Author: Tony D
July 11, 2008
We had the pleasure this week of receiving a few pages from a wonderfully imaginative collection of creatures by our friend Joseph. I think you’ll agree that many of his creations tread the line between fearsome and just plain adorable! Keep on drawin’ everyone!
July 8, 2008
Time for another contest! I am terribly excited to share with you all my upcoming chapter book, Kenny and the Dragon. Though it is not due in stores until August 5th, I will be giving away three signed (first edition) copies here on the site…each, with a very special drawing in them. All you have …
Continue reading “Friday Fan Art- DESIGN YOUR DRAGON Contest”
July 5, 2008
I hope everyone here in the states had a great Fourth of July yesterday. I was so busy eating hot dogs and playing with sparklers, that I forgot about posting our runner ups for the DVD Drawin’ Contest, so here they are! As with our winners, the judges (myself, Ang and my assistant Will) looked …
Continue reading “Friday Fan Art- Spiderwick DVD Drawin’ Contest RUNNER UPS!”
July 3, 2008
Yay! I’ve got confirmation on my late August tour dates for Kenny and the Dragon. I’ll be traveling through the southern US with stops in Tennessee, Mississippi, New Orleans and Georgia. 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 …
Continue reading “Summer Tour Dates”
June 29, 2008
Anyone remember the scene at the end of Back to the Future when Marty McFly’s dad, George, becomes a famous sci-fi writer and opens the box full of his latest novels? That is totally what it is like when you get your complimentary books from the publisher (without the Delorean). My editor, Kevin, is totally …
Continue reading “Box full of dreams”
June 27, 2008
Once again THANK YOU all for entering on such a short notice. The competition was stiff with over 70 entries from all over the world! Angela and I judged on what wowed us through creativity, originality and technical skill. We had entries from all age ranges – from pre-schoolers to professional artists – and we …
Continue reading “Friday Fan Art- Spiderwick DVD Drawin’ Contest WINNERS!”
June 27, 2008
Hello All! I just got back from the Post Office to pick up the remaining entries and “The Spiderwick DVD Drawin’ Contest” is officially closed. I can tell you Ang and I were BLOWN AWAY by the amount of entries and the awesomeness of the drawings as well! You guys ROCKED IT! Angela, my faithful …
Continue reading “Friday Fan Art- Spiderwick DVD Drawin’ Contest”
June 17, 2008
Get your pencils, paints, markers and paper! I have (in hand) six copies of The Spiderwick Chronicles 2-disc special edition DVD ready to give to you, dear fans! All you have to do is send me a drawing of your favorite character, creature, scene, (or illustrator) from any of the Spiderwick books for an upcoming …
Continue reading “Spiderwick DVD Drawin’ Contest!”
June 15, 2008
As the week ends, I find myself back at the beginning of my work for the role-playing game, Planescape. The first color illustration you see in the Player’s Guide, found in the original campaign setting, is of a halfling showing his adventuring companion how to make the portal to another plane open. So I thought …
Continue reading “A Daily Jaunt Through the Planes (Farewell)”
June 15, 2008
Yeah, its Sunday, but I have been SO BUSY with the Spiderwick’s Giant Problem art, that I haven’t had much free time. (And I’ll wrap up my trip down “Planescape memory lane” today or tomorrow too). Anyways, we got a photo of this really cool model of the Stray Sod from Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide …
Continue reading “Friday Fan Art!”
June 13, 2008
Planescape’s underworld was, of course, modeled after Inferno in Dante’s Divine Comedy. I haven’t read that book since college, but a good pal of mine sent me a newly translated version last year – and I am finally starting to read it. Written a little more…”cleaner”, this version still retains the poetic verse and I’ve …
Continue reading “A Daily Jaunt Through the Planes (Pit Fiend)”
June 10, 2008
I’ve been doing some characters from the various Planescape factions over the last few days, and I thought I’d post what I’ve done so far. Most are just a little more simplified and lively than their predecessors. I realized I added lots of clothing, armor, belts and tassels, to hide my cursory figure drawing back …
Continue reading “A Daily Jaunt Through the Planes (Factions)”
June 9, 2008
Yugoloths, baatezu, tanar’ri, devils, or Screwtape’s peeps…whatever you’d like to call’em, Planescape had A LOT of them. To be completely honest, I really enjoyed rendering those creepies – but again, I think I lacked the maturity as an illustrator to push their designs to the fullest potential. The most obvious flaw in the PS illus. …
Continue reading “A Daily Jaunt Through the Planes (Denizens of the Netherworld)”
June 8, 2008
Ah, the nefarious, notorious githyanki. For us older gamers, we first saw these Astral killers on the cover to 1981’s Fiend Folio – and fell in love with their rich backstory and bizarre appearance. They always reminded me of some alien race on Star Trek, like the klingons. Anyways, I got the opportunity to render …
Continue reading “A Daily Jaunt Through the Planes (Githyanki)”
June 7, 2008
No, my dear old gaming fans, your eyes do not deceive you. This is a tiefling which was sketched yesterday and inked today. I am not working for TSR/WotC/Hasbro, in fact; I am drawing and inking away on the upcoming Spiderwick book, A Giant Problem. Part of my routine, when I am on such an …
Continue reading “A Daily Jaunt Through the Planes (of my past)”
June 6, 2008
Neil sent us this illuminated letter some time ago. What I like here is that if he is not satisfied with the sketch he redraws it. What a novel idea – he should be teaching in art school. His letter is great. This is how my story manuscripts look before my editor gets a hold …
Continue reading “Friday Fan Art!”
June 3, 2008
A couple of years ago, I was down in South Florida showing Holly Black some of the natural areas that I knew very well as a kid growing up. I took her to the rocky shore of Blowing Rocks Preserve and the scrubby palmetto woods of Jonathon Dickinson State Park. Our purpose was to find …
Continue reading “Life inspires Art inspires Life”
May 18, 2008
With the final art and text in production for Kenny and the Dragon, I focused on helping the marketing team at Simon and Schuster come up with some nice visuals to help create awareness for the new title. Though it is extra work on my end, I like having unique images to sell a book …
Continue reading “We Don’t Make Fuzzy-Bunny Books (the end)”
May 16, 2008
I was delighted to receive 10-year old Nathan’s drawings this week from Arthur’s Field Guide. These sketches were especially neat, because they weren’t the usual characters from the series. …and also (as Nathan pointed out), they were not traced. Nice work Nathan! Keep at it, and here is my Pixie sketch for the Field Guide. …
Continue reading “Friday Fan Art!”
May 10, 2008
TO INK OR NOT TO INK? Because Kenny and the Dragon is aimed for the same age reader as Spiderwick, I wanted to make a conscious effort to give it its own identity. To that end, my editor suggested illustrating the book in halftone pencil drawings versus the ink drawings that I’ve done for the …
Continue reading “We Don’t Make Fuzzy-Bunny Books (part 5)”
May 7, 2008
Whoa! Ashley has taken Friday Fan Art to a new level: Both mermaids, taken from Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide, took over 10 hours to complete. As I told this tattooed trooper, that’s more than this artist could handle – even if it was my art! I am truly blown away by this Ashley, thanks for …
Continue reading “Friday Fan Art!”
May 1, 2008
With my cast of animal characters starting to take real shape (and personality) I began building the world that they all lived in. Kenny resides in a little town called Roundbrook. It is a farming community, and was inspired by our life here in Amherst, Massachusetts. Amherst is a college town, but it is surrounded …
Continue reading “We Don’t Make Fuzzy-Bunny Books (part 4)”
April 25, 2008
Anybody remember a critter called the “Kenku” in the old AD&D Fiend Folio? I loved that guy! I think, because I liked the idea of an intelligent human-like animal adventuring in a fantastic setting. I have always wanted to draw him, so I doodled one out a couple of years back, here it is: That …
Continue reading “We Don’t Make Fuzzy-Bunny Books (part 3)”
April 20, 2008
Before I post more sketches of the characters and world I created for Kenny and the Dragon, I thought I would share some of the inspirational art that I looked at while writing the story. I started with the best known rabbit artist of all time, Beatrix Potter. Her technical skill and eye for detail …
Continue reading “We Don’t Make Fuzzy-Bunny Books (part 2)”
April 18, 2008
We got a lot of great art this week, but what stood out most were these three drawings of my favorite hob by Caleb, Christopher, and David. We thought it would be fun to see them up together, it’s always interesting to see different peoples take on the same character. Thanks to everyone who sent …
Continue reading “Friday Fan Art- Triple Hogsqueal!”
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