Finally, something that resembles art.

To your left is Wednesday (the dog) walking through the woods near our house this morning. It was a very cool partly cloudy morning which usually translates into good artmaking. We'll see. I've been doing some experimental work myself. I wouldn't put anything in a book yet, but I am getting much closer to finally making some real art and that feels better. And so, today we'll peek into my messy desk situation. I've been printing the past week or so. The process is always a little surprising. Many times colors that look very different on the palette will print to appear almost identical.

So here is my desk with my inks and palette before I start getting too messy. Notice the two coffee/tea mugs.

Here is one print before being drawn on.

Below are three prints with different shades of brown.

And here is the semi-final picture.

Click on the images to make them larger. Ta ta for now!

Philip's Book is Hitting the Shelves!

Today we are sitting outside Comet Coffee (best coffee in town...sorry Zingerman's. You still have the best beans.) in honor of Phil and his book that is coming out (officially) tomorrow. Here are some images from his book, Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast, to pique your interest.




The cover.


and the last page. You'll have to buy it to see everything in between.


And as a bonus, here is an image from the book he is working on now.


Click on the images to see them up close.

On the same exciting date, my friend and very talented colleague George O'Connor's (co-penned by Adam Rapp) graphic novel, Ball Peen Hammer, hits the shelves, too. The 29th is a talent earthquake.

'Til next week! Congratulations to Philip! Congratulations to George!

Art changes and chaos ensues.

Happy almost Fall! The leaves are just beginning to turn and there are apples at the farmers market. I am still leaving the window open at night when I sleep- but some nights I need a wool blanket. My little 7-year-old dog is acting like a puppy again since the temperature has dropped, too. Our tiny family seems ready for the change.

The weather isn't the only thing changing around here. I am in the middle of trying to rethink the process I use for my picture making. If you like what you've seen on this blog before, don't worry too much. In the end, the pictures probably won't look like anything drastically different. But it is difficult for me to rethink the way I make a picture.

Since everything has been in flux, I haven't really made anything that I've felt like I can share. I've made a mess, though. I'll share that.

Above is my very sad desk as of late. I keep drawing and painting and redrawing the same picture over and over again. I feel a little like Edvard Munch (well, maybe. I mean, he made the same picture over and over again.).

So why the ugly pastels?


Why the sketch of a boy over a defunct print from my first book? (that green shape is a turtle shell from a bad print from A Sick Day for Amos McGee...if you can see it)

I'm rethinking the way I apply color in the next two books I'm working on. I'm still using wood blocks, not the ugly pastels. Somewhere in all of that mess on my desk I am solving a color problem. I think.

Look, I even tried markers! Where did my snooty traditional art schooling go?

It'll all work out into a lovely print. I think.

Artful piles of stuff.

Hello! This week the sun is out again and there is the tiniest hint of fall. I know most elementary schools opened the doors this week to their teachers and I swear I can smell it. I love fall. I hope it really comes around soon.

I'm finding that the coming fall is influencing my latest sketches. I'm thinking a lot about trees. Fortunately and unfortunately this week, I hit a small art wall. I've decided I need to reconfigure some of my process. That's good, since it might lead to something new. But it's also not so good, since this can be a hard problem to solve. So for the next few weeks, I may have trouble showing the public what I'm working on. But I'm sure I'll post something.

For now though, I'll put up a couple new sketches. I know, sketches again, but it's all I really have.




'Til next week!

Farmers Market, Chores, and Balloons.

It's another rainy Wednesday here in Ann Arbor. It's been a cool, dry summer except when I write these posts. Rain or shine, Wednesdays are nice. I go to my favorite neighborhood in town, pick up my farm share from the market, and sometimes splurge on a bagel with fresh goat cream cheese and a tomato. Who loves Ann Arbor? I love Ann Arbor. Who still misses New York City? I still miss New York City. New York can feel like a chronic illness by choice. It's so wonderful but can be so bad for you.

This week I'm still doing nothing but sketching. I've posted before explaining how I can act when I'm in the beginning stage of a project. I am a desk avoider. But I like to live with a story so I can knock it around in my brain for a while. I repeat the story over and over again. That's how I find (well, what seems to me anyway) the natural rhythm and pagination for the book. If I've just gotten my little paws on a piece of writing, I immediately put it on my wall in my studio (or the window).

If I haven't quite memorized the story and I'm really being an introverted artist that week, the text travels with me. Below is how Erin Stead, Illustrator, does the dishes.

And so, the sketches continue.


And continue.

As usual, click on the images for a better view.
'Til next week!

I was distracted by Macchu Pichu.

Okay, it's been a while. I'm sorry.

About a week ago, instead of being in Ann Arbor, I was in Peru attending a wedding/family reunion. It was a wonderful but very tiring trip. And before I left I was desperately trying to get a bunch of work done. I neglected you. I apologize.

It is an excellent but very quiet time to live in Ann Arbor. There is a lull between the townie activities when the students are gone for the summer and the students' triumphant return. That lull is called August. It's a little hotter and it smells of cut grass. The sunflowers come out (the one to your left if 2 feel taller that I am) and the farmers market starts to get pretty exciting. I love winter. But this summer has been no slouch.

And so, I'm feeling pretty good. I am in the beginnings of a couple different projects. Most of the time I find those beginnings a little to ugly to share, but here goes.


The sketch below is posting blue again. Not sure why.

Last one.

With all of this sketching and laying out new ideas, I'm getting pretty anxious to make a picture all the way to the finish. Pretty soon, though.

We'll talk more next week.

(Machu Picchu)

New ideas on familiar territory.

One of the benefits of living in a college town is that you don't often run out of things to do that are free. That's right, New Yorkers- free.

To the left is the recently expanded and renovated University of Michigan Art Museum. It has a pretty expansive collection, a nice rotation of shows, and anytime I'm out and about in town I can just walk right in if I so desire. It's a nice place for some inspiration. There are times for me when a museum feels so large and important that the inspiration feels forced. Almost as if I am in that location to learn a very important lesson. And I better learn it. But the UMMA is a nice size. It's more like an Aesop's fable instead of War and Peace.

Not that I'm putting down War and Peace.

For as sunny and warm and summery as the weather has been here, I've been knocking around ideas about early spring. Below are some sketches.

Don't bond to these images too much. It's still too early!

I have no idea why the drawing above is showing up blue. That's all for now. I apologize again for the delay in posts. Phil and I received a fancy new computer and we are slowly getting it together. Thanks for reading!