A Decade of Web-Weaving
Dear sweet creatures, while Hero for WondLa is off to the printer and binder, I have turned my attention to preparations for a very special birthday to be held later this year. 2012 marks the 10-year anniversary of my debut as a New York Times best seller, as well as receiving a Caldecott honor, for my adaptation of Mary Howitt’s 1829 poem, The Spider & The Fly.
I have pulled the original artwork from my files and begun a special dust jacket (featuring new art), and which will also have a vintage 1930′s movie poster-inspired image on the flip side. After the 50+ digitally colored images for Hero, I am thoroughly enjoying the use of Holbein’s “Jet Black” and “Titanium White” acryla gouache – the same two colors I used to paint the original book.
Above, from left to right: the original image of Ms. Fly from the finished book, the first character study I did for her (back in August of 2001), photos of 1920′s silent-film star Clara Bow, and the new image for the jacket and poster.
All eight legs are crossed for more exciting news about Spider & Fly which I will reveal as the fall approaches. In the meantime, I’ll keep sharing images from the studio as well as old sketches and memories of the book’s creation. If you’ve any questions or requests, leave a comment.
Okay, I am off to paint a certain devilish spider…
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Wow, really awesome! I love seeing the little differences in your art and the way that you approach the drawing. Very masterfully done.
Truly inspiring!
Can’t wait for ‘A Hero For WondLa’ to come out.
Holbein’s acryla gouache is super awesome, and they smell good too (i think)!
Would love to see the final paintings
I just wanted to let you know this was a wonderful post. I’m always super excited to get a rare peek at either an artist’s sketches, sketchbook, or work space (I nearly fainted when Chris Riddel brought his sketchbooks to the London signing.) I’m no less excited to see these photographs of your desk and sketches. Posts like these, more so than any others, inspire me the most to get back to my own cluttered drawing desk
Thanks Tony, I can’t wait for more Spider and the Fly news!!
Hey Tony! Congrats on the ten year anniversary! I sense good things coming for your brilliant characters.
likes this:)
Oh how I love that book! You know T, that is my absolute favorite all time ever book you have done, (not that the rest of them are any less awesome). She is the cutest little creature and I can’t help but smile every time I see her great big eyes. Can’t belive it’s been 10 years since you did that stupendous creation…..how I miss those days.
WOW!! Has it really been 10 years. I remember seeing the book mock-up at Gen Con.
Now I am reading your books to my little boy, who is ejoying them.
Thanks for the cool books!
hi Tony, excellent work – what do you feed your brain? you are soo talented. I think that YOUR books were the first that got my son really interested in novels.
he’s 16 now – he gives up old toys but not YOUR books.
Thank you, mommmbsta. That made my night:)
… What big news? Besides the re-release, I mean…
Hopefully you’ll hear soon, Alice.