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As readers of the blog know, the Willems family (and guests) spend our dinners doodling on the paper table cloth that we use for our meals. These drawings are real doodles, nothing pre-thought out.  Just fun and letting loose. They're a joy to do and to look at after. Here are some recent doodles: My wife is into abstractions, but this time she framed it. Shapes Love the hair my

As followers of the blog know, the family spends most nights doodling after dinner on a big piece of butcherblock paper that serves as our table cloth. Recently, we had my father and mother-in-law over for a visit and it was fun to see how differently everyone doodled. A great time was had by all. Here they are along with a slew of other recent dinners: (click to enlarge an image) This

It's been a while since I've shown any of our dining room chalk board wall doodles or sketches on the paper table clothes. Here are a few doodles to tide you over (click to enlarge images): A self-portrait A portrait of my wife. A portrait of my dog. Another commuting penguin... Why not take some time and doodle today?  It's fun!

Here are a slew of new Dining Room Doodles. The family draws every night after dinner.  It's a great time to sit and chat and doodle (and sometimes listen to the original radio broadcasts of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) Enjoy! The Hitchhiker's may explain some of the loopy 70's stuff I seem to be doodling lately... Never trust a seagull. Sad clown... My

It has been a tradition at Knuffle Manor (and before that Brooklyn's Pigeon's Nest) to throw a big party once a year to celebrate the efforts of those "behind the scenes" who insure that my books, animated films, and other projects get out into the world looking a good as possible. Still before the storm I am the first to admit that when it comes to my work, I need a lot of help. 

Here is another sampling of dining room dinner doodles from the past month or so. As you can see, each member of the Willems' clan is doing their own thing (my daughter, faces; my wife, abstracts; myself, I have no clue) and having a great time doing it! 2 parallel lines will never meet... Love this one!

Here’s a figure drawing I gave up on half way through because it was…uh…top heavy. But I kind of like the way the figure being only black on black works with the white sheet so I’ll share it.

Speaking of dining room doodles, here's a recent one: Speaking of doodles.  My pal Mr. Warburton doesn't have a paper table cloth in his house, but he has a very cool way of drawing with his boys.  They both get real-life, actual grown-up sketchbooks, just like their daddy! Then both the eldest and youngest kid get together and draw with dad. Awesome! Why not draw with your family soon?

We had a visit of extended family over the holidays, so what better way to celebrate during the big dinner than have the kids (ages 12-7) draw on the chalkboard walls? My kid's portrait of her cousin as an manga hero. Gotta love Yay Mouse Can't go wrong with an Owl. I can't get enough of these silly monsters! More Owls. A happy, gift bearing bear. You

My favorite time of the evening is after dinner when the family draws on the paper table cloth.  We've been doing this and drawing on the walls for years now, but it never gets old. Here are some recent faves: Some 4-legged friends from myself & my kid: I love these portraits my daughter has been making:  My wife's abstractions are real fun, too:

And thanks to the Savannah, GA newspaper for this very flattering piece about Elephant and Piggie.  Although, I take issue with the idea that no one else is making entertaining early readers. Cynthia Rylant, Grace Lin, the Toon Books, Kate DiCamillo, anyone? And this year will see pals Kevin Henkes, Laurie Keller,  and more jump into the pool.  As a businessman I'm scared, but as a reader I'm

Wish I had accidentally doodled this guy while we were still making Codename: Kids Next Door. Would have made a great episode.

It's always nice to have a house guest, even if it is animator/author Mr. Warburton*.If nothing it's an excuse for a gathering. And since it had been a while since our dining room chalkboard walls had been attacked by various and sundry, we made sure to leave out the chalk.Here are some highlights.Mr. Warburton returns the warm feelings.Hilary Price isn't so sure about the evening either:Book

...to be home with the family making doodles on the paper table cloth during dinner.It's also fun to get Cat the Cat mentioned in James Kolchalka's cartoon diary American Elf!

We recently had the pleasure of having Lisa Brown over to Knuffle Manor and celebrated with a doodle dinner for her with Holly Black, Theo Black and the family. A fun night of food and doodles!  Here are the results: (click to bigafy)  And here are some details. Theo: Cher: Myself: Holly: Lisa: The Trixter: Huzzah!  A fun night was had by all!  Why not have your own doodle

Here are a couple of doodles I've made over the past two nights at the dinner table thanks to my big roll of paper (which I've now had for a year!).  The wife liked 'em.  Maybe you will too.

First I start drawing commuting penguins at the dinner table, now everybody's driving! They're even drawing other stuff! Why are we drawing commuting penguins & stuff? Because it's fun! Why not have a big family draw tonight?

In preparation for the Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator Tour that begins Sunday, I will be spending tomorrow (Tues, the 26th) talking to a bunch of folks on the radio.  If you're in the listening area, please tune in (but keep in mind that these radio things notoriously reschedule at the last second). The plan is to be chatting tomorrow morning at: 7:20 am EST USA Radio's DayBreak USA 8:

Lots of news and bits this week.  Let's start with some dinner doodles and chalkboard wall drawings from a few recent guests. Old pals David Wain and Ken Marino stopped by Knuffle Manor for some R and R while putting finishing touches on an upcoming film they wrote (David is directing).  I've known (and in David's case worked with) these guys since 1987 and had dropped by the set when on tour

I was stopping myself from posting any of the nude figure drawing I’ve been doing this past year because this blog originally started as a place to talk about our books for children (it has obviously changed focus over time). I’ve come to decide that kind of thinking is totally ridiculous. It’s like saying you should not take kids to a museum because they might see a breast. I have more faith in the parents of the children that read our books, and I’m sorry I ever doubted them. 

This is one of the pieces of artwork I’ve done in the past year that I am most proud of. I never attended art school and have had very few chances to do any figure drawing in my life. I now see the attraction of it, and have experienced the incredible learning that happens while participating in it. I look forward to doing more and I will share some here, now that I have come to my senses.

Here is another recent figure drawing I’ve done in my attempt to give myself a better fundamental understanding of drawing the human body. Because it is very hard to find models for such things in China (I hear that nude drawing classes are hard to find outside of the top art schools), I’ve been working from pictures for these. I don’t think it has hurt the experience too much, although I noticed that the couple of times I did live drawing I was able to draw faster and capture the form in a more loose and dynamic way. 

This weekend included a fun dinner with pals Bobbie and Eric Carle who were in town promoting Eric's beautiful new book, The Man Who Painted a Blue Horse*, and helping fundraising for the Carle Museum. As is tradition when folks come over, they draw on the walls and on the table.  This night, my wife asked me to come up with an theme for the walls.  As I've been drawing lots of vehicles lately,