A Quick Update

Not a lot to report. I'm trying to get the new Harry and Silvio tale done by the 10th but am not panicking if that doesn't happen-it's not a hard deadline. And I'm feeling really inspired to get back to my portfolio. I think I'll concentrate on both paintings and finished pencil drawings.
I'm now just trying to foster my own vision and see what happens. All my best stuff comes from there.
Henry is doing great, he wasn't huge when he was born but he's growing really fast now. We also think he's smiling but we're not entirely sure. He hit 6 weeks yesterday and now ways about 9 and a half pounds.

A Parcel From Mr.Dutton

The top is a detail of a print I recently purchased from the amazingly talented Mike Dutton, whose work I find consistently inspiration and wonderful. Mike worked on the Totoro Project but you might also know him from his wonderful webcomic One Swoop Fell. If you want a print of your own, please visit Mike's Etsy shop. He also sent along the bottom sketch which now hangs in a spot of distinction in my studio.

Thinking About My Portfolio

Over the last few weeks I've been devoting most of my time to Harry and Silvio and sketchbook sketching. If you follow my blog you may recall me posting about wanting to expand my work into the fantasy field a few months ago. I've changed my mind. Well, sort of. I keep trying to produce serious, fantasy paintings but can't seem to complete anything worth looking at. And I'm looking at the work of Shaun Tan, Dave McKean and Brad Holland and thinking "I'd rather be doing that." So my plan today is to just follow where things go and if the fantasy crowd likes it then cool but if not that's OK too. I keep surprising myself. My work will angle down a weird, unexpected road and I'll be in this really great place I didn't plan for but am glad to have found.
I think that's one of the great challenges in being a creative person: being open to many things and being brave enough to explore places that are new and surprising. Everyone who visits and comments here has been so patient with my stream of changing ideas and arguments. I really should trust people more.
P.S. After ruminating over a glass of wine I wonder if I'm saying that I don't want to to be tied down to genre. I'm not sure it is but it might be. I don't want to produce stuff that is pure genre.

Thumbelina

I haven't posted anything in colour in ages! Harry and Silvio is going well. I have a new story penciled and have to ink it now but I have to admit I'm itching to do a finished painting or pencil drawing.

Sketchbook Pages:Monsters And Things

Things are quite bus again as I push forward to finish Harry and Silvio-the fourth story and have them sent off. I think Henry's having a growth spurt as he's pretty hungry and awake much of the time. I got the new Shaun Tan yesterday and the art is beautiful.

Fiendish Deeds

Just finished reading this amazing, fun weird romp in a bog. This is a great book to buy for people this Christmas.

Living on clouds

I was just thinking how interesting it is that Harry and Silvio started as a silly idea and then became a more poetic idea and then became more like world building. I'm really enjoying exploring the outer reaches of the clouds with these guys.

Sketchbook pages

Doctorow Booties

You'll have to squint to see this one...Fantasy writer and wonderful person all around Paula Johanson sent me these wonderful booties for Henry which are made out of a magical, super soft material which I assume was made by elves. One really cool thing about these socks is that she also made a pair for writer Cory Doctorow's daughter Poesy. so, as Paula put it "Henry has a bootie pal (like a pen pal)"

I Made It IntoThe society Of Illustrators Annual!

I got great news today!
My drawing, Guardians Of Autumn, which I did for the Totoro Project auction got into the Society Of Illustrators annual! I can't believe it! This means a lot to me, the Society was founded in 1902 by illustrators such as Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle. This competition is the most prestigious of it's kind and I had absolutely no expectations of being selected. In fact when I got the call from New York I called them back to make sure they were right. This is great for me but is also great publicity for the Totoro fund which is helping to preserve Sayama Forrest in Japan from over development.

Sketchbook-Silvio Playing Blue Moon Of Kentucky On Mandolin

Waiting Room Sanity Check sketch

This is the kind of image that springs from my pencil while in a state of abject terror. Well, not that bad. As a result of 3 hour a night sleeps, working on illustrations and teaching I blacked out. I was at the computer typing and when I looked at what I'd written and it didn't make any sense. It was total gibberish (e.g. hkxzernvb) . So I tried again. And I got the same result. So I went to the doctor's and while sitting in the waiting room did this drawing to make sure my faculties were still working. I'm fine of course. Just stress. And I got a really cool drawing out of it.

Some Inspiration

On the Harry And Silvio soundtrack. Also, a great song to sing to Henry.It's got great bounce.



And one of my all time favorites, Elizabeth Cotten. Picture clouds drifting by at night and a train whistle blowing.

Inky And Frank Discuss Bluegrass On Top Of A Mountain

Here's a page from my new comic The Cloud Map. This is story number 3 and I'm working on number 4 today. I see this story, when collected, as a 100-150 page story that is loosely about Harry's attempts to map the furthest clouds. I see it as sort of meandering though. Like a cloud.

The Cloud Map

This is the title page from The Cloud Map, the third Harry and Silvio story which I finished late last week. I wish I could publish it here, but I'll wait til I here from the publishers.It's the best story so far and establishes a bunch of new things. Inky is introduced,the world of clouds expands a bit,the idea that Harry and Silvio are cloud map makers is introduced and the Goblin Gang tries to steal the cloud map which might be an ongoing theme. I've started work on the fourth story The Haunted Cloud Castle which will be longer and explore some new stuff. More Miyazaki and Moomin influence in the new story.
At the moment I'm working on a commissioned ink drawing for a local business. I'm taking it pretty slow right now. I'm finding that the minimal sleep that occurs from being a new dad really catches up to you. I spent a lot of the weekend reading and watching TV. I'm becoming addicted to the Clone Wars TV show. Am I the only one who thinks the animation is really cool?
So, I plan to start publishing Harry and Silvio comics as minicomics as soon as story number four is done.More on that later.

A Walk In The Woods

A walk near my house. It was foggy and I got lost.

sketches

Here are some sketches from sketchbooks over the last few months. it's an interesting exercise to go through my sketchbooks and pick what really stands out to me. I'm feeling pretty worn out these days, too much going on. On Friday I totally hit a wall. I don't think it's the art, I think it's the other stuff connected to it-all the emails and things. How do people cope with a full mind? I suppose a lack of sleep doesn't help.

Emergency British Superhero Ray Post!

This is so very, very cool. Viviane Schwartz, who is one of my very favorite illustrators ever and whos work I collect passionately sent me the coolest thing in the world: Ray, costumed protector of Henry. I've only seen Viviane's knitted creations on the computer but they are even more beautiful in real life. He is one of the nicest toys I've ever seen and definitely has more personality than any I've seen. Viviane's starting to get some recognition for her brilliant books lately which is so well deserved. She made the publishers Weekly years best kids books list, she got a great review in The Horn Book and she just was invited to a party at the Palace....
I love the second picture down, which is Henry's first reaction to Ray Merino. The third one has Ray taking flight. And the fourth is one Viviane took in London.
Thanks Viviane!

Maddy Cowgirl In The Clouds

Maddy Kettle is an orphan raised in the Arizona desert by cowboys. she used to constantly be fending off her land from the goblin Gang. One day she found a boat and flew to the clouds in it, now she defends the clouds from goblins as well.

Silvio The Cloud Hobo

Born outside of Greenburgh, New York Silvio took to the hobo's life early on riding the rails through out America, Canada and Mexico. Silvio also is a born writer, carrying his journal with him everywhere he goes. One fateful day Silvio jumped a ride on a mysterious train. The train turned out to be going up and Silvio ended up getting dumped on Harry's cloud. Soon they were fast friends and Silvio helps Harry in his quest to map all the clouds.

Harry the Kentucky Cloud Cartographer Bear

Well, after spending some time with Harry and Silvio I've finally figured out what they are doing living on a cloud. They are map makers. They are making a great map of the world of clouds. Harry is actually from Kentucky and learned his map making skills from a traveling cartographer who was traveling through the hills where Harry grew up. He met Silvio on a cloud. That's another story. The only problem is the Goblin Gang, who keep trying to steal their map in order to find treasure hidden in the clouds.

Inky The Bat

I'm not sure what it is about Harry and Silvio's world in the clouds but a lot of neat creatures hang out there. This is Inky the bat. She actually lives in a cave in Kentucky and is a huge fan of traditional bluegrass music.

A Studio Visit

I just had a bunch of kids drop in on me in my studio ( hi Ava, Evie and Duncan!) . I love it when kids drop in. We all did drawings together. Ava and I collaborated on a piece about a lady bug befriending a banana. I took a picture of it so I'll post it later.

Anyway, everyone seemed to really like my Harry And Silvio stories. That made me feel great because kids are tough critics.

I'm trying to keep up on the blog but it's tough to post new stuff because I'm doing a ton of pages for Harry and Silvio and and can't show any of them because they might be published on line elsewhere. The above image of Silvio is from the newest story called "Harry And Silvio And The Cloud Map." This story seems to reveal a larger story line which took me by surprise. I'll talk about the comic more in the coming days. It certainly makes the whole thing seem more interesting.

More Sketches

Drawing

Thanks so much for your thoughts on the beginnings of Bera. I'll take your advice and plow ahead with it. I worry about follow my ideas sometimes because when I look through the comic shop it seems mainly to be the opposite of the stuff that excites me. The really great stuff is overwhelmed by "bikini clad women riding dragons" Luckily I have a great shop here that stocks all the best stuff.

At the moment I'm working on Harry And Silvio. I really can only concentrate on one thing at a time. I think I just wrote my best sequence ever. A seagull and a bat sit on a cloud arguing about bluegrass and are knocked off by a fast moving hot air balloon. I can only stumble on these ideas if I don't over think stuff. That seems to be the key to Harry and Silvio, limited thought.

Bera

This is the first three pages of Bera The One Headed Troll. It's scanned as individual images but is in fact part of three pages of a comic book. I keep going back and forth on this one. I love it but I really rushed head long into it. I wanted to make sure I started it-one of the hardest parts of any project-so I just rushed right through. I also did it on a cheap Mayfair type paper and my preferred paper is Fabriano hot pressed for ink work. I found this paper would bleed ink a bit. Also I think the narrative sequence could be improved. I am considering restarting it. the problem is I have been restarting it for about five years and I think it's time I just forged ahead. I think I'll switch to the Fabriano and hope it doesn't show in the final product.

In this sequence Bera is pulling a dead man from the ground, following this he tells her a fairy tale that starts her off on a quest. Which she immediately fails.