Gwelf: The Survival Guide: 1 (Gwelf, 1)

Product Information

The interesting parts came in the latter half of the book where some of the old historical battles were discussed, some more of the haunted places, and enemies in the far reaches of the Scrublands.

The Gwelf thought it would be a good idea to park Small's car on the stairs, before leaving their house in an instant. Of course, this meant that I missed the second Kickstarter, which I’m begining to slightly regret because this book is so cool! The perspective of a potential tourist is a lovely way to share these ideas and histories without being overwhelming. So essentially what I came up with was a combination of some of my favourite books and concepts and put them into something that is hopefully, at least slightly original, and if not original then totally fun. Parts of it definitely sounded like propaganda but it made it more realistic as it is meant to be written by the leaders/tourism department of the town.

However, there is a lot to be said for working with a team, and the few times I’ve done it have been very rewarding. What I did for years was to design my work on printer paper first and then transfer it to the final watercolour paper with a lightbox. Larry MacDougall has done that thing—created a fantasy world that is completely believable, super charming, and more than a little bit dangerous.

At 145 pages (excluding the afterward and sketches), Gwelf is a heft survival guide and a good introduction to the world of Gwelf. MacDougall could, in some future endeavor, built plot and character with equal skill and imagination, the result would be magnificent. I’m much more interested in drawing straight onto the finished paper now and letting spontaneity rule the outcome of the work. You could also look at vintage faerie tale artists like Arthur Rackham, Ernest Shepard, Beatrix Potter, and John Bauer. Small at the time had persuaded Big that the Gwelf was the one who left his car on the stairs, but Big was not at all convinced, nor was he impressed.Rest assured that should you follow the precautions outlined in our guide, you will be quite safe, as it is the council’s intention to provide this book as a resource so that future mishaps might be avoided . Gwelf: The Survival Guide was a Kickstarter campaign that I backed mostly cause I thought the art was nice and I love books that are guides/pretend to be guides. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. We lived near the woods as do most people in Canada and I spent a great deal of time there as a kid.

I would love to read of the adventures the creatures that visit Gwelf, or about the hostilities between the Sparrowkind and the Ravenkind. If a deadline is pressing I get back to work after lunch otherwise I spend the afternoons running whatever errands need doing or taking care of non-creative work stuff. If you find yourself in Gwelf may I suggest you stay away from the section titled “Here Be Ugly Nasty Things”. In my experience, an art block usually comes when you have advanced to a new skill level and you are on unfamiliar ground. It has brought so much joy and excitement into my life and it continues to do so whoever I think of Gwelf or look at the illustrations all over again.

Absolutely gorgeous book, with a neat history and culture presented through the form of a travel guide.

I put this book on hold after I saw the cover because it reminded me of the Mouse Guard graphic novels. It is a very tricky process to use watercolour but I have been using it for literally decades now so I am starting to feel a little less afraid of it. This is when he decided to leave the gaming world and cross over to children's publishing where he illustrated many books for publishers both in Canada and abroad. It seems like MacDougall's next Gwelf book might address these issues, moving away from the travel guide format and more into an adventure chronicle.

The Gwelf was first created in Dig-It Land, and eventually expanded its natural range to other parts of the UnUniverse. The artists I respect the most now tend to be very loose and free – Hayao Miyazaki, Ashley Wood, and Claire Wendling would be three good examples. Flubb tried everything to get rid of the squirrel, but he could not, because his attention had been drawn to the Gwelf constantly. Many people are not certain at all of the Gwelf's existence, a notable example of this is Big, who prefers to believe that the Gwelf is only a piece of fiction and not a real being. One evening they hear a whomp, whomp, whomp outside and Small is convinced it is the Gwelf even though Big assures him that the Gwelf doesn't exist.