I figured that Jim and Ted needed a longer break from the insanity that has been their life. So here they are enjoying a nice happy, picnic.

The post Jim and Ted 15: The picnic appeared first on rob-peters.com.

After all the drama in the past few weeks of their lives, I felt that Jim and Ted needed a break. So they’ve landed their helicopter in this peaceful desert and are going to have a nice quiet picnic.

Will it stay quiet? Probably not. Tune in next week to find out.

The post Jim and Ted 14: Picnic Time appeared first on rob-peters.com.

I drew this King of Diamonds was as part of a contest put on by Playing Arts. Artists from all across the globe illustrated playing cards and the winners of each card get made into a deck. Twelve artists, including myself, illustrated the King of Diamonds. I need your help to make sure my card illustration gets made.

You can help by clicking this link: http://playingarts.com/en/special/vote/king-diamonds and clicking the “like” underneath my name. (This is assuming you like my card the best, but why wouldn’t you?) Voting runs until July 24th. Thanks so much for your support.

The post King of Diamonds contest appeared first on rob-peters.com.

Yesterday, the Kansas City Star had an article about the book Just Let ‘Em Play, which I had the pleasure of designing the book cover for. It’s a really good article but, sadly, my cover didn’t make it into the print edition of the paper (it is in the online version, thankfully.)

I thought it might be interesting to show off my process and how I designed the book cover. I’ve done quite a bit of book cover design but don’t mention it near enough here.

I was given the project before the manuscript was complete and going by the working title of  Let ‘Em Play.  I discussed the book with the publisher, Ascend Books, and got a handle on what they wanted to the cover to accomplish. The book is about a philosophy for youth sports (covering all sports and ages) with an emphasis on having fun rather than winning at all costs. With that in mind, I worked up a few cover mock-ups. I usually do 3 or 4 cover mockups at a time for the publisher to choose from. This particular cover was unusual in that none of my initial drafts were quite right and I went back to the drawing board a few times. Here’s a look at some of the cover drafts and a little commentary on each one. (Please remember that these are unfinished mock-ups and there would certainly have been elements changed or adjusted had any of these covers been used. The photos are mostly unpurchased stock photos and some are watermarked by the owners)

This one has promise, but I think I went overboard with the font colors.  Ultimately, the publisher wanted more than one sport represented.

This was one of my early favorites. I love this photo. But, again, they wanted more than one sport depicted on the cover. They did like the type treatement, though, so I used it again on later drafts.

This is a nice cover but totally wrong in every way. The book discourages the use of trophies and an emphaisis on winning. And then I put a trophy on the cover– proof that I hadn’t quite understood the book’s concept at this stage.

Here’s a more graphic option. I don’t remember if I was given any specific feedback on this one.

This option, showing kids walking away from sports equipment was probably too somber for the subject matter.

Frustrated with the stock photos I had at my disposal, I suggested an illustrated cover with stylized images and a muted color scheme. The publisher loved the idea and asked me to refine and finish the illustration.

This was going to be the cover for a while and was even used in some of the advance advertising for the book. But ultimately, they decided that they wanted to go back to a photographic cover to better appeal to the target market– adults who either coach youth sports or parent child athletes.

So I tried this approach– using multiple photos of different kids playing different sports. Since the previous cover was nearly used, I retained some of the other graphic elements and type treatment. This was along the right track, but not quite there yet. And, looking back on it now, I regret the pink color behind the title. It was meant to mirror the colors in the kid’s uniforms at the bottom, but was far too light.

Finally, I hit on the right approach. Sporting equipment front and center with photos of multiple sports across the top. I muted the colors on the sports photos to unify them and ensure that one photo didn’t dominate the others (a flaw in my last cover.) Everyone loved this cover and we finally had a winner!

So here’s the final cover. I replaced a photo or two at the top and adjusted the sizing some. The title was changed the Just Let ‘Em Play and the subtitle was adjusted as well.

I’m quite pleased with how it turned out and I want to thank everyone at Ascend Books for sticking with me through the design process.

If you want to buy  the book and have my lovely cover in your hands, you can get it at Amazon or your local bookstore.

The post Designing book cover for Just Let ‘Em Play appeared first on rob-peters.com.

After last week’s startling near-collision with a monstrous mouth– we see that Jim has expertly flown the helicopter away from a giant dinosaur of all things and around many other dangers. Poor Ted is still hanging onto the outside of the helicopter.

What’s next for these 2 adventurers? Hopefully, they’ll land somewhere safely next week.

The post Jim and Ted 13: Hazardous Flight appeared first on rob-peters.com.

Jim and Ted have flown from one disaster into a bigger problem. A really, really big problem. Look at those teeth! Uh-oh. What’s going to happen next?

The post Jim and Ted 12: Teeth! appeared first on rob-peters.com.

It’s much later than planned, but here’s today’s installment in the continuing adventures of Jim and Ted. This week, after weeks where things got worse and worse for poor Ted, we finally get something happy as Jim flies to the rescue!

The post Jim and Ted 10: To The Rescue! appeared first on rob-peters.com.

Poor Ted, he’s been brought before the King of the Monkey tribe. And it looks like things are getting worse for him. Do you think he’s going to get free anytime soon?

The post Jim and Ted 9: Guilty! appeared first on rob-peters.com.

Things are going from bad to far, far worse for poor Ted. And what happened to Jim?

The post Jim and Ted 8: Carried Away appeared first on rob-peters.com.

Things are looking really bad for Jim and Ted. Poor Ted is getting swarmed by savage monkeys.

This little series I’m doing keeps getting more dramatic and I’m not sure how this happened. I’m working without a plot or any real plan– I’ve begun each of these with a blank paper and the question: “What happens next?” Hopefully, I can think of happier things for Ted and Jim soon. Assuming they survive the monkeys, that is.

The post Jim and Ted 7: Monkey Attack! appeared first on rob-peters.com.

Run!

Do you think Jim and Ted will get away safely? And who’s after them, anyway? I haven’t figured that out yet myself. Tune in next Friday and let’s find out together.

The post Jim and Ted 6 appeared first on rob-peters.com.

This can’t be good.

The post Jim and Ted 5 appeared first on rob-peters.com.

It looks like, after their fall last week, Jim and Ted managed to land on a thin bridge. Do you think they’ll be OK?

The post Jim and Ted 4 appeared first on rob-peters.com.

Uh oh. That’s a pretty steep cliff to sled off of. Will Jim and Ted be OK?

The post Jim and Ted 3 appeared first on rob-peters.com.

It’s week two of the continuing adventures of Jim and Ted. (And yes, last week Jim was named Joe. I just decided that I like Jim better.)

Things don’t look good for them. Will they slide right off the cliff? Find out next Friday.

The post Jim and Ted 2 appeared first on rob-peters.com.

Look! I’m finally posting something! Sorry, I never planned on being away this long. I needed a slight breather after posting a new drawing every day for 2015. And then other pressing work and life got in the way…

Anyway, I’ve missed posting something regularly and have a new plan. It’s not as ambitious as last year’s daily drawing, but I think you’ll like it. These two guys are Ted and Jim. They’re going to go on an adventure. Come back every Friday to see what happens to them.

And if once a week posting is too little for you, I’m also reviving my old webcomic Crazy Cal Presents. Check it out at www.crazycal.com every Monday for a new comic strip.

The post Jim and Ted 1 appeared first on rob-peters.com.

Happy New Year! My wife was asking me for a New Year’s baby– so this one is for her.

The 2015 retrospective I promised on Thursday should be up on Monday morning. And hopefully by that time I will have decided what I’m going to do on this site for the next year.

The post Happy New Year 2016! appeared first on rob-peters.com.

Happy New Year! My wife was asking me for a New Year’s baby– so this one is for her.

The 2015 retrospective I promised on Thursday should be up on Monday morning. And hopefully by that time I will have decided what I’m going to do on this site for the next year.

The post Happy New Year 2016! appeared first on rob-peters.com.

This happy guy is the last reindeer of the month– and the last drawing in my year long “Daily Drawing” experiment.

Come back later today for a post on my thoughts on the past year– what I’ve learned and discovered as I’ve done these characters– as well as my plans for 2016.

The post Daily Drawing: Reindeer 23 appeared first on rob-peters.com.

This happy guy is the last reindeer of the month– and the last drawing in my year long “Daily Drawing” experiment.

Come back later today for a post on my thoughts on the past year– what I’ve learned and discovered as I’ve done these characters– as well as my plans for 2016.

The post Daily Drawing: Reindeer 23 appeared first on rob-peters.com.

This guy thinks he’s cool. But with suspenders and those striped pants… what do you think?

The post Daily Drawing: Reindeer 22 appeared first on rob-peters.com.

This guy thinks he’s cool. But with suspenders and those striped pants… what do you think?

The post Daily Drawing: Reindeer 22 appeared first on rob-peters.com.

This reindeer looks a little thin– good thing he has a lot to eat.

The post Daily Drawing: Reindeer 21 appeared first on rob-peters.com.

Do you have that after-Christmas letdown? This reindeer sure does. Poor guy.

The post Daily Drawing: Reindeer 20 appeared first on rob-peters.com.

Merry Christmas.

The post Daily Drawing: Reindeer 19 appeared first on rob-peters.com.