that while Hyfus appeared in the glow of light, the Council members are situated entirely in the shadow (enlightenment against ignorance?) ...

Pamela also posed many questions about the Shuddering, the giant rock faces in the opening pages and questions about Fillayne's partner who "disappeared". Some of these questions will be answered (partly or in full if they don't amount to spoilers) in our first ezine which is going out at the end of this month. If you want to subscribe and learn more insider's information about Elf~Fin, then just CLICK on the SUBSCRIBE image on the right hand side-bar of this blog and then opt into our e-mailing list.

Oh ... and Pam, we love your letterhead with your own version of a merman.

Thank you for delighting us with your letter.

GRAPHIC Animation Competition

Sydney Opera House invites the worldwide animation community to take part in GRAPHIC: an online animation competition designed to celebrate the innovation, creativity and imagination behind the art form.

Illustrators, animators and storytellers of all levels – from established to up-and-coming and newcomers – are encouraged to enter. The winning entry will score $20,000 prize money and be screened at a major GRAPHIC Festival event at the Sydney Opera House.

A panel of judges headed by Animal Logic CEO and Producer Zareh Nalbandian (producer Academy Award Winning Happy Feet) and members of the public will vote for the most original and creative animations over the course of three consecutive rounds.

Round 1 entries close on Sunday 17 July 2011.

Check out the GRAPHIC YouTube channel for all the relevant competition elements and submission guidelines. Here's the introductory video to get you started.

Mermaid Name Generator

Found a fun site with lots of pretty pictures: Mermaid Name Generator

Check it out. I turned out to be the following:

Oyster Coastal Swift

(ostrea litus)

Has pearlescent white skin and jet black hair. Oysters form a main supplement of the diet of this subspecies, which is often found hunting rocks and crevices for tasty morsels.

Found along the coastline in many parts of the world, the litus is a gypsy of the oceans, making itself at home in a variety of environments.

Note: Faster than most varieties, with superior physical ability and quick wittedness.

Mermaid Time!

Found lots of mermaid videos online. Hoax or real? Are you convinced or not ....?