My artistic summer diversions continue with a nod towards the classics, Puffin Classics to be exact.

I was very familiar with these books, having read many of these stories as a kid. The publisher has re-launched the series with a whole new look, and I was absolutely thrilled when I was asked if I could write a forward to Peter Pan (with a cover by one of my favorite living British illustrators, Chris Riddell!)

My old Spiderwick cohort, Holly, was also asked to write an introduction. She will be adding her thoughts to the Bram Stoker classic, Dracula. I was then doubly thrilled when asked if I could render the cover image for this rendition. All those years of illustrating for White Wolf Games is paying off – Woo!

I really like the strong design of the series relaunch, and couldn’t wait to explore within the boundaries they set for the line. Most seemed to be iconic, simple, images rendered in 2 or 3 colors…so what do I draw for the fiendish Count Dracula?

Immediately, I thought of artists I would have loved to have seen illustrate this story: Aubrey Beardsley, Kay Nielsen, and Harry Clarke - those wonderful, wistful, (and oft-times) wicked draftsmen of old. So I began looking at some of their work for inspiration.

I also did a little research into the physical look of Dracula as well. Though Stoker never confirmed it, many believe his inspiration came from a real person, a Romanian prince named Vlad Dracula, or “Vlad the Impaler” for his notoriously cruel punishments during his reign.

I took the image of Vlad and started playing around with it. If I were to be illustrating the entire book, I would have spent a lot time designing the character, but given its limited use, I instead focused on variations of a theme - which were (hopefully) enticing portraits of Count D.

This first sketch is literally mimicking what the publisher had done thus far. It certainly got the point across, and (as the art director indicated) would be the safest route to go. You’ll note the large pointed front teeth as well as the elongated canines. As I researched vampire bats, I realized their biting teeth are in the front as well as the fangs we often imagine when thinking of Dracula…man, if only Arthur Spiderwick had recorded a vampire in his guide…

Sketch 2 shows Count D with a victim. I wanted to indicate the tell-tale signs of the vampire bite, and have Dracula slipping off into the shadows. I was jazzed about the contrast of his dark lines with the woman’s thin outline. In fact, this sketch is actually the result of several incarnations where the placement of the victim was explored and the heaviness of the shadow tweaked.

The third sketch was a narrative showing the connection between Count D and Mina. I didn’t think the publisher would go for it, but I was intrigued by the idea of a romantic image (however dark) nonetheless.

For the instantly recognizable reaction we wanted for this cover. I returned to the first sketch and pulled out a but showing more formal profile of Dracula. I think I was just so inspired by the old portrait of Vlad…so I gently played with some Art Noveau-ish lines and really tried to use the second color of red in an interesting way.

In fact, I even tried a red sky, just to see how it would look - but it was a little too much red for my taste.

Below is the final inked image. All the sketches were simply done in pencil, then scanned into Photoshop, where the solid colors were added. Here, for the final, I inked it in my usual tools (black FW ink, Hunts 102 nib on Strathmore plate bristol) and completed the final in the computer.

…and here’s the final jacket from the publisher.

In conjunction with The Carle Honors, a fundraising effort to benefit the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, I (along with 20-plus amazing illustrators) have done an original butterfly-themed image, which will be sold at auction. You can view this auction, and see all the amazing one-of-a-kind pieces, here. Happy bidding!

For my Georgia fans attending the Decatur Book Festival next weekend, I’ll be doing my presentation on Saturday (8/30) at the Target Children’s stage at 5:00pm. The day should be quite exciting with many wonderful children’s book creators also presenting like Chris Rashka, Robert Sabuda, Doreen Cronin and Adam Rex to name a few. You can check out the full schedule here.

Bring your books to get signed and I’ll seeya there!

More events for the Kenny and the Dragon tour. I was originally going to travel all the way up the west coast to Vancouver, but we just could not get all the dates in there, so I’ll be touring through California. Of course, all tour dates have been added ABOUT section of my site, so be sure to check them out. I hope to see you there!

Friday, October 3
4:00 PM
WHALE OF A TALE
4199 Campus Drive, Suite A
Irvine, CA 92612

Saturday, October 4
2:00 pm
BARNES & NOBLE
7881 Edinger Avenue
Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Sunday, October 5
12:30 pm
MRS. NELSON’S BOOKS
1030 Bonita Ave.
La Verne, CA 91750

Sunday, October 5
4:00 pm
VROMAN’S
695 E. Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101

Monday, October 6
12:30 pm
STORYTELLER
23 Lafayette Street
Lafayette, CA 94549

Monday, October 5
7:00 pm
COPPERFIELD’S BOOKS
140 Kentucky Street
Petaluma, CA 94952

Tuesday, October 7
6:30 pm
BOOKS INC.
Laurel Village
3515 California Street

Wednesday, October 9
6:00 pm
KEPLERS BOOKS
1010 El Camino Real
Menlo Park, CA 94025

…and, in case you missed it, here is a reminder for the first leg of the tour (starting next week!):

Sunday, August 24
2:00 PM
BARNES & NOBLE
2774 N. Germantown Parkway
Memphis, TN 38133

Monday, August 25
4:00 PM
DAVIS-KIDD BOOKSELLERS
387 Perkins Rd. Extended
Memphis, TN 38117

Tuesday, August 26
5:00 PM
SQUARE BOOKS
160 Courthouse Square
Oxford, MS 38655

Wednesday, August 27
3:00PM
LEMURIA BOOKS
202 Banner Hall
4465 I55 North
Jackson, MS 39206

Thursday, August 28
4:30PM
OCTAVIA BOOKS
503 Octavia St
New Orleans, LA 70115

August 29-31
DECATUR BOOK FESTIVAL
Decatur, Georgia

Sunday, August 31
2:00 PM
BARNES & NOBLE
7660 North Point Parkway
Alpharetta, GA 30022

Our friend Margaret is working on a nifty field guide to Hobgoblins, which not only describes the various subspecies, but also details their living habits and even emotions- here are just a few of our favorite images. I hope it inspires you as much as it did me!

Keep on drawin’!

I’ve had a little time off of my book schedule this past month to enjoy the summer weather. This has been great for several reasons:

1. I get to spend some fun time with Ang and Sophia.
2. I get the time to properly upgrade from my old ‘03 G5 Mac to the latest PowerPC.
3. I get to recharge my creative energy for the coming projects.

Part of that creative recharging (for me) involves taking on small, one-off, odd jobs to act as diversions where I can explore ideas I may not otherwise do in the books that I create. Of course, I am a firm believer that everything we act upon and experience effects our lives and what we do, and so I feel these exercises are good for me creatively as I continue forward on my artistic journey.

“Diversion #1″ was an interview and article for PrivateAir magazine. This mag is for (you guessed it) pilots and owners of private aircraft, but they have a great little section, called “Sketchpad”, where they ask an artist to render their idea of a dream jet – Growing up with a dad who works for Pratt & Whitney aircraft (which involved going to air shows and making all sorts of model jets and fighter planes as a kid), well…how could I refuse?

So, I thought of a couple of things: If I were a person in the income bracket who could afford a private plane, well I would probably have a few fancy cars as well. In particular, antique, hard-to-get, beautifully crafted cars - you know, the kind you see on television where the gazillionaire has a fleet of these automobiles in his/her giant garage.

So, I looked at old Rolls-Royces from the 1920’s and 30’s - in particular the “New Phantom” series. The lines and the dual-color paintjob got me all giddy, so off I went to design my dream jet with all sorts of Rolls-Royce fanciness. Heck, it even has a skylight!

BTW, the latest issue of PrivateAir (Aug/Sept. ‘08), with my jet design, “The Sophia Marie”, is available now in newsstands…more summer diversions to follow…

This week we thought we’d share these three great Spiderwick inspired creatures, a “Rain Forest Sprite” by Cassidy, a “Sea Nymph” (with beta fish) by Mark, and a great yellow Goblin by Kendall! Keep on drawin’ everybody!

My chapter book debut as an author and illustrator, Kenny and the Dragon, is now available in stores. You can use the Booksense/Indiebound site to find a store near you, or try Amazon or Barnes & Noble. I hope you enjoy it!

Wow! All I can say to you all is WOW! Everyone really did a phenomenal job for this contest!

All of us here at DiTerlizzi studio tonight were BLOWN AWAY by the menagerie of dragons that danced upon my computer screen and on the flat files and floor. We received entries from all over the world, in all age groups, and in all sorts of mediums.

Judging was tough. We discussed all of the entrant’s work at length - looking for that great combination of story, character and design. I even invited John Lind, a designer buddy of mine (and his loverly wife), to come and help Angela, Will and I with the decision-making - it was that tough for us.

Everyone agreed there should be more than three winners - so we doubled it and chose six.

But, before you read on, check out Joe Sutphin’s amazing entry. Joe sent me a note saying he just enjoyed being a part of the contest, and wanted someone else to take the prize. Nonetheless, I thought you all would enjoy his “Stilted Atlantic Wyvern” or “Crab Hawk”.

Thanks for being a part of this Joe, I just know you’ll go on to influence others with your imaginative art… Now, onto our WINNERS!

8-year old Ben from Bishop, California sent us this fun drawing of “The Western Dook Dragon”.
“…Who loves flying everywhere. It eats mushrooms, potatoes and other things. It swims in duck ponds and plays with ducks.”

Next, the judges couldn’t agree whose piece they liked more from brother and sister artistic duo, Gracie and Isaac - so we decided to award a prize signed to both of them.

Gracie’s (age 7) dragon is named “Tutu the Dancing Dragon”.
“She likes to dance. She likes to boogie. She wears this outfit all the time. She dances for the king of TwinkleLand. Tutu dazzles with her dancing tricks.”

While Isaac’s dragon is called “Pistachio”.
“He throws the parties at home in his castle, and everyone is invited. He likes cotton candy, and he enjoys both giving and getting presents.”

Meanwhile, we were all blown away by 15-year old Nancy’s depiction of “Xarpho”.
“…who has been known to snack on trolls and stray vagabonds every now and then. Nowadays she lives a solitary life in high mountains, collecting four-leaf clovers, maple keys, and things alike.”

From Wilton, New Hampshire came “Horace”, a Greater Mangrove Drake, colorfully rendered by Sara.
“He’s a semi-aquatic dragon with a fondness for terrapin soup and mint tea. He loves poetry but unfortunately prefers to have it read to him, as the pages get soggy underwater.”

Next, from HangZhou, near ShangHai China, comes “Big Cyan” a self-portrait by Qing.
“He loves watching movies and playing basketball. He is a pacifist. He hates environment pollution, especially automobiles polluting the air over the street. So he likes to wear a mask when he riding a bike on the street.”

..and last (but certainly not least) is our GRAND PRIZE WINNER Adam! Everyone just loved the originality and magic in this illustration and description:
“This is my dragon Furwyrm. In this picture you can find him on his usual early evening activity, hunting Glowdoves. A tasty morsel indeed, providing not only nurishment, but the special life essence called Esporia. The Furwyrm’s huge eyes allow them to spot these mystic creatures from miles away. Usually keeping to the misty rocky cliffs near the Outer Lakes, Furwyrms have been also known to have an affection for waterfalls. They will use it as a giant shower and an easy way to keep their long bodies clean.”

For your extra cool image Adam, I will send you the signed/drawn book AND a copy of the Kenny and the Dragon audio book read by Alan Cumming!

Dear readers, I hope you were as inspired by these majestic drawings as much as we were. Thank you all so much for participating (especially those who had also entered the Spiderwick drawing contest), I was truly touched by the amount and quality of work that came in - you all have inspired me.

Happy Thursday!

Today is the last day that we’ll accept entries for our latest contest to “Design Your Dragon”, so if you work well under pressure, you have until midnight tonight. We have received some phenomenal entries so far – you really rocked it out this time - wow!

My loverly wife Angela, my assistant Will, and yours truly, will judge and announce the winners tomorrow for a special edition of “Friday Fan Art”. Stay tuned!