Tony DiTerlizzi's Blog, page 20

BOOKS: There and Back Again

Every once and awhile I stop blathering about my work and bow down to the many book titles that had a tremendous impact on my developing imagination and ability as a Kid Artist with Big Dreams.

Like most of the literate world, I adored J.R.R. Tolkien's first foray into Middle-Earth when I read The Hobbit back in middle school. To me, it was an epic tale that I devoured like a hungry troll in between my games of Dungeons & Dragons and Adventure on my Atari 2600. My reality of a pimply lollipop-headed geek disappeared each time I slipped on the ring, opened my dog-eared tome, and plunged into the wilderwood of hobbits, elves, dwarves and dragons.

What I didn't grasp then, is that the copy I read contained drawings by that Gandalf of great storytelling himself. I adored Tolkien's decorative, almost Kay Nielsen-esque, images of Hobbiton, the Trolls and the mighty Smaug.

Tolkien's images were further brought to life in the 1977 made-for-TV animated film adaptation done by none other than the holiday-celebrated-stop-motion messiahs, Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass.

The Rankin & Bass rendition of The Hobbit not only galvanized my neverending storybook love of all of Middle Earth, it took it to new heights with its Arthur Rackhamy watercolor backgrounds, somewhat-grotesque character designs and sinister songs.

Here's a couple of scans from the book adaptation of the film. (Click for a larger view)

Yes, to some this version may not hold up, but I feel that this adaptation of the story lured in a new generation of young hobbits ready for more adventures. And the nostalgia for the Rankin & Bass film absolutely affected my drawing style as can be seen by this 1997 cover to Dragon magazine.

After I graduated art school, I came across Michael Kaluta's outstanding work done for the 1994 Tolkien Calendar. A calendar!? This phenomenal work should have been put in a leather bound re-illustrated book of its own! Sigh…someday.

I still fondly remember spending a rainy afternoon in Michael's cramped-n-cozy toy-filled studio in the Upper West Side and begging him to pull out the originals for this which he reluctantly obliged. As I looked through these ink-and-watercolor masterpieces I was quickly overwhelmed with a wave of inspiration and a caustic dose of artistic ineptitude. To this day, Kaluta's passionate visions of Middle Earth are the work of true wizardry.

A few years later, I actually got to add a little to the Tolkien universe myself(!) when the art director for Del Rey books rang me up to ask if I'd be interested illustrating a new cover for Tolkien's Unfinished Tales. (Actually when he called, It was one of the few times in my life where I thought I would pass out on the other end of the telephone).

Needless to say, I put my best hairy hobbit foot forward and strove for a unique pic of Bilbo Baggins reading through Tolkien's handwritten manuscripts. I am pretty sure the Tolkien estate approved this image, so it was a nice day at the DiTerlizzi shire when copies of this gem arrived on my hobbit hole doorstep.

The impact of Tolkien's magic world still reverberates with me to this day as I am sure it does with many. I re-read The Hobbit last spring in between drafts of The Search for WondLa to see how he handled the passage of time during the journey. (In fact, the camping scene in Chapter 19 was added after the reading). Lastly, I saw how Tolkien was credited on the title page and borrowed the same wording for mine. Though I have penned several picture books a chapter book, and helped plot Spiderwick, WondLa was the first time I truly felt like an author.

Thanks, John, may you continue to inspire and entertain as you journey to the Undying Lands of the West.

Here is a photo of Tolkien's original artwork done for the first edition. It is rendered in pencil, black ink, watercolor and white gouache. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children still offers a facsimile edition of this. (Click for a larger view)

A Furry Friday Fan Art

Manuela Schulz, a soft sculpture and textile artist from Germany, sent us some fantastic pictures of the Spiderwick phooka this week. Check it out:

The phooka is made from Alpaca and mohair and looks like it can pose as well. THAT IS SO COOL!

And if that wasn't enough, Manuela also made this beautiful unicorn. Sophia LOVED this and wants one for a pet.

Check out more of Manuela's wonderful work here. Perhaps you can order a phooka or unicorn of your own. In fact, I think I am ordering one…

A Holiday Reminisce

Kate DiCamillo told me she thinks of herself more as a writer as opposed to an author. I like that. It has less pomposity to it. It suggests "I am one who writes things down" versus "I am a famous author". Me? I have considered myself more a storyteller who uses words and pictures – if successful, I've crafted a tale that will entertain you for a few moments and allow a brief escape from reality. At least that's the working label I've affixed to myself.

But every once and awhile I am asked to do something that makes me feel like a writer. Like conjuring up an old (mostly-true) holiday memory for School Library Journal. Enjoy!

Site Updates

Though I am in the early stages of redesigning the look and interface of my site, I went ahead and updated some areas that needed a little refreshing.

Such as: I added some favorite snapshots from my recent book tour in support of The Search for WondLa in the ABOUT section.

Also: I updated the ART section with some WondLa illustrations as well. Take a looky.

But: I won't be adding a WondLa or Meno menu in the BOOKS section until we relaunch, however you can visit their respective sites for more info.

I had a fantastic year filled with all the excitement this author and illustrator could ever hope for. In the coming year, I'll mostly be focused on WondLa 2 but (as I said) will also be putting energy into redesigning the site where I can make the art as big as possible…and, yes, I'll be sure to include some of my old D&D stuff.

Thank you all for your amazing support! I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season.

Friday Fan Thanks!

11-year old artist, Gabby, decorated an awesome THANK YOU card that was sent to me and signed by every student in her class! I had visited Gabby's school, The South School, in northern California while on book tour this fall and had a WONDERFUL time telling stories and talking WondLa with the students. I don't have time in my hectic schedule to do school visits anymore, so I am happy to do my presentation for classes like Gabby's while on tour.

THANK YOU for the card, South School, and the wonderful drawing, Gabby. Hopefully, I'll see you next tour!

Back in 1982…no wait, 1992…

Jon Schindehette, the Creative Art Director for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast, invited me to participate in his "How I Made it" series over at his blog in hopes that my story may offer up some seeds of inspiration for up-and-coming fantasy artists. In fact, I found his blog to be INCREDIBLY informative for any who are interested in breaking into the field – where was your blog when I was getting started, Jon!?

Of course, there were no blogs in 1992 when I submit my artwork to TSR (the fine publishers of D&D back then). But you can read all about what I did do on Jon's blog here.

As a bonus, I found a pile of my original submissions that were sent to TSR. Jon posted them on his site, but here they are bigger and with some additional comments:

Preparatory sketches of orcs drawn in the spring of 1992. These orcs were certainly inspired by Brian Froud and Alan Lee's work as well as the goblins in Rankin & Bass' animated movie of The Hobbit.

Finished ink drawing of an elven player-character done for my initial submission to TSR in September, 1992. I remember I was looking at a lot of Jean-Giraud Moebius' work back then and you can see it the overabundance of tic marks done in this one.

Finished ink drawing of a trio of were-rats done for my initial submission to TSR in September, 1992. There was no color work in my submission samples because all of their gaming books were only printed in black & white throughout. It was a well-known fact that the color cover work was done by TSR's staff artists, a highly coveted position I figured I was not worthy of.

A year later (just prior to Planescape starting) I was offered a staff position but turned it down because I was dating this really cool girl back in Florida…who I eventually married and adore more than ever. Fortunately, there were no hard feelings with the team at TSR and I continued an amazing and prosperous working relationship with them throughout most of the 1990's.

AD&D Monster Compendium sample mock up with my artwork, done for my initial submission to TSR in September, 1992. (click image for detail)

Sample page layout of a gaming module mocked up with my artwork. This was done for my initial submission to TSR in September, 1992. This harem-inspired medusa drawing actually was colored and used in 1993's AD&D Monstrous Manual. Of course, the ethics of TSR's publishing had changed since the 1980's and a top was added prior to completing. (click image for detail)

Pencil sketch of a dwarven player character done in preparation for my third submission to TSR in 1992. This dwarf was based on one of the player characters in the D&D game that I was participating in at that time.

Ink drawing of a cleric preparing to animate a clay golem done in preparation for my third submission to TSR in November, 1992. The idea here was to illustrate an otherwise unseen action and make it interesting.

Sample page layout of a gaming module mocked up with my artwork. Done for my third (and final) submission to TSR in November, 1992. These illustrations of player characters battling and finding treasure were the images that finally got TSR to take a chance and use me. Looking back on them today I wince at how overdone the ink work is, but at that time no other artists were really working in this style for TSR's gaming products. (click image for detail)

Snapshot of my workspace in Florida, 1994. I couldn't find any shots of me working on the initial submission pieces for TSR, but I did find this gem from my Planescape years. The desk was one my parents had bought for me for art school which I held onto for years (my brother owns it now) and you'll note a few favorite illustrations of mine tacked to the wall including my 1982 Displacer Beast next to my 1993 rendition.

I'm doing an event at The Carle this weekend, Pioneer Valley…

Well, its not exactly a full-blown event. But I am doing an interview at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art with Andy Laties in their "Talking Words & Pictures" program this Saturday (Dec. 12th) at 11:30 am. The event is open to public at only the price of museum admission. Of course, I will be happy to sign any books that you bring, borrow or buy. This is it! My last event of the year, so come on out! I'll even bring a handful of those limited edition WondLa sketchbooks to give away. Seeya Saturday…

A Rumble-Grumble Friday Fan Art

I've been wanting to do a series of retrospective posts about breaking into the children's publishing industry since 2010 marks a decade of yours truly having my books published. I had grand plans of comparing and contrasting what the market was like in 2000 vs. 2010 and what I know now that I didn't know then, etc, etc.

I never got around to it because I have been so darn busy with The Search for WondLa – getting the first book finished, doing pre-pub press, going on tour, and (now) preparing for the start of the second book. A dream-come-true life for me. To say that the last ten years have been an amazing journey would be a gross understatement. But I am usually off onto the next project, only occasionally looking back to see what I've created throughout my life. (I suppose this is why an "Art of Tony D" book doesn't exist. I want to wait and release it later in my life.) All of this reflection was brought perfectly into focus at the Miami Book Fair that I signed at just a few weeks ago.

Right in front of my line was 4 year-old Marina who handed me her rendition of the Grimblegrinder from my debut picture book, Jimmy Zangwow's Out-of-this-World Moon Pie Adventure. She then handed me a carton of Moon Pies with "Thank You Tony" scrawled on the lid. I realized that I the love and passion I put into creating my stories for kids comes through and I am validated each and every time I go out and do an event. I guess that's the only anecdotal message I can relay, "If you love what you do, the world will respond in kind." A bit cheesy, I know. But I believe it to be true.

Thanks for the kind gifts, Marina. Here are some old original sketches of the Grimblegrinder from 1997 that I dug up for you to see. This was when I was still trying to figure out what he looked like. Keep drawing. Keep dreaming.

Unpublished Original Artwork for Auction

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend surrounded by family and loved ones. I enjoyed some much-needed time off from my whirlwind WondLa tour. Thanks again to all of you who came out to see me at the various events. You keep me going.

I feel so fortunate that I've wanted to give back and become involved with a charity that benefits children. Thankfully, I've found my place with the Starlight Children's Foundation. The people involved in this amazing organization are kind, generous spirits and I couldn't be more humbled by their company. As you may recall, the WondLa kickoff event we did in New York City (with Uma Thurman) raised money for Starlight as does a current live auction where I am releasing one of my personal favorites.

Here is the description:

Own this original piece of artwork from Tony DiTerlizzi, creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles & The Spider and the Fly, including a complete set of autographed books!

Tony DiTerlizzi, the #1 New York Times bestselling children's book author and illustrator, celebrated a milestone in his career in 2006 with the production of this personal painting titled "Imagine". This 17×14" watercolor and ink illustration was reproduced as a limited edition giclee print that was given to friends and family for the holidays and contains characters from DiTerlizzi's books including The Spiderwick Chronicles, as well as the Caldecott Honor award winning The Spider and the Fly.

This lot also includes a signed collection of Tony's books, as well as a signed Artist's-proof giclee print recreated from the original artwork.

This is a great opportunity to own a piece from my personal collection that I have been holding onto for years. I don't let much of my original book art go these days, so this is a chance to get a bunch of my characters in one unique image…and its for a great cause.

Check out the auction here. And, hey, it ends right before the holidays – what a great gift idea!

WondLa Podcast

Kaye Cloutman, with the San Francisco Book Review, did a great interview with yours truly recently covering a variety of topics including book tour, San Fran and (of course) the creation of The Search for WondLa. Grab a cup of coffee and give it a listen.