Dragon spotted in British Columbia

I just received a beautiful  BC Book Prize certificate from Canadian author, Dan Bar-el.

Front cover.

Dan wrote Not Your Typical Dragon, which I illustrated for Viking Books.  Our title was one of five "outstanding illustrated works for children", selected as a finalist for the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize. 

Sketch for back cover of book.

Thanks to Dan Bar-el for a great story, Viking for bringing it to readers and the BC Book Prize judges for selecting Not Your Typical Dragon for this award.

Sleeping Bears, Ninjas and Bowers, oh my!

I just returned from a book signing at the IRA 59th Annual Conference in New Orleans. Many thanks to my friends at Sleeping Bear Press. Amy and Audrie were in high gear to pull everything together during the show. 

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I finally met author, Denise Brennan-Nelson, who joined me to sign Maestro Stu Saves the Zoo. Denise is very funny and overflowing with great story ideas. I hope we connect on another book project in the future.

Before my book signing, I went undercover into the Scholastic Book area and managed to meet two of my Ninja brothers, Dav Pilkey and Dan Santat. Its pretty obvious that Dav and Dan have had more experience in Ninja action posing...I'll have to ask them for a few pointers. 

The flight home was a bumpy ride. Storms were popping up all over but above the clouds was a beautiful place to be. I  shot a few pics of the amazing clouds, escorting us back to Ohio.

A few rare Bowers selfies.

Here is the latest children’s book project. I can’t say much about it but I will say that it involves a few elfies. I’ll explain, later.

You might guess the subject by the artwork, seen in my elfies….er, I mean selfies.

Let me be the very first to wish you a Merry Christmas, 2014.

More project updates, to come...

Ho-ho-ho…from the stu-di-o!

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!"