Friday Fan Art!
Wow! Obviously with the onslaught of Spiderwick-edness that has been barraging everybody over the past month, I have received buckets of fan-mail with all sorts of well-wishes and amazing stories of how my work has affected others. I am so touched - what a validation.
I’ve been so busy cranking out the final edits on my upcoming chapter book, Kenny and the Dragon, that I have been holding onto a few stars in the “Friday Fan Art” category - but this one needed to be shared with you all immediately as the timing is perfect.
I’ve been chatting with Joe for years now, encouraging his imagination and obvious talent…which, honestly, he already has plenty of. I do this, because folks like William Stout, Jim Gurney and Brian Froud encouraged me along my way - and I never forgot how much a simple “follow your dreams” note from someone you look up to really keeps you going.
Along with his neato “Thank You” painting came this REALLY cool book on gadgets.
THANK YOU Joe, for the awesome image! Now finish your dream book, and get a website up, with all the cool art that you’ve been sending me, so everyone else can see it.
PS - Send fan art/money/babysitters/toys/books to:
Tony DiTerlizzi
PO Box #442
Amherst, MA 01004
UPDATE: With a tip-off from his wife, here is Joe’s other work!
March 6th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Aww, I just sent out some fan art to you a couple of hours ago. Mine doesn’t nearly compare to Joe’s! I hope you recieve it soon!!! I live in California, so it might take several days to reach you. Fantastic artwork! -Audrey, 13 yrs. CA
March 6th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Howdy Tony,
I just wanted to say I’ve been a fan since discovering your Spider and the Fly book in art school. I ran into your blog through James Gurney’s site. It’s great to have another daily source of inspiration. Do you ever post rough work or thumbnails? It’d be interesting to see your process.
March 7th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Joe has some serious talent. Looks like you’re gonna have some competition, Tony! I hope he gets a site up soon, I’d love to see more.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Tony, you are the greatest! As Joe’s wife, I just want to say you’re encouragement has been a God send!! He’s flying hi today!! He actually has some of his art on line at joesutphin.com , he may have already emailed you some of the pictures on there. Thanks again! ~ Gina
March 9th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Thank you so much Tony, you are more than kind. And thank all of you guys who said such nice things about my art! I truly appreciate it.
March 11th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Tony you are super guy! thanks so much for the plug and the kind words and thank all of you for such kind words about the painting, though it is after all, just a rendition of Tony’s creations:) sure was fun to paint though!
To anyone who does want to see any of my other work, you can check it out by going to http://joesbigdreams.blogspot.com and click on the slideshow. That will take you to a Flickr page of mine. I havent shared my art much lately so it would be exciting to see what people think.
March 26th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Tony,
I discovered your work accidentally in the bookstore a few years ago, and immediately began the googling. Found your site, loved it, etc. Though did you have this blog always? I feel like I would have commented ages ago if you had.
At any rate, I have always had a great deal of respect for visual artists. Since I was very little I went to arts schools, and while I could do the performance arts pretty well, and could write, the ability of creating pictures on a page just seemed to elude me. I worked very hard at it, and I suppose I have a passable ability now. But anytime I see an artist who just strikes a chord with me I just have to drop a line. Because it’s like . . . magic . . . to me.
I think you are amazing. I know a lot of people think you are amazing, so it is probably not new to hear it. Nor I suppose does it really matter that I think you are amazing. But I also know (as an author of children’s books myself), how it never gets old to hear it. Your stuff moves me, is beautiful, and has a wonderfully dark edge to it. It’s this kind of art, I can’t quite describe, but has a sort of dirt feel to it. Not as in the euphemism “dirty”, but really a sense of there being . . . dirt on the page. Bah, I can’t describe it, and I call myself an author. You cite Jim Henson as an inspiration for example, his sketches and artwork are similar with what I mean by “dirty”.
Point is, I really like that look.
Well whatever, I wanted to let you know I’m a huge fan (and send as many people to this site as possible). I recently finally purchased a copy of The Spider and the Fly, and feel an obligation to show it to any guest who comes to visit.
At any rate:
Good luck with the future and congrats on your success . . .
all best,
Adrienne
June 29th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
just wanted to update that i changed my blog address to simplify.
http://joesutphin.blogspot.com