Another Boy

Pencil studies

These are warm-up sketches for a picture book I'm working on now. I'm trying to capture a certain boy-ness.

Pastel Fatale

Sketching with a Faber-Castell pastel stick and Conte Pierre Noire pencil just to shake things up.

There's a new interview up on the cool Bildungsroman blog wherein I list 10 favorite books. I'm not very good at coming up with those sorts of things so I cheat at the end. But they're all good books and I stand by 'em.

"Hfuhruhurr. It's spelled just as it sounds."

Ever wonder how to pronounce Scieszka or Krosoczka or... Phelan? No? Oh. Well, if you did wonder, you could check out the Teaching Books site to hear various folks pronounce their own names and give a succinct linguistic history of said surname. Mr. Rex is even up there (who knew the R and X were silent?).

In other news, I'll be signing Storm in the Barn at the Borders in Wynnewood, PA on Saturday 10/17 at 2 pm. Stop by and tell me how to pronounce your name.

A Little Experiment

I've recently picked up a high-end printer (Epson R1900) that can print on large sheets of watercolor paper. I'm thinking of using it as a way to work directly from my sketches. So for this experiment, I sketched this girl in my sketchbook...



Then I enlarged it, printed it onto watercolor paper and painted it. (click on the picture to see it larger).



It has possibilities. More tests are needed.

Trains & Moleskines

A big thanks to all who turned up for the signings at Children's Book World and Books of Wonder! I had a fantastic time. Zipping to and fro NYC on Amtrak is a good opportunity to crack open the ol' moleskine. I realize that this sketch blog has been light on sketches for awhile and I intend to remedy that. There's lots to be drawn in the next year and I need to loosen up a bit.

Of course, I will continue to mention various bits of Storm in the Barn news. The latest? A fourth starred review is on the way, this time courtesy of The Horn Book. And here's a new review from the internet via Graphic Novel Reporter!

Books of Wonder on Sunday!

Hey, New Yorkers! I'll be at the great Books of Wonder on Sunday 10/11 from 1-3 pm.

I'll be one of eight, count 'em eight, authors signing books. The line-up includes: Richard Peck, Ann M. Martin, Lauren Myracle, Michael D. Beil, Gitty Daneshavri, Peter Howe, and Nova Ren Suma. Whew.

They also have an in-store cupcake cafe to sweeten the deal. Hope to see you there.

Children's Book World on Saturday!

I'll be at my home base bookstore, the great Children's Book World this Saturday at 11 am!! CBW is celebrating 20 years of being one of the best indie children's book stores in the world. Come by and say hello!

I'll be signing along with my pal Gene Baretta who will be there with his new book, Neo Leo! Because Gene is an even bigger Wyeth fan than I am, I've posted one of the reference photos that I took for Storm in the Barn. You know Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World? (of course you do). Well, this is the barn from that farm. Yep.

Thanks, NAIBA!

I had a great time at the NAIBA conference this past weekend where I met many, many great indie booksellers, applauded Peter Brown as he accepted a much-deserved award for The Curious Garden, and got to meet and hang out with Michelle Knudsen, author of one of my favorite picture books, The Library Lion, and now a novelist with The Dragon of Trelian! If you haven't seen these books, you really oughta.

Event-a-Rama!

Just a quick reminder that I'll be at the New York Public Library's Children's Literary Cafe on Saturday at 4 pm with Jarrett Krosoczka and Geoffrey Hayes!!

For the full skinny, go to our fearless moderator Betsy Bird's official announcement!

I'll be back in NYC next Sunday at Books of Wonder (more on that later).

And if you are attending the NAIBA conference in Baltimore on Sunday, I'll be signing on the exhibit floor at 6:30 at the Chesapeake & Hudson booth. And later that night, I'll be one of the Bedtime Stories author at 10:30 pm.

If you go, make sure you stop and say howdy!

This is just awesome.

100 Scope Notes has posted a Toon review of Storm in the Barn. I think every review should in some way include a Sasquatch from now on. Go read the rest of it HERE!

Upcoming Events and a Review!

Howdy, folks! I have a busy weekend coming up and hopefully I'll see some of you at one of these events.

On Saturday (10/3), I'll be at the New York Public Library to take part in Elizabeth Bird's monthly series of literary salon-esque discussions. This month's topic is Children's Book Illustrators Who Are Now Dabbling Also In The World of Comics And Graphic Novels (or something to that effect). Also on hand will be my pal Jarrett Krosoczka (Lunch Lady!) and Geoffrey Hayes (Benny and Penny!). The fun starts at 4 pm sharp.

On Sunday (10/4), I'll be in Baltimore for the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) conference. I'll be signing Storm in the Barn at 6:30 pm in the exhibit hall and then taking part in the Bedtime Stories event at 10:30 pm (prior to that, there's a fair to middling chance I'll be found at the Noir Bar...).

And lastly, I'd like to point you over to the great site Comic Book Resources for a review from the always entertaining Comics Should Be Good blog!

And lastly lastly, the above sketch was a discarded cover concept. Close but no cigar.

The Seven Imp Interview! Coffee! Pictures!

I'm pleased as punch to point you over to the great Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog for a breakfast-themed, detail-heavy, picture-riffic, interview with yours truly. Make sure you check out her interview archives... essential reading.

SEVEN IMP!

Book Signing!

If you are in the Greater Philadelphia area tomorrow, I'll be signing Storm in the Barn at the Borders in Bryn Mawr, PA at 11 am (take an early lunch perhaps?). Fun Fact: 15 years ago, I got a bookseller job at this very store. So if you need to know where poetry is shelved or the location of the coffee bar, I'm your guy.

The sketch above is not in Storm (I don't want to post ALL of the pictures). He's just an ink and wash doodle. Let's call him Reg.

New Website and Facebook Presence (More or Less)

I've redesigned my website with a new Storm in the Barn section. It's still a work in progress and I'll be expanding it soon with some behind the scenes stuff, but it's up and running.

Also, I've sort of plunged into Facebook land. There's not much there yet (still trying to figure it out) but if you are so inclined, stop by and say hello.

FORECAST FOR TODAY: STORM!

My first graphic novel THE STORM IN THE BARN is now officially available! It is a strange but good-strange feeling. I was looking through some photos and found this one of my studio from sometime last year. Pages from Storm are scattered about waiting for paint... general chaos and messiness about... I see some sketches for Jargo! that should have been filed away by this point... and a Hellboy book that I was re-reading for basic inspiration.

A year and a half later, all of the chaos has been transformed into a real live book. I put everything I have into this one and I hope you like it.

Fuse Reviews

There's a thorough, thoughtful review of The Storm in the Barn over at Fuse #8. She doesn't really write reviews that aren't thorough and thoughtful, so check out the review archive once you're there.

In other review news, Storm has now round up three starred reviews: Booklist ("Phelan turns every panel of this little masterpiece into a spare and melancholy window into another era..."), Kirkus ("This is not to be missed."), and School Library Journal ("A complex but accessible and fascinating book.").

Three more weeks until publication!

Booklist Review of the Day!

I just found out that Booklist's starred review for Storm in the Barn is the Review of the Day on their site!

You can read it (for free) HERE!

Quick Ape Sketch and Links!

Boys like gorillas. Boys like reading. And here are two great sites that think boys might also like The Storm In The Barn (spoiler warning: there are no gorillas in the book):

BOYS READ

GUYS LIT WIRE

Swimmin' circa 1908

I'm gearing up for another jam-packed year of drawing (a picture book, the final Lucky novel, and a second graphic novel, among other projects). To loosen up, I've been trying to do some sketches and paintings using materials that I haven't used before or haven't used for awhile. This was very loosely drawn on Fabriano hot press paper with a pencil then finished with ink (Hunt 102 nib and Liquid Acrylic ink) with an ink wash and some watercolor.