Itsy Bitsy Catalog

Last week I received my copy of the Ideals Publications Books Spring 2009 catalog.
See below.



The thing that excited me was that I opened the cover above and on the first page was this...



That's the cover of the book I illustrated for them!
So my post for "Contain" this week is the above, because I just can't contain my excitement.

I didn't get my submission for last weeks "Resolve" done until Sunday.
So here it is...



Mr. Holmes and the Dr. are trying to resolve a mystery.

An Itsy Bitsy Bit more

These are 2 more interior images from "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."
It will be published by Ideals Books. I'm not sure of the release date yet.




Illustrated by Robert Snyder www.robertsnyderillustrates.com

LGLP2

Letterhead ideas -
If you click on the image below it will change to a bigger image.




Banner ideas -
If you click on the image below it will change to a bigger image.

Logo

IF - POOF

It's almost impossible not to think of magic when you see or hear the word Poof.
So I started thinking about ways to do it without a rabbit and a hat.
For some unexplainable reason the Immaculate Conception came to mind.
Magically making a woman pregnant is a pretty good poof moment, I think.
My experience in coming up with titles for giftware figurines has led me to the practice of substituting one word for another that kind of sounds the same.
So I swapped out Conception with Confection and all of a sudden I had a woman who's belly had to turn into food.
I had to look up what a confection was in a cook book, because I wasn't sure what one was exactly. I knew it was some kind of dessert, but what kind?
The book had a recipe for some fancy strawberries. My mind automatically saw the stem as an "outie" so I had my idea and the drawing below is the result....

My new book job

The Itsy Bitsy Spider opening spread.



I have been contracted to illustrate a children's musical board book for Ideals Publishing.
This is my second book for them. We are putting our spin on the "story" of the song.

I have had an idea for a picture book of the "real life" of the Itsy Bitsy Spider for several years.
I got the chance to work a couple of ideas intto this book.
If I can find the time and talent to write the story the way I want, I'll someday illustrate the story the way I want to.
Until then getting to illustrate him for Ideals is a good scratch to the itch.

I even managed to get one of my Friends/clients into the art as the Father spider you see above.

IF - Canned

I did my usual, word association exercise to come up with an idea for this weeks word, but I still ended up with a can.
It was hard to avoid on this one. So instead of something in a can, I decided to do the can as a character.
Of course, there's still something in the can. Pre recorded radio.

IF-Garden Inked

This is an example of how I work when I do traditional art.
This image was done for The IF site where the word of the week was "Garden."

The rough.



The tight line art.



The inked art.



The marker study.



The final painted art. Watercolor with ink outlines on watercolor paper

Wonder for Picture Bookies site.

The "Picture Bookies" site is the same as the IF site.
They give you a word. You draw a picture.
The word this week is "Wonder."
This is a marker study.

IF - Leap

Well, it's been a while since I was able to do anything for IF, but I felt the need to take a leap and restart my submissions.
I went through several ideas for this one, from the obvious frog leaping to a group of animals sitting around a tree stump looking at what's left of a squirrell who forgot to look before he leaped. I still might get back to that one and change the squirrell to an object that is fascinating them.
This image came from one of those moments when you stop thinking and an idea just pops into your head.
What animal is least likely to leap? An elephant. Why would he leap? Mouse. Why would the mouse want him to leap? Well, so he can have some shade of course and still get a breeze once in a while.

Pie art

IF-Captain

This is Crunchy, the pickeled Pirate captain. He has just found the long lost treasure of Pickeled Pete the scourge of the Kosher Seas.



If you color him up and send a pic / jpeg, tiff,png / of him to me, I'll reward you with a pic of a new pickled pirate.

My e-mail is what2wnt@jorsm.com

If you do a really good job I'll mail you the original drawing of your new pirate.

My first real book

This is the first book that I've illustrated that gives me credit on the front cover!
It comes out soon for Christmas '07.

IF-Moon

This was a quick experiment with illustrating with sculpey.
The background is painted (acrylic) illustration board.
The scarecrow and moon are white sculpey that was painted with acrylics also.

IF - Poem

This idea for a poem that has been rattling around in my head for awhile.
I liked the word play of kneaded and needed.
So being an artist old enough to know the joy of stretching those erasers I naturally used it as my subject.
I do still have a few sitting in a drawer waiting to be used.

If you can't read the poem when you click on the image and open it up bigger you can read it here.

The UnKneaded Eraser
A poem for artists who remember

The kneaded eraser sits alone on my shelf,
off to the side, alone, by itself.

wrapped in clear plastic, stamped with green ink,
it sits there unkneaded in it's rectangular shape.

Collecting dust and waiting for use.
the kind it would get from artistic abuse.

Pulled, and stretched, and shaped into forms,
people and animals and shapes I can't mention.

In the past I used them quite a lot, it's true
But, today I have a Mac in my lap, and a desktop too.

So the kneaded eraser sits alone on my shelf,
unkneaded, unused, and unsealed.

But today I have a yearning, a wanting, a burning desire
to make some thing with shape, and volume, and form.

So I take the unkneaded eraser down from it's place,
and spend hours and hours with a smile on my face.

Making monkeys, and lions, and something I still can't mention
Out of this wonderful eraser that's unkneaded no more.

Hide

This topic came up just at the right time for me.
I just finished illustrating my first "Illustrated By" book.
I've illustrated others, just didn't get credit for it.
I did 12 double page spreads and the cover in less than 2 months.
I'm guessing it will be out this Christmas season '07.
They didn't tell me the publishing date.
It will be published by Ideals or Candy Cane Press.
It will be one of those books that play music when you open it.

It fits this weeks topic because there is a little mouse hiding in each spread.
Now this book is for kids between 3 and 9 years old so don't be too proud if you find him real easily.

IF-Red

Here he is "The Red Eye"
And another idea...

A devil may care match.

IF-Super Hero

I knew that it would be hard not to draw a super hero for this weeks topic.
Since I already drew the XMen for the Phoenix topic a couple of weeks back, I decided to draw a super hero character that we created on a recent trip to Virginia.
On nights when we would stay at a hotel I would put the two boys to bed with a story of "Super Baby Emma"
She was of course based on their then 6 month old sister who thought it was great fun to be held up and fly around as I used her to tell the story. She was featured in stories like, "Diaper Delimma", The Binky Burgalar", and "Poo Poo to you."

This image show's her being held up to fly and what she might be imagining.
I believe I'll color it with markers and colored pencils, but I don't know if I'll have time to this week.

IF - The 80's

I know this isn'tt exactly what the subject was supposed to inspire me to draw, but my brain doesn't seem to function like most others.
This image shows what kids here in the Mid West like to do when the tempurature reaches "The 80's". degrees that is.
This rough image was concieved and finished in less than an hour because today is Thursday, and because the paper was cut wrong for a book illustration job that I am just starting.
I just wanted to see if the marker was going to bleed on the paper - it did slightly- and how it would take the colored pencil.

I had originally planned on drawing an 80's band who's members are all in their 80's, or what life would be like when I reach my 80's in the year 2050 or so.

IF - Buzz

Well, I went for the obvious bug theme this time, but I did put a twist on it.
You're looking at Buzzster McBeef and two members of his Buzz Bombers Gang. The Spanish Fly Bros.
They are carrying future members of the gang.
Buzzster is kind of inspired by Paul Sr. from American Choppers.
The Spanish Flys are inspired by ads in those magazines my Dad seemed to lose in the most curious places. I did my best to find them all for him. Though he didn't seem to pleased when I announced to everyone in the room that I had found another one as I returned it to him.