An Animation Test

Here is an AMAZING test.

Created using Ai.

The test above was made from this artwork.

(which was not thoroughly detailed)

We will be moving forward with this animation project

once the publishing work is finished.

The Artwork used in the books is being far more detailed that the image used for this test.

If you expand the image, you will see that I did not fully detail the artwork,

which I am now doing for the publications.

I only wish I detailed this image further before doing this test

but even so, it is amazing.

AG

Approach to Publishing the Books

I have said this elsewhere, mostly in passing reference. 

The First Editions of the Storybook Collection will be hand-stitched, custom made to order.  I will be inventorying 100 copies of each book, so that I can meet  prepaid orders at the full MSRP for individual books in a timely manner.  Signed editions are an additional 25%. Contact us by email or use the contact form in the right column. 

Retail Wholesale Pricing (still under review) will require a minimum order of 12 copies of each book and a retailer will be required to stock the full collection of seven books.  A full Keystone will require an initial order of one gross of each book and a commitment of 100 copies of each book per month for one year.  Books to meet these orders will have a turn-around time that has yet to have been determined.  Orders will be prepaid for the first year, after which a deposit of 50% will be required with 30 days on the balance.  Larger orders are possible. No books will be provided if there is an outstanding invoice.

Further, we are seeking to exploit the numerous Ancillary Markets as a means of funding the Stage Production. Hence, I am open to dialogue in this regard. I do expect to job out numerous production aspects and welcome inquiry in this regard.  

We have begun working on the Parade Float (trying to have it ready for a separate Fourth of July presentation) and expect to craft Animatronics for our Gnome presentation and for use in the Gallery Exhibition Walk-thru. We are also evaluation our mission to implement Puppetry and what the extent of that will be, in part, because of the desire to implement a cyclorama walk-thru.  Portions of the Cyclorama will be present in the Gallery Exhibition.  These things are taking precedence over the Stage Presentation, because they require less cost, logistics and will result in hard assets for use in promotion.  However, set construction for the Stage is moving forward with models that will be part of the Gallery Exhibition.

An AD for a Playbill

    Last month I placed a full page Ad in the Playbill for an excellent production of "Man of LaMancha" at MPAC (The Mitchell Performing Arts Center) in Bryn Athyn.  That AD was a B&W, but here is the color AD that was prepared for that Playbill;

I'll add the B&W Advertisement in the near future;

The Impending Release of the Books

The Books are getting closer to Release

 I am finalizing the remaining Illustration Panels

there is still much to do, but relatively speaking,

we are almost done.

The Cover of the e-Storybook

UPDATE (10/8/25);

   I keep thinking the books will be done very soon, but it keeps taking longer that I expect. If I were able to dedicate full time to working on the layout, then in might be very close to being ready, but I cannot. I am building the studio and advancing assorted projects.

   The final Illustrations are being assembled with numerous parts, as we started to create the components of the illustration panels as individual paintings for the sake of having higher detail in the work. This causes more work for me to assemble, but it results in a better finished product.  Also, we are moving toward the 3D animation and the paintings of the characters needs to be more detailed for that. 

   I have concluded that it would be best if we sculpted the characters and then scanned the sculptures for the 3D. That way, we will have consistency and the Garden Gnomes/figurines will match the animated characters. So on that basis, I am looking for people who would like to sculpt our characters (in clay).

    Other work is being done on the Gallery Exhibition. I'm trying to finish the design of the panels, after deciding how to do so. I will be constructing frames for the panels from old fencing so it looks very rustic. I have just decided to add stage models to the exhibition. We will need them anyway for the set construction, so we might as well design the models to be used in the exhibition and integrate a few more panels that have a model stage as part of it's design. But further than that, I have been intending on producing a cyclorama walk-thru presentation.   In one way the exhibition can add to that concept, or we might integrate the puppetry into the exhibition as an enhancement by including a few stops that act as an animatronic cyclorama.  So these are design elements that are being addressed, but they do change the work that needs to be done and the time-frame.  There are numerous degrees of puppetry involved and this needs to be considered as well.

   Practically speaking, these elements and components need to be completed in such a way as to support one another. The Exhibition needs to take place in synchronization with the release of the books, just as the parade float needs to support the stage play and even those elements should be well along or even completed as well. I am now engaged in building the parade float, which will ultimately use animatronics to convey a promotional scene from the Gnomes.

   So, all said, it's not easy to synchronize and implement these components of the overall project.

AG

UPDATE (6/14/25) :

 

   I have the prototypes of books one through four printed and bound.   We have nearly completed all the watercolors for the entire series, with only a dozen of so needing to be painted.  There are Illustration Panels that still need to be assembled from numerous paintings and there are two three inch binders of art that is ready to be installed into the layout. When we do complete the painting for the Illustrations, we will shift over to painting drops for the "Little Theatre" stage show.

   Little Theatre; Definition - in this context, this refers to the size of the Green Screen/Sound Stage that is being set-up in the studio. That is 20" wide by 18" deep by 14' high. This will serve a number of theatres available for the try-out run.  The size is expandable (within IMS space) to 30" wide by 25' deep if necessary, but my opinion is the smaller version will be suitable for workshopping this show, since there must be smaller productions available, within the context of the entire scope of possible venues. Certainly a larger production could be produced, but that is outside of my immediate scope at this time.

   My mission has now become printing Book Five, which is the longest of the books, because that book contains "The Gnomic Tales". These are not the full version of the tales, but only summaries of the stories that are used to serve the storyline of "Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure".   Publishing of the prototype books continues; Five, then Six and finally Seven, with only a small amount of work remaining to be completed.

   So now, I have enough of the book series finished that I can talk turkey with another publisher and or distributor. But since I am finishing up the final layout. I will not be soliciting that dialogue, but I will be open to discuss the project if I receive inquiries.

  Even after I finish the books, the only publication I will be doing is in-house, which amounts to limited quantities. My efforts will shift over to Theatre Production, Animation, Literary Representation and Cinema.  The larger Publication and Distribution activities will take place within the context of an organized production structure that is external from the development environment of Image of the Mind Studios. That means that the rights to all markets will need to be negotiated with my literary Representative, if and when I secure that agreement. Until the entire series is fully published in it's completed form that agreement will not be implemented.

   If you are an Industry Professional, I am certainly willing to discuss the possibility of licensing any market, and I will be able to accept an Option of First Refusal, contingent upon the proper contract structure being put in place for Union Operations if that Option is implemented into a Production Contract. I have to say that, contrary to the Writer's & Dramatist's Guild Contracts, I will not permit any other writers or any producer to modify what I have written.  I will remain open to enhancing what has already been written, in fact I created opportunities for that to happen within the material, but I retain sole authority over the Core Creative Material ad infimum, in all markets.

   "The Gnomic Tales", five at this point, can be constructed by a writing team, but I will supervise and direct that if it occurs.

   I will add more to this discussion as necessary, as time allows. AG

Notes regarding Distribution

    I have a number of versions of the books.  Above you see a cover for the e-Storybook. The e-Storybook, which will be a subscription, includes not only the Audio Book,  but the watercolor illustrations contained within it will (gradually) become animations, meaning most of the page illustration panels will be converted to GIFs.   Eventually, this will lead to an Animated feature film or television series.  The books were in fact, designed to serve as Storyboards for a film.

   There are the Gnome-sized books; a small version that is about 3.5" square. There are the Big People's books that are about 9"x10".  There is the "Hand-stitched" version and a "machine bound version".  Both of these editions will be presented in boxed set editions.

  I will be keeping the "Hand-Stitched" and Boxed set versions as in-house production, at least for the time being,  because they will become the signed and numbered editions and I have yet to have found a production house willing to make Hand-Stitched Editions who is willing to adhere to my design specifications and do so at a price that works. As it stands now, the MSRP is $34.95 per book. There are seven books in the collection.

   I may release the Hand-Stitched (as well as all other ancillary markets) at some point, to another publisher/producer if the design elements are maintained and the down payment is sufficient.  Contact me to discuss terms.  Basically my terms are; a deposit against a guarantee, plus 10% of the gross on all markets. That applies to every market. That's firm.

   For now,  I am looking to find partners for publishing and distributing these books.  I am publishing in-house but those quantities are very limited. This is because I need to focus on the details of producing the stage musical and not assembling and selling books.  After all, the whole point is the stage musical and I can't focus on that - if I have to be making books.

   I will be making Hand-Stitched books on a regular basis and they can be ordered directly by contacting me via email. I will be setting up a Shopping Cart and selling the books direct using PayPal. 

   I will not be concerned with mass production, unless I receive bulk orders exceeding for 25K books.  If that occurs,  it will be contingent upon available personnel and/or publishing partners.

   Just some recent thoughts. 

Contact me via email if this business opportunity interests you.

image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com

AG

Sculpting

   I've concluded that the best approach to creating 3D characters is to sculpt them. We started on the puppetry and the Garden Gnomes, only to get distracted back to publishing work. 

   Now that the paintings for the Illustrated Storybooks is mostly finished, we started painting some of the characters to create a 360° view. But this is easier said than done. I'm finding that getting an accurate perspective with separate drawings/paintings is not so easy to do. 

  This leads me to realize that the best way to create a 360° view is to sculpt the character and then scan that sculpture. I know that there is an Ai program that can convert a 2D image into a 3D image file, but from what I understand the character needs to be referenced from all four sides. It might be best to take at least eight slices. By the time we go through all that, we might as well sculpt it.

   I have a kiln, so we can fire the clay. After that we scan the sculpture for 3D. I'm thinking that might be the best approach, mainly because then the characters will be consistent.

   There are "details" to a computerized scan of artwork that seem to make a sculpture highly desirable. Of course, a sculpted Garden Gnomes, not only gives us a master, but also allows mold making. I considered 3D printing, and I hope to explore that, but I think sculptures advance our overall cause more effectively for now.

   That being said, I am looking for persons who may like to sculpt some Gnomes. Let me know if you are interested. If I can find the time, I may try my hand at it. I did some sculpting in the past and I really liked doing that and seeing the results of my efforts.

  I'll post photos if I do.

AG

Animation Studio

    Below is a skeleton laid out on top of an enlarged sketch of Zach. This gives us an idea of the ratio of the bones required. The bones are modified to match the limbs of our drawings. You can see that the upper arms are so modified and adjustable, depending on which character thy are used for. 

 This guides our work in building puppets, both manual and animatronic. 

Animatronics depends somewhat on whether or not IMS buys the machine shop; R.C. Kletzing Inc.

  This also leads me to the subject of Animation. The intention is to incorporate animations into the e-Storybook. For the storybook, the animations can start out to be 2D and transition into 3D, but one of the efforts underway is to convert our characters from 2D to 3D and to set up a work station for that effort, This leads me to believe that we need to establish the IMS Animation Studio. 

So that will be happening. 

   I invite participants interested in this arena to make their voices known.

AG

 

IMS Design Studio

Here's a link to a subject relative to the Gnomes;

IMS Design Studio

Theatrical Game Plan

  The theatrical production of The Gnomes of New Hope has been the ultimate goal since it's inception. Publishing the Illustrated Storybooks was originally intended as a means of building an audience for the stage show. Of course, the books have become an entity unto themselves, but the intent for the musical still exists as the purpose.

   This leads to the fact that once the books are fully put into play (meaning published and distributed) then the focus of attention will return to completing the score for the musical. 

   The Libretto is written sufficiently to work off of and begin building the show. We are considering painted drops vs an LED backdrop. The LED can be used for other film projects on the Sound Stage.

   The Musical Score is partially finished and needs to reach the point of publication. Although, all of the musical numbers have MIDI files outlining the melody lines and the majority of the arrangements. The last section of (maybe seven) songs still need to be arranged. There are a total of 70 musical numbers in the piece, that includes bridges and backdrops. The Overture is only sketched out at this point. Once the Illustrated Storybooks are finished and being distributed, then return to work on the music will occur.

    The Technical Manual for the show is started, but that cannot practically be fully produced until we are in production. Some portions of that can be set-up in pre-production, which will happen as we progress.

 

  Ideally, I would like to partner with other producers who work on Broadway. I prefer not to attempt that arena, simply because I have been involved in the development arena and have been away from that level of production for too long. 

   I have been building the tools, equipment and facilities to mount a try-out production and I have the video and film capabilities to create visual aids in mounting a larger production. Ultimately, I feel as though the larger professional endeavor should be implemented by a larger organization that is already steeped in the First Class Theatrical environment. That goes for the First Run Cinema as well. I think the project would be best served by that approach.

   I can and will continue in the Development process in-house and potentially into the Try-out Scenario, but advancing into a Try-out Tour will be contingent upon Licensing the First Class Production before doing so.

   There is an overall plan that involves conducting the Try-out Tour based on four wall contracts, meaning the First Class Contracts will not be tied to any third party agreements.

More later, AG

Artwork for Illustrations

   

    These binders contain the watercolor paintings that are finished and await being installed into the books. There are a dozen or so more paintings to be included in these binders, but that is it for the illustrations (actually there turned out to be another binder about 1/4 the thickness of these). I have eleven more binders like these, containing the all artwork that has been used in this Illustrated Storybook Collection.

 

   Installing this artwork involves;  first defining the sketches requires, then once they are composed properly, scanning the sketches and filing the scans away properly, then opening the digital sketches in Photoshop and proceeding to prepare the digital copy to be painted (cleaning up the extraneous lines, fixing rough edges and lines),  then printing the digital B&W sketch out on watercolor paper.  The sketches are then painted with watercolors, rescanned, cleaned up again, removed from the background, and processed to enhance the color, brilliance, contrast & exposure.  Then the individual drawings are assembled into a composite illustration, that illustration is reduced and inserted on the appropriate page.

    Whew! It's a lot of work !

   Just taking a wild guess, I'd say each of the 768 pages of the collection uses, on average, six paintings for the illustration, often times more than that, sometimes many more.  That's at least 5,000 watercolor paintings that cost around $500 a piece to produce.  In other words, the paintings used in this collection of books has cost approximately $2.5m and around fifteen years to produce.

   I better sell a lot of books to make up for that expenditure!

   When the books are finished and published, we will be moving to convert these paintings (of the characters) into 3D files for animation.  

   To say nothing of the stage production!

   Does it ever end ?  I hope so, I want to work on my cars.  AG

Purchasing the Books

Update, 7/24/25

Pre-Ordering Books

The Illustrated Storybook Collection is not yet fully in production.

Books one through Four are finished and ready to be produced.

Book Five through Seven, although mostly completed, 

still need to have some artwork installed, which is underway.

All the Artwork is completed, just not installed in the layout.

I am still setting up the payment systems, 

along with production lines for publishing and the necessary registrations.
So at this time, I will not be accepting payment,
I only seek to know if you are interested.

If you are a distribution outlet, give me an idea of the quantity you might like

and I will get back to you on the details.

Once payment is set-up, I will accept Sales of individual books

and Pre-Orders the entire collection of seven books.

If you are interested in securing the entire collection of books,
let me know, as I will be offering a discount to persons
who pre-order all seven books.

Terms for a pre-order for the entire collection will be forthcoming.

You may choose to purchase Book One,

since Book One is an introduction to the collection and the actual story of

"Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure"

begins with Book Two

Here's a Graphic from one of the songs,
just to show you the titles.

If you would like to order Book One, the whole collection
 or have other interests in the book series,
send an email to my attention Arthur Greisiger at;
imagemindag.publishing@gmail.com

I will let you know when payment systems are in place.

I may release each book at an interval, once the artwork is installed
that hasn't been decided yet.

Archive;

Here is a Flyer that was produced years ago

 (when I had no idea just how long it would take to build these books)

It is still valid.

I am building this page to be the online shopping cart for book sales

and will connect via PayPal.

This order form below is outdated as to pricing, but the rest of it is legit.

I will modify the above order form to reflect the accurate pricing.

As of my last production run of prototype books

the MSRP for the books was 

$34.95 

(per book, plus shipping and sales tax) 

 Look for updates to make this page your portal to buy the books.

They will become available after I build the inventory 

and finish setting up the production line.

If you would like to pre-order, you may do so without sending any money

I will inform you when the books are ready for purchase.

Use the contact form in the sidebar or the above email.

If you would like a hard copy order form that is easier to read

please provide a mailing address.

Initial production runs of the books, will only be available by direct purchase 

through this web page.  As it stands now,  all books will be MSRP without any discounts, 

because the books are all hand-stitched and they take time to bind this way.

Delivery times will be according how quickly we can make the books.

We do expect to maintain at least 100 books in inventory before we release them

and wholesale orders will not be permitted to deplete that inventory.

AG

Exhibition

Update 7/19/25

   We spend a time yesterday reviewing the lighting needs for the exhibition panels and what needs to be done to complete the actual display panels. I was hung u on a few aspects of the panels for some time, being unable to decide how to approach hanging the artwork and other exhibition items.  I have finally concluded what the finish will be on the surface of the panels and how I will implement framing the exhibition items. I was experimenting with aged wood for the framing and I realized that I have a surplus of aged stockage fencing, which, as it turns out, would be perfect for constructing framesThere are a few variations on what can and should be done, but since there are 32 panels, there can be a variety of layouts that will accommodate assorted exhibitions.

   Here's a view of the last section of panels. In the foreground you can see a wallpaper that I have, which I may be using to cover the panels with. I tried staining the panel, but it doesn't really look the way I want it to. The wallpaper achieves the look but poses challenges in regard to hanging the artwork. Since now I can create frames from the aged fencing this will work well thematically.  I will be setting up different panels with a different framing layout (as to position and size).  There are a number of design selections with this aged wood look, so I may mix and match, just to give the exhibition diversity.  Plus, I have at least three (or more) exhibitions on different subjects that these panels can be used for. (in addition to renting it out for other artists to use.)

   In the background you can see an early stage model and one of the (unpainted) Garden Gnome Statues  in the far back, the curtains were used on the outdoor stage we used for the Shakespeareans and around the corner is a larger stage model, (which I expect to refine).

  Since the publication of the Gnomes of New Hope Illustrated Storybook is nearing completion, I can turn my attention to finishing the exhibition, since that will go along with the stage show in the theatre  lobby and in other promotional opportunities.

Archive

   

    Since we are down to the last few Watercolor Illustrations for the books, we are now thinking in terms of a Gallery Exhibition of the artwork. I still have quite a bit of work to do to assemble and install the artwork into the book layout, but it appears that most of the artwork is finished being painted. There may be pages where I will want to replace artwork that was used more than once or twice, but I won't know that until the last of what we have is installed.

    

    Here's a view of the exhibition panels, which are still being refined. (along with my other stuff tht came out of the office when we set it up)  I'm trying to come up with an aesthetic design that works with how the artwork is presented. I'm thinking now that we need to carpet the floor under the exhibition.

    I'm still building the exhibition panels and the lighting for the setup. There are 32 panels which are designed to travel, but I am struggling to figure out how to make the artwork affix to the panels. I've tried a half-a-dozen methods, none of which really worked. I wanted the setup to be flexible for the needs, thinking of a number of shows the panels can be used for, but I think I'm going to have to build the frames into the panels, not the artwork. Only in that way will they be properly affixed. I guess I'll add more when I get down to working on finishing the panels up 

   It will be interesting to see how the Exhibition turns out, we have so much material to select from. We discussed what we will want to do and one component will be showing the progression from a description through rough sketches to final sketches to watercolor printout to painting to page. I also want to take the stage model up to a condition where it can be included. As it stands now, we have an opportunity to assemble a display for Charter Day in the fall at ANC. Jency is looking into that. I may have to pursue that opportunity more aggressively though.

ACT ONE ∞ Timing Breakdown

 Here is a 

Summary and Timing breakdown 

of the Music in Act One

As Publishing work nears completion, 

theatrical production elements will begin appearing on this blog

I do expect to be getting back to working on the music 

after the publishing materials are fully locked in

and some book inventory has been established.

This Breakdown identifies the Timing of the Songs, but also contains timing 

for the blocking in order to identify the length of the show variations.

You can see at the top that there are five different time frames

depending on which version of the show will be produced.

I was working on this to assist in a Breakdown for another theatrical project

I'll add ACT TWO, when I consolidate that.