Knuckleball Ned takes the mound.

A new baseball season and a new children’s book….ahhh, spring is here.

The first printed samples of Knuckleball Ned crossed home plate, this week. Knuckleball Ned by R.A. Dickey will take the mound in local bookstores, next month and I’m excited. Thanks to my friends at Dial for putting together a great team and Rubin Pfeffer at RPContent for catching such a great project for me.

I tried to create artwork that was looser than my other books, a bit more splashy, with brighter color and loads of fun. 

I worked on Crescent Premium Watercolor board with acrylic paint. Backgrounds were painted with broad colorful acrylic washes, then the characters were painted with more detail. Finally, the characters' baseball heads were masked and airbrushed to get a little more dimension.

The baseball glove and ball were not part of the package...added for effect. :)

Dickey may be known for his pitching but I think he may have hit this one out of the park. Knuckleball Ned is a sure home run!

Review-

“R.A. Dickey is one of the coolest athletes I’ve ever met.” — George Vecsey, The New York Times

"Dickey, with an assist from Karounos, creates a sweet, sympathetic character and presents an earnest, heartfelt message." - Kirkus Reviews

"The clear, lively writing and nice pacing make this a good addition to the canon of antibullying books that make their point without being message driven. Bowers adds to the fun...his cartoon acrylic paint illustrations effectively capture Ned’s wobbliness and make the pages come alive with motion." - School Library Journal