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As you may recall, my wife, Randall de Sève, has written a few children's books, including our one collaboration, The Duchess of Whimsy. Above is an announcement for a pub party to celebrate her latest,Peanut and Fifi have a Ball, to be held at the greatest children's books store on the planet, Books of Wonder. The book is charmingly illustrated by Paul Schmid who has quite a few books under his belt himself. If you'd like a signed copy or just want to say hello, we'll see you this Thursday!
3 Comments on Randall's got a new book!, last added: 5/19/2013
Peter- I heard it read aloud at the Eric Carle museum the other day; it had just arrived and the librarian picked it for story hour... Congrats to your wife.
Yes, you should hurry and see the spectacular show of Harvey Kurtzman's work at the Society of Illustrators in NYCwhich opens tomorrow night! I grew up surrounded by more of Kurtzman than I even realized; both in the pages of MAD, hidden beneath the draughtsmanship of other artists like Wally Wood and Jack Davis and emblazoned in his own hand on the covers of EC comics titles like Two Fisted Tales and Frontline Comics. He also had more to do with my pubescent development than I care to discuss given his work on Little Annie Fannie, a comic I secretly enjoyed in the purloined pages of my brother Nick's Playboy magazines. Growing up and reading comics in the early '70's, I was too enamored of the detailed, relatively realistic work of artists like Bernie Wrightson and Frank Frazetta, to appreciate the true genius of Harvey Kurtzman's undiluted storytelling. If you have any interest in comics, graphic novels and especially storyboarding for animation, this exhibition is a master class in the art form which I cannot recommend strongly enough. What you will see in every panel of a Kurtzman strip, whether quickly jotted down in his own hand or rendered dutifully by another's, is the fine art of storytelling in it's purest form. Kurtzman himself is long gone now, but his work remains to instruct and remind us that in the right hands, Less is Moronic. In a good way.
1 Comments on What, Me Hurry?, last added: 3/11/2013
Crayon drawing of Scrat which appears in the exhibit.
I am taking part in what sounds like a terrific show at the Delaware Art Museum called State of the Art, Illustration 100 Years after Howard Pyle. I say it sounds terrific because I haven't actually seen it yet, due to the blizzard named Nemo (thank you, Pixar) which slammed the northeast on the night of the opening. The show is described below by, David Apatoff, the curator of the exhibit and a collector and connoisseur of Illustration, past and present.
In the century following Pyle’s 1911 death, American illustration has diversified into a creative empire that includes a wide range of exciting art forms. From animated feature movies and computer images to graphic novels and conceptual art, America’s storytelling artists use the latest technologies and the newest media to tell an ever-richer blend of stories to ever-broader audiences. For this exciting contemporary exhibition, Guest Curator David Apatoff, illustration scholar and author of biographies on Robert Fawcett and Albert Dorne, highlights the following eight artists: story illustrator Bernie Fuchs; graphic designer Milton Glaser; MADcaricaturist and comic artist Mort Drucker; The New Yorker cover artist and character designer for animated films, Peter de Sève; editorial artist John Cuneo; painter and book artist Phil Hale; painter and magazine illustrator Sterling Hundley; and Pixar production designer Ralph Eggleston.
3 Comments on The Delaware Art Museum, last added: 3/5/2013
DE Art Museum is also having an exhibit called The Storyteller’s Art: Reimagining America through Illustration until April. Great double bill! Can't wait to see it.
Coming this May 17-19th in Kansas City, Missouri is the second annual Spectrum Live event which is a convention of sorts celebrating illustration done for the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres. I was very sorry to miss the inaugural event last year which I've heard was fantastic but am proud to say that I have been invited to attend this one as a special guest. Other guests include the great illustrators Tara McPherson, Charles Vess, Michael Whelan, Terryl Whitlatch and Jon Foster. I can't wait to hang out with Tara, Charles and Terryl again and really look forward to getting a chance to meet Michael and Jon for the first time. John Fleskes ofFlesk Publicationsis producing Spectrum Live 2, a beautiful hardcover which will include a ten page portfolio of work by each of the special guests and I'm honored to have been asked to supply a cover for it. Above is one possibility which I just recently finished called, "The Harpy's Daughters".
I love conventions like this where people who are passionate about what they do have the chance to come together in one place and shamelessly geek out about it. If you're interested in finding out more about Spectrum Live, go here.
1 Comments on Spectrum Live!, last added: 2/11/2013
The image below was sent to me yesterday by an old high school pal of mine, Robert Arkus ,who found it on Facebook and thought I might find it interesting. Not only did I find it interesting but despite the fact that it was written years ago to someone else entirely, it spoke very directly to me and I suspect it will to many of you fellow visual artists as well. I hope it won't seem too egotistical to say that I get a fair amount of correspondence from artists, young and sometimes not so young, who struggle with their work and come to me for advice. The queries, while flattering can also be exhausting to answer. Questions like, "If you have a few minutes, could you give me some secrets on how to become a successful illustrator?"or "I really love character design, can you tell me the quickest way to do that?" are virtually impossible to answer. While I truly do understand the desire for tips and shortcuts and secret recipes, they simply don't exist. And though I have struggled to answer many a letter like this, there are many more that I simply didn't have the time for. Below is a typewritten note (written on a typewriter!) by the great Ward Kimball, legendary Disney animator, to an aspiring young animator named Will Finn. It is the perfect, no-nonsense reply to anyone seeking advice, inspiration and a well needed kick in the ass. The fact that it was written forty years ago does not diminish it's message to us in the least. Every line of it is the honest unvarnished truth about becoming an animator or illustrator and to some extent, a well rounded human being. For me it is a well needed splash in the face with a cold bucket of reality. A reminder that success in what you do doesn't just happen to you. You make it happen.
Incidentally, Will Finn, the recipient of this letter, went on to become a great Disney animator himself.
3 Comments on Blah! Blah! Blah! by Ward Kimball, last added: 2/24/2013
A decade has now passed since I did my very first designs for the Ice Age franchise. And though the series is perhaps a little gray around the tusks, it shows no real signs of slowing down--at least according to the Almighty Box Office. Ice Age, Continental Drift is apparently breaking all kinds of records overseas and isn't exactly tanking at home either. And yes, I have my quibbles with the final result but I won't use my space here to delve into them. The little ones seem to be enjoying the film anyway, so who am I to argue?
Instead, now that the movie is finally released, I would like to share some of the drawings I did this time out. As usual, Blue Sky Studios has delivered a gorgeous movie, and I am once again honored to have worked alongside so many amazingly talented people in order to get these characters up on the screen. Consider my hat tipped.
Thank you so much for the additional Capt. Gutt sketches, Peter. Beautiful! Am I crazy or am I seeing some digital sketching mixed in with your pencil work (especially in the later Gutt studies)? If so, might we see a future blog entry about your experience with drawing digitally? Thanks again! Your work is an inspiration.
Great stuffs Peter! Really enjoyed the the varieties of characters in the latest Ice Age :) Now I'm wondering when will you guys plan to release any Art of Ice Age books though. ;) (Already got you 'Sketchy Past' book of course).
The New Yorker has apparently sent out a little email blast with a link to a page spotlighting my work and providing an opportunity to purchase prints of many ( but apparently not all) of my covers. So why not post it HERE, too?
4 Comments on Shameless Self Promotion, Part 73, last added: 5/11/2012
Dear Peter, I finally have discovered the man behind the lanternfish, the ice-age squirrel and so many other animals I love :) your art is a big inspiration and whenever I need a smile or a laugh, I just take a look at your illustrations! I love this cover, your dog's slightly embarrassed look too. I find it so sweet that you dare to share your doubts concerning your (great) work, which makes you and your pets even more likeable! Greetings from Paris, Andrea
So, here's my latest cover, which I must confess, I have mixed feelings about. I wish I could say it was a victory, but I'm afraid the painting got away from me. I fussed with it longer than I should have and made the mistake of taking my reference too seriously. "Brownstone steps are red," I observed, "therefore I shall paint these brownstone steps red". I broke the cardinal rule, "Take what you need and throw out the rest." If I'd just placed the objects the dog is selling on a lighter, more neutral color, the result would not be the chaotic, hodge-podge you see before you. At my request, Françoise Mouly the art director at the New Yorker, did her best to finesse the color digitally, but alas, it couldn't change my feelings about the piece. I am looking forward to my next cover being my best cover.
All that said, it is still a nice way to introduce you to our newish dog, who, to my shame, has not appeared in a drawing or on this blog for the two years we have owned him. Meet, Henry Biscuit, a labrador mix who is a terrified neurotic outside on the streets of Brooklyn, but is a normal, happy puppy in the rolling hills of Connecticut. Aren't we all, though?
I am newer to your art and it truly amazes me. I have only recently got bitten by the art bug and looking everywhere to get my fill. I got my new New Yorker in the mail today and all I can say is, it's a beautiful cover. I have been investigating your stuff and I'm overwhelmed by it's beauty. I've known who you were for awhile, but glad the Sherlock Holmes in me made me even more excited about your art. Thank you for inspiring me and making my day. I hope to get an autographed doodle one day!! Your Fan, STewart Patton
Each week when the NYer arrives, I study the cover during the 200 foot walk from mailbox to house. I'm more interested in guessing the title to the cover art than composing a joke for the cartoon at the back. So...Tag Sale...apart from the items on the steps, does that reference the dog tag so prominently placed on Henry Biscuit's neck?
I was wondering about the heavier-than-normal gouache on top of the watercolor, not the red on the steps. I think it's really beautiful and am always thrilled to see you on the cover.
This is wonderful ... nice to see Darla making a cameo appearance on the doggy-dish, if I'm not mistaken. Thanks for sharing your struggles with this cover --- a comfort to know that even the masters have to work at it!
Ditto Jack Hunter's comment. Artists are their own worst critics. Comes with the game, I suppose. It's always so exciting to see a NYer cover by you. And I love this idea, so beautifully executed. Henry Biscuit sounds like a book character. (hint, hint)
My pals Irene Gallo, the art director who has done more to support and publish the art of fantastic illustration in the last decade than anyone else I can think of and Greg Manchess, one of the most fantastic of those illustrators of the fantastic, invited me to participate in a small group show called Microvisions. When I say small, I refer not only to the number of artists invited, (there are only a dozen) but also to the size of the pieces submitted. Subject matter was completely unrestricted but the artwork must be done at only 5X7 inches. When Greg called me to ask whether I'd be interested, I registered some wariness. "How involved do these things get?", I asked. He laughed cheerfully and said "Oh, don't worry, Pete, it's tiny and all you have to do is a little, iddy-biddy sketch! Do one of your funny birds or something!" "Okay, Greg, I'll do it!"I said, like a lamb to slaughter. What then followed was a steady and relentless pounding by my fellow Microvisionaries as one after another, they modestly submitted their masterpieces. I kid you not, almost every one of these things looks like it was painted at 5X7 feet, with stunning rendering and absurd detail. And those that were not painted, are still gorgeous, completely defying the size restriction. As you can see, I ended up doing a hairy little sketch after all, but I am still very happy to be included with this amazing bunch of artists. Go HERE if you want to see a partial preview. The goal of the show, by the way, is to have an Ebay auction to benefit the Society of Illustrator's Student Scholarship Fund.Irene and Greg have yet to post the details of the auction but here is a link to the show which will be on view at the Society of Illustrators from April 17th to May 12th. As a side note, I have to add what camaraderie each and every member of this group displayed during the course of submitting our work. The encouragement, humor and mutual respect was such a delightful and unexpected pleasure and I feel like we've begun a conversation that all of us are eager to continue. Here's the complete list of the featured artists:
Scott Bakal Julie Bell Scott Brundage Brian Despain Nathan Fowkes Rebecca Guay Scott Gustafson John Picacio Dan Dos Santos Chris Rahn Terry Whitlach
4 Comments on Microvisionaries, last added: 4/8/2012
The Art of Blue Skyshow that was originally exhibited at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts is moving to Manhattan later this month. On April 24th I will have the pleasure of giving a talk on character design right here on my home turf. I have never done a lecture solely on character design and look forward to showing some of my own work, along with that of other designers who inspire me. If you care to join me for the event (and drinks afterward in the Society's swell bar!) then follow this link and buy a ticket!
Paff! I'd so attend if I wasn't a continent away at the very bottom of Africa. I've admired your work since...since....the beginning of time itself! :)
Come to Ruddertowne, DE!! There may not be a lot of people interested in character design down here, but there are lots of characters, and several swell bars. :)
Seriously, it's very tempting. Even more reason to go to NYC. Will the lecture be recorded?
Very awesome! I finish my school year on the 20th; in an ideal world things will pan out so that I'd be able to make this on my journey back home. Doubtfully things will work out as such though, but perhaps I'll be able to get to seeing the exhibit at a later date, if nothing more!
I mean Spectrum Awards. After missing a few opportunities to sit on the jury for the Spectrum Awards I will finally get my chance this weekend. On Friday I fly off to Kansas City where my esteemed fellow jurors and I will spend the weekend looking at over 6000 entries. From among them we will choose what we feel is the very best illustration done during the past year for the genres of Science Fiction, Fantasy and the simply Fantastic.
Who am I kidding? This was just an excuse to draw a dragon.
10 Comments on I'm off to the Spectrum Wars, last added: 3/1/2012
It's always a good time to draw a dragon - no excuses needed. :) Looking at that piece makes want to grab a pencil and attack some paper, right now, right here in the middle of my soul-sucking day job.
I love to sculpt and I never sculpt. Every time I've taken the opportunity to explore a character in clay (or sculpy as the case may be) I've found it incredibly satisfying. For me, it is such a perfect extension of drawing and in some ways a fuller experience. Drawing a figure in a pose is one thing, but it is often a cheat. It's only when committing that drawing to 3D that you see how much you faked for the sake of that one angle. That's the challenge and the pleasure of it though. In clay, you have a chance to spin your drawing around, to add and subtract. And not just lines, but real volume. Real weight. As with almost everything I do, this piece is an assignment. Left to my own devices, I would probably noodle this to death or only get it half done. But fortunately my pal, Michael DeFeo, formerly head of the sculpting department at Blue Sky and now a formidable gun for hire, is also something of an entrepreneur. He's come up with a scheme to sell a line of small sculptures by prominent illustrators and character designers as limited editions. This may be one of them if we like the final result. The line is called Designer Rock Stars (his title, not mine) and is in it's still in it's early stages. By the way, check out the video about his L'Ecorche app. It looks like it will be an astonishingly good tool for understanding human anatomy in a really complete way. You can find it here.
So anyway, I am putting my little maquette out here not only to prove that I am still alive, but to force me to finish the thing.
Wish me luck.
16 Comments on Pachyderm's Progress, last added: 2/29/2012
It's still looking fresh and 'un-noodled'. I'm intrigued to see how it's going to balance on that little guy's head without special engineering, or magic. The very best of luck.
Looks fantastic, Peter! I can't wait to see the finished piece and I can't wait to see some of the others. Someone mentioned Marlet. I'd pay for a sculpture based on his art too!
Does Chris Sickels get to do one? Or is that just too easy?
I just learned that I've been nominated for an Annie Award for my work on Arthur Christmas. It's very exciting indeed but I would be remiss if I didn't insert a reminder here about the process of bringing these characters to the screen. Getting a workable design on paper is just the beginning. After all the off- the- cuff doodles are created and culled, the real work of sculpting, modeling, furring, surfacing, rigging, animating and lighting has yet to be done. Overseeing all of that on Arthur Christmas was a fellow named Tim Watts, who I'm been told is a great guy and who did a really wonderful job of translating my scribbles into something animatable. So win or lose, I have Tim and the rest of the crew at Sony/Aardman to thank in getting this far.
And as they say, even if I don't win,
it's an honor just to be animated.
13 Comments on Merry Christmas to Me, last added: 12/10/2011
Congratulations! You really deserve it! I recently got your book "a sketchy past" and I have to say as a follower of your work i am since many years now, it's one of my favourite books! Thanks for sharing your art with all of us!
A big congratulations to you! I'm hoping to see Arthur Christmas very soon and I'm happy to see it getting good reviews! Your work is seriously a bundle of fun. :) Again, congrats!
Congratulations on being nominated! Been a big fan of your work ever since I saw some of your sketches for the first Ice Age on Planet Hollywood's window in London, many many moons ago. I've had the pleasure of working with Tim on Despereaux, and he is literally the nicest guy in animation :)
Once again, I have a rejected New Yorker cover on my hands. This time I had decided not to leave anything up to chance and submitted a finished piece, but to no avail. The New Yorker obviously doesn't appreciate the gift of a dead mouse. But maybe you do. While actually catching a mouse in your teeth and presenting at the feet of your loved one is not practical, perhaps giving this print would be the next best thing. If you know a cat owner with impeccable taste, just click the image to the right.
And by the way, Merry Chrismouse.
"Go Ahead, Open It!" is a signed, limited edition of 250.
• Printed on acid-free Canson Infinity / Arches Aquarelle Rag Fine Art Paper
• Approximate size 13" x 15"
• Shipped in an archival print protector
13 Comments on "Go Ahead, Open It!", last added: 11/26/2011
We just went to see the NY premiere of Martin Scorcese'sHUGO (Academy member perk!) and I have to say, it's a beautiful film. Watching it was a little bittersweet for me though, having been briefly involved with another film version of the same story a couple of years ago. That one was to be directed by a good friend of mine but for reasons I may never know, it was not to be. And while I am certain his Hugo have been absolutely wonderful, I have to hope the very best for Scorcese's. It's a children's film that doesn't pander to current trends in this genre. No sidekicks, wisecracks or fart jokes. Magic and Wonder serve just fine here. HUGO is also a love letter to cinema and it's easy to see why Scorcese was drawn to it. At the story's center, is the early twentieth century film pioneer, George Melies, who is credited with being the first director to see the inherent power of film to create truly fantastic imagery. The image of a rocket crashing into the eye of the man in the moon from his "A Trip to the Moon" is one of the most famous icons in cinema history. My job on that unfilmed version version of Hugo Cabret was to design the automaton in the story; a nineteenth century mechanical man made of metal and clockwork and magic.
By the way, before running out to see the film, first do yourself a favor and get the original story written and illustrated by Brian Selznick. It's a gorgeous and unique hybrid of text and illustration which in itself is a very c
6 Comments on HUGO (Cabret), last added: 11/25/2011
I have read the story - fantastic stuff and trust Scorcese to have done a great job. I'm so glad you mentioned the magic as that's the feeling I came away with from the book. Thanks for sharing your drawings - they look really in-keeping with the magic
Your draws always made my day and give me the sparks I need to take my pencil and try over and over again to find something new. You're truely a great inspiration in all senses. Thanks a lot for sharing master
I've always had some difficulty with the term, "master class", as it is often a little too liberally applied to instructors who might not be quite so masterful. Well, for once, I can use the appellation with utter conviction when I talk about John Kascht and his film,"Funny Bones". It's a short, incredibly incisive deconstruction on the art of caricature. And while it has plenty of delightful time lapse sequences of John sketching, painting and even sculpting, the piece is not about technique per se. It's really a rumination on the art of capturing a likeness and more importantly, the essence of a subject. He reminds us that caricature is not distortion for distortion's sake, but rather an amplification of those features that reveal what is unique about that particular person. There is plenty to learn and marvel at in Funny Bones and if you are trying to learn something about capturing a personality on paper, go here.
...i think this is the best caricature i have seen of Steve Jobs yet... and i love how the angel is more involved in her iPhone than in the presence of the new arrival... this is a beautiful and very entertaining drawing... probably better than the New Yorker deserves... truly awesome work Peter... cheers!
As an art student back in the late '70's, fresh from Long Island and slowly becoming more and more aware of artwork outside of comic books, I soon found myself introduced to the work of Ed Sorel. There was an energy and fearlessness in his line work that was irresistible to me. How could anyone draw so loosely and yet so sculpturally at the same time? His pictures looked as if Giacometti had discovered spectacles and a sense of humor. In so many ways, Sorel's work has been a kind of life raft for me. As I groped to find my own style and fought the temptation to render things to a rigor mortis finish, his illustrations were always a reminder to me of the beauty in errant lines; the ones you have to put down on the page while you search for your subject. I have always loved drawings that reveal that search. You can see it in Kley and Rowlandson in their finished work and of course in Daumier's ,but you will find it in just about everyone's preliminary drawings. The difference is that too often, those beautiful mistakes are sandblasted away in the final product. I always took the presence of those lines in Sorel's work as an act of bravery and it took me a long time to forgive myself and embrace the imperfections of my own drawings. In truth, I am rarely satisfied with my finished pieces but if any of them do actually retain a heartbeat, there is a good chance that I pulled a book of Sorel drawings off the shelf to help me find my way.
All of this is to say that if you are in New York City before November 5th you have a unique opportunity to see a huge retrospective of Sorel's work. I think you will be dazzled by it and hopefully emboldened, too. There's a lot to be said about the fact that there is no "command z" in pen and ink.
I'd particularly love to hear Jim McMullan speak. If it's possible, he's even braver and bolder than Sorel. Ed uses so many thin strokes, if one misses the mark, the next few will compensate. McMullan gets the job done with so few strokes or smudges of watercolor, it astounds me. He has at least two great books that explain how he approaches the job and wrestles with his clients. I'd love more insight into how he wrestles with blank paper.
I'm a huge fan of Sorel's work, and am so sorry that I won't be in the City to see this exhibition. What brilliance pours out of that pen and brain. And it was great to see my Guillotine original in your post. It's even better in person.
Apparently, scientists have unearthed fossils of what CNN has rather dubiously described as a saber-toothed squirrel. If they can use it for their blog, I'm damn well using it for mine!
9 Comments on Not so intelligent design, last added: 11/5/2011
Peter, for the record: the name "Cronopio" pays homage to a beneficial fantastic being imagined by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar in 1962. If you like jazz you'll like his "nouvelle" or long story El Perseguidor (The Pursuer) inspired by Charlie Parker. I'm sure there is a translation accessible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Cortázar
Arthur Christmas is a combined effort from Sony and Aardman Animation. I haven't seen it yet, but enjoyed shifting gears and drawing characters without fur for a change. Or at least, not a lot of fur.
Thanks for sharing. It's easy to focus on your line quality and gesture as the amazing thing here - but I have to remind myself that is actually the character ideas, for which you seem to have an unending supply of, which really deserves recognition.
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16 Comments on , last added: 7/20/2012
2 Comments on Edward Sorel, a retrospective, last added: 10/27/2011
Peter- I heard it read aloud at the Eric Carle museum the other day; it had just arrived and the librarian picked it for story hour... Congrats to your wife.
Congratulations to Randall!
We have Duchess and Toy Boat in our library —love them both.
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