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By:
Tim Bowers,
on 10/2/2016
Blog:
Tim Bowers Art Blog
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A new book just hit the shelves, last week. Buddy's Bedtime Battery by Chirstina Geist (published by Random House) is my latest book and I want to take you behind the pages to see how the project progressed.
It's always exciting to get the first printed books in the mail. After months of a studio full of art boards in progress, wet paint and gallons of coffee (not part of the painting process but very necessary), the final product is a welcome payoff. Buddy finally arrived!
Now, let's look at how Buddy arrived. After reading the story manuscript and creating sketches for the characters, a full length book dummy was created. When the book sketches were finalized, the painting process began.
I created a production line of boards with images of each page. I taped the edges with low-tac tape to keep that area clean and white. Then, an underpainting with brown acrylic paint was washed (thin layers) onto the boards. I usually do this when the final art is created with oil paint. The acrylic and polymer layers sealed the paper board from the oils and gave me a good (light and dark) value study to follow.
At this stage, the studio was full of artwork covering every flat space to be found. I have a drying rack for storing work in progress but I like to see everything laid, side by side.
Here is the title page. The towel area on the left was used for copyright and publishing information. The title was placed on the wall, above the bathtub. Notice the pajamas are visible, just below the towel. I often use elements and story props to hint at what's coming on the following page(s).
Here is one of the illustration spreads. One of my favorite images of the book.
This was my table, somewhere under the shingles of drying illustrations. The images were at various stages of completion so Buddy's hair looks really dark on the bottom image, etc. I worked on several paintings at a time and all art started to finalize toward the end of the process....which is also called..."the deadline" (If all goes as planned). It was a fairly long process and sometimes hard to see the end when spending days painting little parts, adjusting colors and adding detail. But eventually, it all came together and a package with the final art of Buddy's Bedtime Battery traveled to Random House.
Then, months later, I get to see the book on NBC, being read to millions of TV viewers. How COOL is that? So exciting! ...So surreal! ...Yay, Buddy!
...deep breath...now, back to the drawing board. :)
Ok, Well it's not really a secret, but if you see signs around in Chester County, Pennsylvania that shows these crazy cartoon ladies having fun, in front of a business, the shop is a "best-kept secret" or hidden treasure and part of the Chester County Best Kept Secrets Shopping Tour.
I can't tell you the names of the 37 business on the tour, but I can tell you that the tour is made up of lots of different kinds of businesses from garden shops, to little boutiques, to candy shops, consignment and on and on. It's kind of like a treasure hunt finding out-of-the-way places that you might otherwise be unaware of.
My
studio is one of those those establishments. If you never met me at an art show or haven't seen my work in a gallery or don't follow me online, you might never be aware of my work or my adorable little studio which is located behind my house. The shopping tour is a fantastic opportunity for me to welcome people from all over to visit my studio and see what I make..
Here's how it works:
Shoppers buy tickets for $9 which entitles them to all the perks that each business will be offering during the tour. One dollar of each ticket sale goes to the Chester County Food Bank. The first 2000 people that buy tickets get a goody bag filled with coupons for additional discounts, game pieces and samples. Each business will have special events going on throughout the tour whether it be a special sale or giveaway, food, demonstrations, or opportunities to win prizes.
Everyone gets a map and a booklet with additional coupons from all of the businesses on the tour in it. Shoppers also gets a ticket at each establishment they visit which qualifies them to win a $200 shopping spree that they can use at the business of their choice. There is yet an additional drawing to win a variety of gifts or gift certificates.
The dates of the tour are
November 5 through November 21, 2015. All shops will be open from
10 AM to 6 PM six days a week and some will be open on Sunday as well or have extended hours.
Tour goers can use their tickets for one day or for every day of the tour. They can do the tour in any direction or fashion that they see fit. It's a lot of fun and a great way to promote small business and shop local for the holiday season.
Being a participant shop owner in the tour requires a lot of preparation and thought. The first place I needed to start was to think about what kind of special event I might create for my tour goers.
Whatever I was going to do would need to be included in the 2000 bags that tour goers were will get which had to be stuffed and ready to go by September 7.
I came up with a fun game. I got different colored plastic stars (get it? for "House of the Rising Star" the name of my studio) and little jewelry bags to put them in along with the ticket explaining the game.
Customers will bring their star to the studio and if their color matches the color of the day they will win a prize valued from $1 to $10. There is one unique colored star out of all of them that if one lucky person gets it, will win an original painting worth $100.
Since I needed 2000 pieces to go in the bags, I knew that there was no way that I would be able to get them stuffed and ready to go by myself in the time frame that I had available.
God bless my awesome friends and my daughter!!!! I asked a few folks if they would come over and help me out by stuffing bags and made a party out of it by providing wine and snacks on a beautiful summer evening.
We had a really fun evening and I never expected that we would get them all done especially since we were all laughing and talking and generally having a good time, but we did it! What a relief that was because I thought I would still be stuffing bags to the 11th hour. The best part for me was knowing that I could call in the troops when I needed help. Love you guys!!!
Now that that is done I am working on my inventory and all the other things that I need to do to prepare. I'll keep you posted as I move along.
If you would like to get tickets, you can contact me (I have goody bags!!) or if you are in some other part of Chester County and you're driving around and you see the sign with the crazy ladies that says "Tour Stop" your can get your tickets there and also online at
Best Kept Secrets Shopping Tour.Do hurry though, the tickets sell out quickly and only the first 2000 people will get the goody bags! Also, not to worry if you are one of my awesome regular customers who looks forward to my annual November Open Studio. If you don't want to participate in the BKS tour, you are still welcome to stop by my studio any of the 16 days that I am open. If you are a newsletter subscriber, I will also be sending a discount that you can use for any item in my shop. (If you aren't signed up, you can do it right here on my blog. Just use the signup form on the upper right)
You will also have an opportunity to get a star game piece and win a prize!
Hope to see you!
Every studio needs it's basic equipment for whatever it is that you're making. In my studio it is my pottery wheel,my bats, clay and assorted tools. I also have to have shelving to put items on both items in process and finished items. I have to have my easel, paints brushes and good lighting.
Beyond that there are a few things that enhance the process and just make for a better creative experience. In my case, the outside has as much to do with it as the inside. I love the happy colors that I had my daughter paint on the outside. The yellow, green and purple greet me with a feeling of perpetual spring, even when we are buried in snow.
My studio is basically a 12 x 20' Amish shed that came to us bare-bones and unfinished studs on the inside. My husband and I finished it with drywall,insulation, flooring etc. We made the ceiling Cathedral which gives the small space a feeling of having more room than it actually does.We added track lighting to shift around the room to light paintings on the wall and I ordered extra windows in the back and large rounded windows on the doors. My window boxes were an essential for me. The flowers that I add them to each spring add a homey touch and contribute to the happy feeling of the exterior.
Inside, some of my must-haves are my little portable speaker which hooks up to my iPhone and plays my music as loud or as quietly as I am in the mood for. This replaces my iHome which stopped supporting my iPhone about two generations ago.
I also have my cute little red IKEA couch for those times when I just need a break or a place to sit and gestate ideas or a home base to wrap and write up orders during open studio.
My coffee pot is essential. I guess I shouldn't called it a pot anymore now that we have Keuregs. We used to be very anti-Keureg in this family because of the waste of all the little k-cups but my husband relented last Christmas and got me a small one for my studio. I have to say that I absolutely love it and the coffee that it makes is just the best. Aside from McDonald's, I don't think there's anywhere that I get it as piping hot. I keep a small refrigerator in my studio though I'm not sure that it's an essential except for during open studio when I put cheeses and fruit in there to keep from one day to the next. I do also keep some cold beverages like seltzer and beer and soda for studio visitors.
My two other essentials, or maybe I should say three, are my window air conditioner which I absolutely cannot be without in the summer and in the winter I am kept warm with two electric space heaters.
It depends on the temperature whether I need to run both heaters or not, but this winter, given our many days of temperatures below freezing, I had to keep them both running 24/7 to prevent my clay from freezing and rendering it all unusable.
I bought a handy little thermometer which keeps me apprised of such things and therefore is an indispensable studio item. My little wooden figure which stands next to the thermometer, is sometimes helpful when painting people, but he doesn't bend too much so he just hangs around a lot to remind me that I am indeed and artist.
My little "create" sign, a gift from my daughter, serves a similar function, reminding me to get going and do what God intended for me.
Not sure it's essential, but the Frida Kahlo flower head band that I made last Halloween, is fun to have around and wear when I'm throwing or painting because it feels like I am channeling some mystical creative juice from artists like Frida who came before me. Plus, I just like to be silly sometimes.
Lastly, is what I call my "wall of validation". On it hangs ribbons and plaques that I was awarded over the years from various art shows. I keep it there to look at when I am stuck for ideas, when something isn't going right and I am convincing myself that I stink as an artist, or during those lonely times of creating in my solitary space, it reminds me that someone thinks that what I do is OK and maybe I should just keep going :0)
By: Kayleen West - Children's Book Illustrator,
on 10/6/2011
Blog:
Kayleen West
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These arrived in my driveway today. My clever dad built these painting racks to my specs. Now I have a place for all those frames and finished paintings. These 3 units that were much needed as I have had to downsize my storage space. Thanks daddy :-)
I had all this scrap wood left over from making frames and decided
to make a shelf for some of my paints.
Do you like my sander/saw? It totally cracks me up because my grandfather made this from a bunch of leftover parts he had from his machine shop (it's all scraps). My Dad gave it to me about two years ago and I just love it, mostly because my grandfather has passed away and when I use it I think of him. I bet when he was making it he never thought his granddaughter would be using it on a weekly basis.
I decided to give it a white wash so the plain wood would have some kind of color.
Ta-da! My new paint storage shelf. Now I can use my old one for the larger jars.
I took a few pictures of my studio today. It really is a total wreck (but I didn't take any pictures of that). I've been working on some peacocks and it's lots of paper cutting because of the tail feathers.
I have quite a few pieces drying on my "finishing up" table. If you look close you can get a glimpse of the peacock I'm working on. I still have quite a lot of work to do on it...more to come soon.
After a small rearrangement of our flat I've got a new place to paint. Before I used the same desk for painting and doing my computer work but it is not the best combination. But from Sunday I have an own studio room just for the "dirty" part of my job. And this is the view from the room :).
Némi átrendezés következtében nyertem egy teljesen új kis stúdiót a festős munkáimhoz. Ezidáig egy asztalon folyt (néha sajnos szó szerint) a festés és a gépi munka, ami nem egy jó párosítást.
Vasárnap óta viszont van egy teljesen saját műhely-szobám, ahol kifejezetten a koszolós részét végezhetem a feladataimnak. Az alsó kép a kilátás a szobából. :)
My studio shot Tuesday is coming very late today...but better late than never I guess. So this is my printers cabinet I have in my studio. It is by far my all time favorite piece of furniture I own. My parents bought it for me at this wonderful place in Tomball, Texas called Texas Antiques. Shortly after I moved back to Houston my Mom and I ran across this little jewel. I was so excited to find it and the shop owner has lay-a-way so it was a done deal. To my surprise my parents paid it off for me!
The first few drawers have a ton of miscellaneous odds and ends that I don't really use. Just kinda collected over the years. I have a few friends that come and raid my drawers and I don't mind one bit.
I just love it because I can keep all my rubber stamps in it. I do have a few that are just to large to fit but for the most part everything does. What a treasure! Thanks Mom and Dad, you rock!
The art studio that I can suggest anyone who would like to enjoy the different drawing and painting techniques. Többen kérdezték, hogy milyen rajziskolát vagy műtermet ajánlok, én hol tanultam. Most örömmel jelenthetem, hogy megnyílt a Szuterén Studió, ahol Szigeti Tamás és Duliskovich Bazil irányítása alatt élvezheti bárki a különböző rajzi és festő technikákat. Ennél jobbat nem ajánlhatok, náluk tanultam én is, örökké hálás leszek nekik :).
Most pedig, hogy ilyen szuper jól kialakított és berendezett helyszínen folyik az oktatás, újra órákat veszek tőlük.
A modell utáni rajzolás szerintem nagyon fontos, és érdemes időről időre leülni és csinálni - ha közvetlen szükségét nem is érezzük.
By:
crystal driedger,
on 7/15/2008
Blog:
Scribbled Business
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I'm terribly obsessed with mermaids and doodle them on a constant basis. I even completed a plywood painting of one for the art walk last year. Perhaps I'll do one each year until I have 12 and publish a calendar? I know this is quite a horrible photograph but this particular mermaid is on a canvas I'd never dream of scanning... it's just too big! I'll update you on this as I have time to work on it (which these days is less and less).
And alas... here is my favorite studio lamp - bought at a thrift store for $8!
* A side note for those who have been inquiring about this year's artwalk: I decided not to do it this year opting for a holiday with my family.
Holly Black invited Maddy to a screening of The Spiderwick Chronicles last night, and I drove her and her friend Anna-Rose, and went in with them as one of Maddy's "plus two". (I skipped out on seeing Hannah Montana 3D last week when I did chauffeur duty, and sat in the next door Starbucks and wrote The Graveyard Book instead, and it was only when the girls came out that I learned that it had the 3D Coraline teaser before the movie.) Anyway, I really enjoyed TSC, much more than I thought I was going to from the teasers they showed at San Diego, and tried to get Maddy to review it here ("Da-aad. Just say Maddy really liked it.") and then to get Anna Rose to review it here ("Er. Just say that Anna Rose really liked it."). So no review, but Maddy and Anna Rose really liked it.
2 questions that other readers of your blog may be interested in also:
I searched your site, but saw no mention of the upcoming Sandman and Death bookends. I love most of the Sandman statues, and these look really cool, so I will probably pick them up. My question is, is this replacing the large slipcase designed to hold the 4 absolute Sandman volumes that you have mentioned in the past? If the slipcase is still planned, will it be able to contain the individual slipcases as well, or just the books?
On another note, is there any truth to the rumor of an Absolute Death collection to accompany the Sandman volumes?
Thanks for the writing, and for the blog.
-Neil
Dear Neil (good name that, correctly spelled, well done)
I think we decided that a master slipcase to hold four books already each in a slipcase was a bit redundant. (Maybe we can do a master slipcase or two for the ten Sandman Library volumes one day.) So it's just the bookends, which Mark Buckingham designed and which he and the people at DC and the sculptor have been working on for many, many months now. (Click on the photo to see it a bit bigger. Each bookend is over 8 inches tall and over six inches wide)
The DEATH volume won't be an absolute. It'll be oversized, though, in the Deluxe Edition format, and probably be called THE COMPLEAT DEATH because that's what we've been calling it for the last decade.
Dear Neil,
I just found this blog and thought of you:
http://lolthulhu.com/
You probably already know it...I'm just making sure.
Also, while I don't usually like book reviews...when I was in high-school, I knew synesthesia and the Midgard serpent. I also knew Mandelbrot (if only as "that guy who makes math into freaky pictures"). Admittedly, I've always been a little weirder than most people.
Best wishes!
K.I've never posted Lolthulhu, have I? Despite people letting me know about it as long ago as last Hallowe'en. Well, it's up now.
And yes, I wasn't sure about the logic of the "bright high school kids all know celebrity gossip from thirty years ago" line in the review. Some things don't change. The whole point of that line was to show what sorts of things Joey
didn't know. (Shrugs.)
Hey Neil...since you seem to be always open to nifty, original websites, I found one that I think is splindifferously wonderful. This guy takes drawings done by children and recreates them in photographic form. It really goes to show both the photographer's ingenuity, and more importantly, the creativity of children's minds. WONDERFUL site. I hope you like it.
http://www.yeondoojung.com/wonderland.html
Oh, and you totally need one of these. If I had money to spend, I would definitely get you one as a gift. :)
http://www.datamancer.net/keyboards/keyboards.htm
That first website is fascinating. And I really want to sit down at one of those keyboards and find out what it feels to type on them...
Over at
http://outofthiseos.typepad.com/blog/2008/02/a-note-on-audio.htmlmy Harper Collins editor Jennifer's assistant Kate (who is also editing in her own write) talks about the pluses and minuses of audiobooks and driving, from her experiences with
Neverwhere...
Right. On with the day. (I'm doing some overdue introductions right now. Then Chapter 8.)
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Kayleen, thanks for sharing. My parents were big supporters. I continue to love your blog. God is great!