A Bear and His Bear

Another example of a picture of a human which I morphed into an animal. The source was an 1840's daguerreotype I found on page 26 of American Album by Oliver Jensen, Joan Paterson Kerr, and Murray Belsky (American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., 1968) - a terrific book, filled, as the subtitle states, with "Rare Photographs Collected by The Editors of American Heritage." I don't know the name of the gentleman bear, but the well-loved companion tucked under his arm is named Bailey, made circa 1930 by Bernhard Hermann in Sonneberg, Germany. My acrylic-on-paper painting measures 2 7/8 x 4 1/4 inches.

Young Pig Lincoln

In addition to re-imagining my favorite paintings (as seen in this and that post), I also enjoy adapting old photographs for my own purposes. Here, for instance, I turned Abraham Lincoln's son, William Wallace Lincoln (1850-1862), into a pig. Sorry, Willie! This one falls into the Tentative Ventures Into Anthropomorphism category, though, as I more or less just stuck an animal head (and some cloven feet) on a human figure, sort of the way ancient Egyptian artists often did. Since making this painting, however, I've found that I prefer my anthropomorphizing to be a "full-body experience," so I try to transform the whole person into an animal. I think the results are more convincing.

Furry Traders Descending the Missouri

Sometimes when I want to make a picture, but am void of ideas, I'll take a work by an artist I admire and "recast" it with pigs or mice or teddy bears. Here's an example, painted with acrylic and ink on a scrap of plywood measuring 10 x 8 inches. It's based on Fur Traders Descending the Missouri by George Caleb Bingham, which now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Little Raccoon

The star of the late Miriam Schlein's Little Raccoon's Big Question. I loved making the pictures for this book.

Blog Frog 10

Blog Frog 9

Blog Frog 8

Blog Frog 7

Blog Frog 6

Blog Frog 5

Blog Frog 4

Blog Frog 3

Blog Frog 2

Blog Frog 1

A tiny ink on scratchboard drawing, measuring about 1 x 1.5 inches.

Tentative Ventures Into Anthropomorphism

Once upon a time I really wanted to make pictures of animals behaving like people, but the illustration projects I took on only featured people behaving like people. Fortunately, my niece Nyssa had a dollhouse inhabited by rabbits and my niece Emily's dollhouse was overrun by badgers and both abodes needed some interior decorating, so one Christmas I made these portraits in ink and acrylic paint on museum board. The rabbit measures about 1.75 x 1.25 inches (including the frame) and the badger is about 2 inches square.

Every Raccoon Speaks Bliss To Me...

A scene from Little Raccoon's Big Question. And while these normally nocturnal animals shouldn't really be roaming in broad daylight, they shouldn't really be wearing pants and sweaters, either. My mistake!

Sleepyhead Bear (and a butterfly)

Sleepyhead Bear (and some frogs)

Everybody Pukes

Go West, Young Pig

With apologies to Senator Stephen A. Douglas, who was not a pig.

Teddy Bear Pow Wow

In anticipation of this coming Sunday's Teddy Bear Picnic, here is a painting I made of some teddy bears having a pow wow. You might recognize the one playing the drum from his starring role in Black Angus: Terror of the High Seas!

August 9th Book Signing in Clinton, NJ

I'll be signing copies of Read It, Don't Eat It! and Cat & Mouse from 1 to 3pm on Sunday, August 9th, during the Old Time Teddy Bear Picnic held at the Red Mill Museum in Clinton, New Jersey. Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy an afternoon with your favorite teddy bear - and yours truly! The picnic itself runs from 12 to 4pm and admission is $5 per person (children ages 3 and under free). Here's a map.

If you would like to pre-order books for this event, or if you can't make it and would like me to sign books for you anyway, please contact the terrific Clinton Book Shop.

While you're out there, grab some breakfast, brunch, or lunch at The Fine Diner and say hello to my sister and brother-in-law. And why not order something to go and bring it to the picnic?

Fun!
Crafts!
Games!
Story time!
Theatricals!
Face Painting!
Bear Claw Bake-Off!
Sing-Along Contest!
Old Fashioned Ice Cream Making Lessons!
Special Guest Appearance by “Smokey” the Bear!

Summertime

A summer idyl from Little Raccoon's Big Question

Read It! Review Round Up

Columbus Parent Magazine calls Read It, Don’t Eat It! a "gorgeous picture book".

The Toledo Blade says:

This pleasant work shows young children how to treat books. Lively animals dressed as children demonstrate what not to do - turn down, tear, sneeze on, or deface pages. They also tell what to do - read the stories and then turn the books back into the library so others can enjoy them. White backgrounds highlight the appealing characters and the simple text conveys the message without being preachy.

Meanwhile, at the University of Maine, Jan Kristo, author and professor of literacy education, says "keeping reading on children's radar will help them maintain and strengthen the gains made in reading over the school year" and recommends the "delightfully funny" Read It, Don’t Eat It!

And Muse Reviews calls it "a terrific tale":

I think this book would be especially valuable to teachers or librarians, but as a parent, I love reading this to my kids so they'll know even better how to respect property. (And wouldn't this be a terrific book to donate to your local town or school library?)

Hear! Hear!

Father's Day

Since the fifth grade, one of my best and constant friends has been Carl Zimmer, the science writer. Not long after Carl and I met, my dad made some illustrations for The Illustrated Dune by Frank Herbert, which were also used in a Dune calendar. Well, with his ever-watchful eye, Carl noticed that the cover art for both items found its way into John Hodgman's speech before President Obama at the Radio and TV Correspondents’ Dinner and then talked about it (and my dad and me) on his blog. Makes a nice Father's Day gift. Thanks, Carl!

And This Little Pig Cried, etc. etc...

Poor creature. Is it the relentless rain? Weeks in steerage?

Emmett's Pig

One of my favorite books was (and still is) Emmett's Pig by Mary Stolz and Garth Williams. So when I found out my friends were going to name their son Emmett, I decided to honor both boy and book with a painting. I made it with acrylic and ink on paper and scanned it before adding salutations in the banners. Oh, and the pig is holding a playing card because Emmett's middle name is Ace.

Reprint It, Don't Eat It!

Both the trade and library editions of Read It, Don't Eat It! are reprinting! Get your first printings before they run out.

Also, the Toledo Blade has this to say:

This pleasant work shows young children how to treat books. Lively animals dressed as children demonstrate what not to do - turn down, tear, sneeze on, or deface pages. They also tell what to do - read the stories and then turn the books back into the library so others can enjoy them. White backgrounds highlight the appealing characters and the simple text conveys the message without being preachy.

The ABC Not-a-Dinner and (Mostly) Silent Auction

I usually don't have the heart to part with my originals unless it's for a special occasion or a good cause. Well, here's one:

Each year the Association of Booksellers for Children asks illustrators to donate a piece of artwork for their Not-a-Dinner and (Mostly) Silent Auction held during Book Expo America (BEA). This year's event happens on Friday, May 29th, at The New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge.

Elizabeth Bluemle, president of the ABC, gives a sneak peak of what's in store on Publishers Weekly's website. She also provides a handy link to an album of all the pictures.

I made my painting with ink and acrylic on paper. For some reason, I thought the contributions were supposed to feature a letter of the alphabet, but I must have been following a directive from a prior year. Oh, well!

Laundress Mice Carrying Linen

My mother has a collection of laundry-related art and objects and she also loves mice, so I made a little painting for her birthday, based on "Laundresses Carrying Linen" by Edgar Degas.