I just got the advanced copy of my newest book, DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE! I love it when an idea becomes a real book. Magic! And a lot of work of course. This book is ridiculous! And I mean that in the best way. The words are simple but the art has twists and turns. Its a great read along! It will be out on September 17.
Hmmmm...what is this?
A small sample of some test art for a very cool adventure coming next year!
Also, I’m still alive - just awful about updating my website.
PLUS ONE is out!
PLUS ONE is officially out! It was released on January 2nd. I’ve waited a month to update my website, so in that time its become available at the library as well! I’ve heard some smart kids with exquisite taste really love it and request often. Full disclosure, some of these kids may be a bit biased.
Bad Luck
An early sample sketch from a story I’m finishing up the final art for now - which will be released next fall (2024). I’m stepping away from acrylic for this one! Which might not mean anything to you but its a big deal for me. Was kind of scary really, but its been fun to make the art!
Plus One
New book coming out on January 2nd! PLUS ONE is the story of Agnes, a girl who is new to the school, and decides to throw a tea party to make some new friends. But it seems like the only kid who shows up is Dave, who happened to find an invitation on the ground. Agnes doesn’t want a strange kid like Dave at her party so she tells him “The invitation says Plus One - that means you need to bring a friend. And since you don’t have a friend with you…Goodbye.” Well, Dave is persistent and proceeds to bring a managerie of Plus Ones to try to gain admittance to the tea party. Will Agnes let her in? What happened to the kids she originally invited?
Anyways its a fun story with characters based on some much loved folks from my life. I don’t like to make moral stories, but this one definitely has a bit of an inclusion vibe to it. Sometimes the weird kids make the best friends! That was pretty much my whole pitch growing up haha. Love to all.
Ducks Galore
Sometimes all you need is to go for a ride with some friends! This is test art for a new book coming out next fall.
Still Alive! A quick update.
2022 was quite a year. No doubt the highlight was going to Germany where I was honored to receive the Rattenfänger-literaturepreis (Pied Piper Literature Prize) issued by the City of Hamelin - home of the Legendary Pied Piper! The prize was for Ausflug zum Mond - the German version of Field Trip to the Moon (published by the incredible Moritz Verlag) It was an absolutely wonderful time. Since then I’ve been hard at it working on my next book PLUS ONE which will be released in Spring of 2024! I’m really into this one - and sometimes when I get that way I neglect…well, everything. But especially regularly updating my website. Anyways, I hope everyone is wonderful out there!
Signing books in Hamelin after an amazing evening.
Jet lagged kids on a German train
I dragged my family to Europe with me. I don’t think they minded. Our favorite part of the trip was our time in Germany, but we did get to do Paris in a day. A DAY! I had a meeting there and the family wanted to come too. It was hectic but beautiful!
Agnes
You ever meet a difficult person that you’re convinced would make a good friend - but you have to win them over? Well Agnes is not easy to win over. Most people would give up. But not Dave.
New Project!
Working on a new book project that will be out next year. Right now I’m trying to figure out what medium I want to work in - I’ve been playing with water color and ink more than….well…ever! Its fun - not sure if I’ll go with it, but I truly am enjoying it. This example is nowhere near done, but I really liked how it looked at this stage. Probably because my 11 year old told me it looked cool and sometimes that’s all it takes for me.
Alphonso Is Here!
A MOUTHFUL OF MINNOWS is now out! And has been for a few weeks - I’m just terrible at updating my website! Alphonso is one of my favorite characters I’ve made. He’s tough, he’s gruff, but he’s a softy too….and he’s not afraid to exagerate when it comes to fishing stories! Buy it now at your favorite bookstore! If you wanna.
Front jacket of A MOUTHFUL OF MINNOWS. There’s something different underneath!
Alphonso swimming to his favorite fishing spot in the pond.
Back cover from A MOUTHFUL OF MINNOWS
Do I have a fishing story for you!
But this fisherman isn’t a man…or even a human. He’s an Alligator Snapping Turtle and he uses a special lure to catch his breakfast. But any serious angler will tell you that sometimes fishing doesn’t go as planned!
Okay so that’s pretty vague, but I really love this story - and the main character, Alphonso, is one of my favorite characters yet. The book is titled A MOUTHFUL OF MINNOWS and it will be released on May 10 (Published by Greenwillow Books)
You can pre order it now….or wait and find it at your favorite bookseller come May 10. I’ll be talking more about it soon!
Tucson Festival of Books
I will be at the Tucson Festival of Books this weekend (March 12, 2022) talking about my Field Trip Adventure books - and giving a workshop on how to draw creatures. If you’re in the area come by and check it out!
From last year - Working on Volcano Island
Last year around this time I was in the middle of working on Field Trip to Volcano Island - here is how my studio looked at that time. I was actively working on the two unfinished panels in the middle left. The 5 panels to the right were complete, I just like to line them up in order so I can see how they flow together, and the two panels on the upper left come before the ones I was working on - so I can reference them for continuity. It was fun! Right now I’m in a writing and sketching stage, and I’ve rearranged my studio so I don’t currently have my easel up! I need to get it back up because when the urge hits, I don’t like there to be any obstructions between me and painting.
It's here!
Field Trip to Volcano Island, the third Field Trip book, has arrived and is available for purchase!
It’s bananas to me that this is a trilogy now. It’s been so fun to make new adventures for these students! The next several books won’t be Field Trips, but I can’t help but wonder where these guys might go next.
But in the meantime - they get to go to a volcano island! I wish I could go to a volcano island right now!!! So long as its not currently threatening to erupt, of course.
Volcano Islands, imagined and real
It’s about time to visit Volcano Island! The newest Field Trip book comes out on February 8.
You know, I keep wanting to mention that huge underwater volcano that recently erupted off the coast of Tonga, but it feels a bit weird since I’m promoting a book and I don’t want to make a novelty of something where real lives were affected. I will say that here in the middle of the US its easy to safely admire the power of volcanoes from afar. But for those who live in the shadow of certain types of volcanoes, such as the one that erupted near Tonga - utter devastation can come in an instant. My heart goes out to those affected and I hope the recovery efforts are progressing.
Playing with trains
Been doing a lot of sketching lately! And when I do a lot of sketching, its inevitable that some trains are going to pop up.
An oldie - My Dad at work
When I was a kid I loved going up to my dad’s office (He was a geologist for a small oil company). I got to sit at the big tables, look at maps, and draw stuff. Oh and I would also go wade in the always flooded truck loading dock and catch crawdads. ANYways - here is a drawing I made of my dad sleeping on the job.
Digging
So I’m continuing to take advantage of this pause between projects - but I’m switching from fun stuff like fishing to things that need to be done around the house. Things that involve lots of digging. Like digging up part of the sewer line and installing a clean out access, or digging post holes. I wish I had the digging skills of a crawdad. They seem to make short work of it. As a kid I used to love the impressively tall mud chimneys that marked the entrance to their tunnels. But like this crawdad I’d probably get distracted by a clam. I mean that literally, I could easily get distracted from any particular task by a clam.
Back!
Until a couple weeks ago, this year has been jam full of time at the easel - and I’m thrilled and thankful to say that all that work will be seen in two books coming out next year! But boy oh boy (wow I sound like my dad when I say that) it was it hectic for awhile. Fun! But hectic. Here’s a photo my wife took of me while I was painting three illustrations at once. The frustrating part about painting this last book was that its all about fishing (but not just another fishing story!) - and the whole time it made wish I was fishing! But I couldn’t - I had a deadline to make. So now that I’m done, lets just say there’s finally been some fishing, camping, and outdoor time to get my batteries recharged.
So many fish
Still playing around with quickly painted small fish. I really want to go fishing now.
