The Next Big Thing: A Global Book Tour

The wonderfully talented Eliza Wheeler asked me the other day if I wanted to participate in a Global Book Tour. She told me it was something being passed around amongst authors and/or illustrators to promote upcoming books.

I figured with 123 versus ABC coming out in a couple months that would be an excellent idea. That and my blog's been painfully patient this year. SO here it goes:

1) What is the working title of your next book?
123 versus ABC is the title of my book which will be out June 25th from HarperCollins.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?
The idea came to me after a discussion about adding a "learning how to count" section at the end of an ABC educational book I had just organized for a charity. I didn't think it was a good idea for a number of reasons, one being that there were two themes to the book then and they would compete.

Almost as soon as I thought it, I had the idea for a book where these two main themes argue as to who the book is really about. About 1 hour later I had written my first draft.

3) What genre does your book fall under?
Picturebook

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a
movie rendition?
Colin Firth would make a pretty good Number 1 - as he can be quite funny while being proper and orderly - as numbers are. Letter A would have to be someone who is very comfortable with who they are and a bit proud of it too - maybe Seth Rogan.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
After they both show up on the same page, letters and numbers both argue as to who the book is or should be really about.

6) Who is publishing your book?
The amazing folks at HarperCollins

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Well, it's definitely not the normal way it happens for me. But as I said in #2, the first draft probably took me less than an hour. It happened so fast I had to google the idea to make sure I wasn't just remembering it from somewhere else.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I suppose you could compare to other books such as Melanie Watt's Chester book series for story style, as the characters interact directly with the readers and viewers in a funny sort of way.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Besides what I've already said before in 2), I suppose the Bills, as I call them, are a constant inspiration. Bill Watterson and Bill Peet have had a huge impression on me wanting to tell stories (and funny/strange ones at that) as long as I can remember.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
 Learning numbers and letters is the obvious, but perhaps THIS will do some pique'ing for readers:

I would like to thank Eliza Wheeler again for inviting me to participate on this global blog book tour. If you have half a sec, go check out her work and especially her newest book: Miss. Maple's Seeds.

Now I will tag the talented Renée Kurilla who has illustrated a new graphic novel called SPF 40 that will soon be coming out here:

And of course I have to also tag my good friend James Burks who illustrated the upcoming MONSTORE which looks amazing.

Look to both of these blogs NEXT WEEK as this Global Blog Tour continues!

Thanks,
-Mike

Happy 2013!!!

Hello and Happy New Year to everyone. As you can tell already it wasn't my New Years Resolution to blog every day haha. I'm here blogging today because I am quite excited about 2013. As of January 1st the first book I've illustrated for a major publisher (Scholastic Canada) has been officially launched and is available. Helaine Becker wrote just a hilarious story which at this time last year was keeping me up very late every day so I could meet the deadline. Little Jack Horner Live from the Corner is now out!!! If you want to learn more you can see the book trailer I made a short time ago by clicking here.

Also 2013 will see my FIRST published book that I wrote and illustrated be released around June or July (supposed to be Fall 2013), but I'll be filling you all in with more as I find out. 123 versus ABC (published by HarperCollins) has already been spotted and right now I'm wrapping up it's (secret) sequel!

2012 was a wonderful year, and I am extremely grateful for all the opportunities and jobs/projects that I was able to work on. Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the past year. You have no idea what it means to me.

Best wishes,

-Mike Boldt

Sir Munch Revisited

A while back when my super agent Jen Rofé and myself first started to work together, she asked for a few B&W pieces that could potentially be used for Chapter book stuff. So of course I did a few sketches. One of which was a random creation of a mouse character that I liked and immediately filed in my imaginary "to use" bank.

So now, a few years later, Jen as asked me for a B&W piece again for a postcard and I thought it was time to bring out Sir Munch again.

Just doing these few sketches is amazing how a character can create it's own story in my mind. I'm looking forward to seeing what become of this adventurous mouse.

Take care,

-Mike

Little Jack Horner TRAILER

Books have trailers these days and I've been excited to make a trailer for Little Jack Horner Live from the Corner for a while. So here is what I did to help spread the word about this hilarious and fun book!

I hope to be able to show a bit of a behind the scenes on this book soon too.

Take care!

-Mike

First Sighting for Jack Horner

A friend just informed me that she saw Little Jack Horner Live from the Corner in her son's most recent Scholastic Book Club order form. That's real exciting news and makes the wait until the actual release date in January that much closer. How do I know it's release date is in January? Oh maybe because I ALSO just received Scholastic Canada's Spring 2013 Catalog and it had THIS in it:

This book is the FIRST book I've illustrated for a big publisher so it's rather special to me. You'll be hearing a lot more about this funny book that Helaine Becker wrote in the future, so I'll leave it at that for now.

I think this is enough exciting news for one day. So my other news will have to wait until my next randomly placed blog post.

Take care!

-Mike

Wiggling Bear Bum

Busy with projects so this is pretty much just as the title suggests (which may or may not be for a new book I'm may or may not be working on): A wiggling Bear (not bare) bum.

-Mike

New Website

So as you may have noticed things are a bit different looking around here. My old Word Press site was suffering. Countless updates and glitches along with what I now recognize as a very poorly chosen domain name (didn't really roll off the tongue) had me not only not wanting to post on it, but I was avoiding it all together.

Enough was enough. boldtmanstudios.com will still guide all my regular users here, but my new domain is simple me: mikeboldt.ca . I signed up with SquareSpace and that was that.

Over the past number of months I've been fairly busy traveling to a few different conventions and working on projects that I'm not allowed to talk about yet. My summery of SDCC and the Toronto Fan Expo was this: FUN. I'm not posting any pics up, because this post is already longer than I wanted, BUT I can tell you I will be posting more regularly again.

On that note, I'll leave you with this piece I did today. It's a concept I'm developing right now for a picture book.

Take care!

-Mike

UPDATE: Below is the process for the above image from sketch to final. Enjoy!

Illustration Friday: Swamp

It's been far to long since I've done anything for myself (or had the time) and even longer since I've participated in the wonderful practice of Illustration Friday! So very quickly, here is my piece for this weeks "Swamp"

AAAAAAAAnnnd, here is a video of the process of me creating it from start to finish!

Thanks for sticking around. I'll be updating what I've been working on for the last 4 months soon. I can't say much yet, but it's 2 picture books!!!

Take care,

-Mike

Process for a (very) Short Story

Swamped.  That's how I'm defining my last 2 months, and from the looks of things, I'll be doing the same until at least March.  I've just recently wrapped up the Alberta Winter Games comic (so expect a post on that...well at some point), and I'm now working on a couple picture books, one of which I've also written. A few months ago, I was contacted by Chirp Magazine and asked if I could write and illustrate a short story for their Neighbours issue (for this November).  Of course I agreed.  I've always loved Owl magazines and Chirp is actually something my kids already had a subscription to and just love!  It was pretty wide open for me as far as the story went.  They basically just asked for a rural themed neighbourhood/community short (they had seen my Gophers in Farmer Burrows' Field book).  That was right up my alley.

So I started brainstorming.  Immediately I came to the idea of Chickens.  I don't know why, but birds strike me as very community orientated creatures, and I think that friends of ours recently started raising them probably had an influence on me.

After knocking a few ideas around, I started thinking about how many birds migrate, and chickens don't.  I asked "why don't they?", and right then had my story.  It was called, The Great Chicken Migration (or why chickens no longer migrate).  Basically a tale of the grass always being greener on the other side, until you realize that the reason it's so green is because of all the "manure" that had been used to make it so...

Anyway, after the editor at Chirp (who was great to work with) agreed and we figured out the final story and script, it was the art work time.  (I'd show you the text process if there was actually something to show).  As with all my work, my roughs are pretty rough.  I just scribble basic positions that I want.  Because I only had a total of 4 pages (two spreads) to work with I knew this would be tricky.  I wanted to do a nice splash page for the first one, and then spots for the rest that the text could flow around.

I send those off to see if I'm close to what they think would work and thankfully they had great vision and understood my scribbles.  Next I do more polished pencil work (which is still digital I may add - it's just faster), and then I do the final colors.  Here are a couple examples of the first two pages from roughs to final:

So because November's issue is now out, Chirp also did a fun little interview with me on their blog, you can see it by clicking here.

The whole experience was great, plus it's always cool when your son and daughter can see what you do when it makes it to the "real world"!

Take care,

-Mike

Happy Book Birthday Farmer Burrows!

I can't believe it's already been two years since my first book, The Gophers in Farmer Burrows' Field came out!  It has been such an amazing experience.  For some reason, the first year of the book just blew past me and after I looked back at the fact that I missed celebrating the book turning one, I made a mental note I would not forget again (or at least try not to).

Why worry about a book birthday?  Though I've been drawing professionally for about 12 years now, I sort of mark the start of my journey into the picture book world from this book.  I remember the moment I carried all these boxes into my home, opened them up and held the first copy in my hands.  It was a very exciting and proud moment in my life.  And yet it was not very long afterwards when I realized it's not about me.

It's about the kids.

This book has brought me into a number of schools over the past 2 years.  Minutes into my first presentation I got it.  As an author and illustrator I want more than anything, to inspire creativity and imagination in these kids.  I don't know who said it (as I'm sure someone did), but two quotes I often write in the front of books I sign are: "Run after your dreams" and "Your life is a book worth reading".  I truly believe in these quotes.  I would not be doing this as a career if my own parents had not encouraged me the way they did to chase my own dreams in life.  Every child out there has a story to tell with their life, and each one is worth "reading".  I also see it in my own children.  As a father of 3, my wife and I enjoy seeing our kids growing up, developing their personalities and abilities that make them unique.  Children are the future and I want to do my best to make them laugh, dream, think, be inspired, and enjoy being a kid, the same way books did that for me.

This is my copy of The Gophers in Farmer Burrows' Field.  It has a rather embarrassing drawing I did in it, but as soon as I wrote that first school visit in it, I knew this copy had to be the one I brought with me to every school.  It's getting pretty beat up, but it's special to me and I love opening it up, reading it to the kids, and writing another school's name in it.

***

To celebrate this Farmer Burrows Day I want to make a special offer.  Until the end of the month, for every copy of The Gophers in Farmer Burrows' Field that sells, I would LOVE to DONATE a free copy to a school of the buyers choice.  I know there are a few people who already have a copy of my book, and so if they want to still celebrate this, I will donate a free copy of the book to a school for ANY and EVERY item that is sold in my store until the end of the month! (the book is available elsewhere, but I can only track sales on my own store to do this unfortunately.  So send me a little message with your purchase with the school's info and I'll make sure it gets there!

Also, The Gophers in Farmer Burrows' Field is at a 25% OFF discounted price for the remainder of the month!

You can visit my store here: http://mikeboldt.storenvy.com/

Spread the word!

Happy 2nd Book Birthday Farmer Burrows!

-Mike

Alberta Winter Games

Hey everyone!  I was at a fantastic launch party over the weekend for the 2012 Alberta Winter Games!  We were treated to a music by the talented The Bird Sang Song, as well as Juno nominated John Wort Hannam, who was not only hilarious and a great performer, but also wrote the theme song to the games!  I was invited to this VIP party/concert because I've been asked to write and illustrate a limited edition comic for it!  It will highlight each of the events of the games as well as give a little info and history where I can fit it in.  It's going to feature three characters, one of which is Kona, the official mascot of the games. I'll admit it was harder to write than I thought it was going to be, but I'm happy with the result and now I am busy finishing all the artwork.  I'm going to be sharing a number of the pages over the next few months before the games launch in February, as well as some process stuff.  So stay tuned for more!

Here is page 1:

Take care everyone!

-Mike

I got chased by an AT-ST

Hey-Low everyone!  Well I've just recently returned from what is probably my last con for the year at the Toronto Fan Expo (or Fan Expo Canada).  What an amazing event!  The Fan Expo team really knocked it out of the park, in fact 99% of the people I talked to said it was way better from the year before, and it really was.  I sold all the Gophers in Farmer Burrows' Field Books that I brought, and sold OUT of my new sketchbook, The Good, the Bad and the Sketchbook Vol.2 as well as a number of my prints! This year I split an end table with my super talented friend Keith Grachow!  Keith was selling his classic monster poster prints like hotcakes all weekend long.  I was even fortunate enough to snag a Creature from the Black Lagoon print!  Go check his stuff out!

I will probably do a follow up post showing all the super awesome swag I picked up from awesomely talented artists, but here's the quick shout out to my pals Darren Rawlings, Marc Wolfe, Braden Poirier, Chris and Marv, Graham Moogk-Soulis, Caanan Grall, Justin Currie, Karly Macdonald and Meghan, and the S'up Cuz T-shirt fellas.  Was awesome.  Darren Rawlings "the Little Ninja Fact Book" has not left my side either...

I had such a great time and not only did I meet a pile of new amazing artists and fans, but I was blown away by how many people from last years con came and sought me out.  My fan's are truly incredible.  Thank you to everyone who made it such a great weekend.  Here is a brief summery in photo form:

1.  In this giant's shadow is where I spent most of my days while at the con.  Next year I'll get the dinner at the top methinks!

2.  My pal Keith running from what I can only guess is Vader about to bust through the door.

3.  AT-ST chasing me!

4.  Working on my sales pitch.  I need more grease for my hair, and some chest hair...

5.  Some of the commission sketches I did over the weekend - did my first Totoro, Final Fintasy character, Cloak and Dagger, boy as a samurai and...well pretty much the only one I've ever done before was Spidey.

6.  And of course, the amazing costumes were everywhere.  DJ Trooper, Steam Punk Buzz (with pop-out wings action!!!), and my favorite, Mario riding Yoshi.

Take care everyone.

-Mike

The Way Back

I'm back after what feels like a very long time that has passed all too quickly (and it has!). Where has the summer gone? Well, my summer has gone in this order. Deadlines. Convention. Deadlines. Convention. To little time to finish any project. Conference. And as I just finished a deadline for a project, of course a new Convention approaches....so anyways here is a brief summary:

San Diego Comic Con took place in July and for the 3rd year in a row, I went. It was of course, a visual onslaught of the entertainment monster, and a lot of fun. It may be my last year attending unless I can get a booth though. Hanging out with great friends was actually my highlight. I picked up a number of really great books too. Cory Godbey has become a really great friend and he set me up with his "Hidden People" book. A MUST, if you like to enjoy what your eyes see.  Go buy it NOW.

I was also able to briefly hang out with the my pal, Jake Parker, who gave me an advanced "viewing" of his new picture book that he illustrated AWESOME MAN!  It was awesome.  My picture book pals James Burks, Kyle Neswald and Dan Santat were also there in fine form as well as the Houghton Bros Shane and Chris of REED GUNTHER fame.  Also was able to hang out with DJ Welch, Mike Henry and his wife Laura (and a number other friends and groupies of Zatransis).

The next thing on my visit list was the SCBWI LA conference.  In case you don't know, SCBWI stands for The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.  It was the the 40th anniversary and my first time!  It was spectacular.  The keynotes were amazing and I learned so much from the sessions.  More than all of that I came to truly appreciate the opportunities that have been placed before me.  I really love what I do.  One of the real bonus's was meeting all the other great people in the children's lit world.  Dan Santat and James Burks were there again, as was Bob Boyle, another member of what I am calling the LA Picture Book Brotherhood AKA the LAPBB.  I also made some really great new friends, like Barry Wolverton, Lauren Strasnick, Shannon Messenger, Kelly Sonnack, Mary Peterson, Catherine Meyer, Jen and Ryan Bosworth, Richard Watson, Jonathan Schkade, Martha Rago, Angela and Caz of Australia, and so many others.  Also what was really great was that I finally got to meet my amazing agent Jen Rofé in person for the first time!  The final night was a highlight and perfect ending as Jen set up a small BBQ with a number of her agency's clients overlooking the Topanga Canyon.  Eric Elfman and his wife Jan were spectacular hosts (and chefs!).  I cannot wait for the next SCBWI convention!

This final image is almost necessary as I DO do art for a living - most days.  Actually, it's a sneak peek from a story I wrote and illustrated for Chirp Magazine coming out this November.  Was a lot of fun and I'll share the rest with you in a few months.

I at this point I feel I must throw out how incredible my wife is.  While I've been all over and working like crazy this summer, she's held down the fort with all three children (including a 6 month old!!!).  She is my inspiration.  Love you babe!

Well, that's all the time I can afford now as I have to prepare for the Toronto Fan Expo where I will be spending much of next week with my friend Keith Grachow!  If you're in the area come seek us out!

Oh, and I do TWITTER now.

Take care!

-Mike

Jackalope

Hey everyone!  I was scritch scratchin' the other two mornings doing some character dev for a new idea I'm kicking around and decided to do another screen recording of the process.  Forgot to get the drawing part again.  Anyway, here's the sketch and video.  The whole thing took around 40 minutes and was done in Corel Painter 11.

And the next morning I colored it:

Here's the video process (starts off slow as I forgot to speed up the first section)

Take care!

-Mike

Scribbles and Colors

Hey.  Quick post today as I am busily prepin' for the Calgary Comic Expo this weekend!  I'm really excited as last year was just fantastic!  If you're in the area I'm booth R03.  Stop by and say "howdy" after all we will be in Calgary! So I love seeing process videos, other artists and creators at work doing their thing, painting, coloring, and so on.  So while I was re-designing a character for a picturebook I'm working on I all of a sudden decided to record myself coloring it.  Here's that video:

Or click here

Here is the final of that character:

Finally, I'll toss in this warm up sketch of chuck I did the other day.

Take care everyone!

-Mike

Super Genes

A family recently commissioned me to do a version of them all as supers.  It was a lot of fun creating a background for all them as well.  The father is a expert renovator, the one daughter loves Cinderella and the other Mermaids, and the mom, well, she's like all moms, super

I hope to be able to show you soon what I'm currently sketching, but I will say it's for a new children's book...

That's all for now.  In the meantime, those of you who are on twitter, you can now follow me @mikeboldt .  So see you around the interweb!

Vision

A few months back the Alberta Conservation Association contacted me asking if I would be willing to illustrate a few spot images for an article they had in their upcoming magazine issue.  It was based on getting kids outside and discovering the fun that can be had outdoors away from the TV (a seriously difficult task in our world today I might add!). I'm no designer and so their staff put together a 3 page layout for me to work with and there was a lot of flexibility to move the text around.  I drew up these sketches for potential spot illustrations.  This is where I really appreciate the vision that some clients have.  My sketches are essentially point form notes of what I want in my final illustrations and normally there is not much to see.  It can be very difficult to even make out anything other than scribbles and stick figures.   SO I really appreciate working with a client who can see past the roughness of my concept work to where I am going with it.  Here is a bit of the process.

And here is a group shot of the finished spot illustrations.

If you are wanting a copy, it is currently out on most news stands around Alberta and best of all it's FREE!  Lots of great camping and out door adventure ideas and places inside as well.

Take care!

-Mike

***UPDATE*** You can download the magazine here on their website.

It's a bird! It's a Plane...going down in flames!

I had a hankering for Superman the other day though I admit I've never been a huge fan.  Recently I saw a fan made animation and it really kindled a new appreciating for the son of Krypton.  You can see it here.   Not only is it an amazing piece of work, but it was a very refreshing look for Supes.  I think the reason I don't care much for Superman (unless Alex Ross is doing him in Kingdom Come) is that he seems TOO invincible and almost infinitely strong.  Most heroes seem to be so much stronger and tougher than they used to be, and that is probably why I have favored Batman, still an ordinary man.   This classic superman as well as the old classic cartoon makes him struggle a bit it seems, just a little bit, and I like it.  Anyway, I did this little doodle the Man of Steel and forgot to post it to my blog.  So here it is:

I actually struggled a while with this pose.  I'm not used to really dynamic figure drawing and halfway through it I almost wimped out and took the easy route, but since this was an exercise, I worked it for a while until I got it, or more a less got it.  Still not completely happy with it.  Oh well.  So any other heroes you would like to see done?  Let me know!

Tomorrow I'll post up some work from some recent jobs I've finished.

Take care,

-Mike

Good, decent and Fabulous reasons to be away!

Hello everyone.  Once again it's been a while since I last posted.  This time I actually have some good reasons, a decent reason, and a fabulous reason!  Firstly, I've been just swamped with work, some of which I hope to be able to share with you in the future - sort of the down side of top secret projects I suppose.  Secondly, I've been busy with teacher's conventions and school visits as well as a ton of admin style stuff that I have to catch up with every so often.  And finally, and most fantastically, I had a new daughter arrive a couple weeks early, but she's been a wonderful surprise! So I'll leave you with a couple pieces I recently did as it's all I have time for tonight, with the fact that I'm still swamped with work, catching up with paperwork, and trying to enjoy my new daughter!

The first is a sketch that I did for a fan of my Facebook site.  Just because he took a couple stabs at guessing what GSP stood for on my last drawing.  Giraffe Space Program for those wondering.  So the way we roll on the Boldtman studios Fan Site is giving away stuff when we can.  He asked for a couple Kung Fu Crocs and I was more than happy to oblige.

Second up my awesome agent Jen Rofé is going to NYC to meet up with some publishers and so asked all of the artists she represents to do a self portrait for a new tearsheet.  I admit I don't do many, so I did one of myself in my usual outfit that I wear to do all my work in the office.

I added my standard cheesy smile and nostril flair to help people recognize me.

That's it for now, more at a later date so take care!

-Mike

Just because

Hey everybody (or all 12 of you).  I did this today just because.  Just because I need to get something new on here, and just because someone reminded me they've not seen anything new for a while, and just because.

It's an astronaut giraffe, just because imagination is a fantastic thing.

Been pretty busy around here lately and I've not had much time to do any blogging.  I would say sorry, but really it's nice to be busy, I'm working on a really cool project with an amazing team of creative minds.  It's a blast.  I've also recently received the biggest (career) news I've ever had!  I can't share it just yet, but I will be very soon!  I'm more than excited these days.

Take care everyone!

-Mike