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!

WARNING: BEWARE OF PUMPKINS.

It's that time of year when we plan a trip to the local pumpkin patch. That reminded me of an illustration, done in 2009 for Clubhouse Jr. magazine. Here is the rough idea sketch, the final sketch and the final oil painting from that assignment.

rough idea sketch

final pencil sketch

finished oil painting

So, if you are thinking of picking up a pumpkin, be very careful....says a certain little chipmunk.

...back to the drawing board.

Let it Snow, Dog!

Today is the day that Snow Dog, Go Dog by Deborah Heiligman, hits the shelves. A very cool story with a very warm ending.

Published by Two Lions/Amazon Children's Publishing.

Tuesday Blues...

The new 2013 Hot Licks Bluesfest poster is finished and on it's way to the printer.

2013 Hot Licks Bluesfest poster

I painted this one in acrylic (again) and wanted it to compliment a previous illustration, done for an earlier Bluesfest poster. You can see that piece of art in the photo, on my easel. The main band for the night is Ruthie Foster. I used photos of Ruthie to inspire the design but I didn't want to create a portrait. I picked up on the dreadlocks, facial expression and style of guitar and used those in the artwork but didn't try to make an exact likeness of Ruthie Foster. I do that on every poster. Last year, my inspiration was Sean Carney...and so on.

I can't wait until September 7th, when the blues blows into Granville, Ohio. It's a great night of music.

I can hear it from my house but it's better when you are with hundreds of other blues fans, in the heart of the village. My folding chair is packed and waiting.

...I'll save you a spot.

Back to School fun!

Today was the first day of school for a lot of kids in the area so I decided to post a few wacky sketch book drawings (with a bit of photoshop tweaking) to celebrate.

the Mad Science Teacher

One sketch has a science theme (not much like the classes I remember) and the other...well, it's a super hero...not really school related. I spent way too much class time, daydreaming.

Squirrel Man

So, Squirrel Man is like some daydream that I might have had during math class (and you wonder why I went to art school?).

These are very different from my other illustrations...just havin' fun!
...back to the drawing board.