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

The Book Drop takes Best of Show!

My miniature painting, The Book Drop received the Best of Show award from the Miniature Art Society of Florida and will be included in the 39th Annual International Miniature Art Show. 

Over 800 Works of Fine Art in Painting and Sculptures "In Little" from Around the World.

The Book Drop-3.5"x4.5", acrylic on board. 

Four of my other paintings will also be hanging in the show, which opens next week at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center (1143 Michigan Boulevard, Dunedin, Florida 34698).  The show opening is Sunday, January 19, 2014 (noon till 4:00) and will hang until February 9th.  

http://www.miniature-art.com/show.html

Anyone in the Tampa area should stop by and check out the miniatures. Tiny works... real gems. 

Bowers book in Elf…on a shelf!

My son informed me that one of my books can be seen in the movie: Elf. So we watched the movie, in search of the hidden Bowers book. FOUND IT!! 

There, in the publisher’s office, on a shelf was a copy of a book that I had illustrated in 1993. It was a flat fee project that I received from artist agent, Suzanne Cruise. I had a great time, working with Suzanne for a few years, illustrating a gazillion greeting cards and some small book projects. It was a quick job and I don’t list it with my other books but there it was, next to James Caan.  It’s a really funny movie and now, I have another reason to like the film. 

Elf, starring Will Ferrell…and a Bowers book!

Bowers art is downsizing...

I've recently taken an interested in miniature painting. It's challenging to paint in such a small format but the history, techniques and community associated with painting "in little" has been extremely interesting and fun.

The Book Drop, size- 3.5"x 4.5"

This is my first painting. It was painted in acrylic on Bristol board. The superimposed penny was added to give the viewer a sense of scale. Much of the painting was done under a magnifying glass, which is how gallery patrons are encouraged to view the original artwork. The paint brushes that I used, vary in size but most often, a size 000 or smaller was used. I've painted small images in the past (many 5"X7" paintings for Hallmark) but this takes "small" to a different level.

Fiddlewolf, size-3"x5"

Guidelines have been established for the creation of miniature paintings, as follows:

-Minute in scale vs. life-sized. For practicality following the general 1/6th scale for my work sent to formal miniature exhibitions and shows. 

-Delicate and painstaking technique that withstands magnification. 

-Small in format and size. 25 inches or less for surface area. 

-High in quality. The work should exemplify Fine Art ~ demonstrating a mastery of composition, color, values etc.

For more information about miniature painting, visit:
http://www.art-in-miniature.org/ 

Plein Air Bear, size-5"x4"

This will be an adventure...a very "small" adventure.  And as Jim, a fellow miniature artist says, "let's paint!"

Bowers pitches newest book...

Knuckleball Ned cover 

This pitch won’t cross the plate until next year but my newest title, Knuckleball Ned by R.A. Dickey will be published in 2014 (Dial).

R. A. Dickey is a starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2012, he became the first knuckleball pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. This was a fun book to work on, R.A. Dickey is a very decent guy (very good with a baseball and a story) so this should be a home run, early next year. I can't wait!

I’m only showing a few images, now… more to come in early 2014.

Knuckleball Ned character sketches

This is where we started. First, the main characters in the story were developed as pencil sketches. 

Then I plug them into the story.  The final artwork was created with acrylic paint (washes) and a little air-brush work on the character's heads to get that baseball roundness.

So, even though R.A. didn't make the playoffs, this year...he's got a real winner hitting the shelves, early next year! 

FROM THE DESK OF TIM BOWERS

No, really… it’s my desk.  I’ve had this desk since I was a boy, growing up in Troy, Ohio.  I was a very average student with a very below average attention span.  My grades forced Mom and Dad to set a “study time” for me in the evening, after school.  I think the idea was good but even seated at the “study” desk, my mind wandered.

One night, my thoughts must have wandered from my school work to my wood burning set.  You can guess what happened, next.  The study desk became my new wood burning project.  I only got as far as my initials in the corner…the burning wood smell must have tipped off my parents and that was the end of the new project.

I’m not sure what happened to the wood burning set but my grades stayed in the average to below average range…. except for art class.

Here’s an early example of my drawing. This says it all. I’m thinking of ideas (obviously…there’s a light bulb above my head!).  Notice, that I’m sitting on a chair without a desk… not sure why.

Well, back to the drawing board.             Hey, there’s my new wood-burning set. 

The Bowers Half-Time Report

I'm watching some football on this rainy Saturday afternoon and it's half-time, so...
I thought that I'd post a football image. Makes sense, right?

The Blitz

Back in the 1980's, while working for Hallmark (Kansas City), a group of us traveled to the University of Kansas to hear a presentation by the art director from Sports Illustrated. The SI art assignments were amazing. I remember a story about an artist that was sent to some remote island to cover some kind of a canoe race...or something. Sports Illustrated sent artists all over the world to create sport images for the magazine. It was very inspiring, so I returned to Kansas City to created a sport themed portfolio but I only finished the first piece of artwork. This was it.

The world of editorial illustration has changed over the years...I don't think those round-the-world trips are as common as they used to be. Especially for the artists. Well, half time is over so I'm headin' back to the T.V.

GO TEAM!