Churches in Venice
The blog Churches in Venice has a nice mention of The Famous Nini here.
Entries by johnmanders
More ink
Pamela Paul reviews Pirates Go To School in the New York Times Sunday Book Review. Thanks for the tip, Louise!
Pearls of wisdom
I’m quoted in Julie Danielson’s Kirkus article about illustrators who’ve become authors. I even get to deliver the punchline.
Dear T Rex
Here’s a scene from Dear Tyrannosaurus Rex where the kids slide down T Rex’ tail. Thumbnail sketch, tight sketch, final painting.
I’ll be presenting at the Mazza Summer Institute
So here’s something from the Toledo Blade.
Pirates cover
Here are 2 rough sketch ideas for the cover, the tight sketch, the color sketch and the painting in progress. Pirates Go To School is available tomorrow!
Pirates hit the bookshelves
Ahoy, cullies—Pirates Go To School is finally in all the quality bookstores! If any of you happen to be putting villages to th’ torch and sword over in Massachusetts, why not drop anchor during author Corinne Demas’ book signing events? Here’s a handy schedule for you to tattoo on your forearms: Friday, July 8th 10:30 […]
Pirate kids
Here are the character designs for Pirates Go To School. I originally envisioned the pirates as grownups, attending a school that looked like a pirate ship. After seeing the initial sketches, Ken, the art director, asked me to draw them as pirate kids—attending a normal elementary school.
Pirates at storytime
Pirates Go To School drops anchor in bookstores next Friday! It’s been a while since I’ve posted about the illustration process, so let’s review. I draw rough thumbnail sketches, design the characters, gather visual reference, draw beautiful sketches based on the thumbnails, paint a color script then finally paint the final illustrations. Here’s the storytime […]
Summer reading in Oil City
Hey, what are you doing Tuesday June 28th at 10:30? Please come join me at the Oil City Library for their One World, Many Stories summer reading program. I’ll be reading and drawing and painting and maybe even singing.
