Wall Street Journal

Wow. The Pen just keeps doodling along. Now I have learned that The Wall Street Journal has published a nice article called "Sojourn into Surrealism." They have included The Obstinate Pen, and I am grateful.

Mackids blog

The Pen and I are up on the Mackids blog. You can see how hard it is to work with an Obstinate Pen.

New York Times editors choice

My book is in great company. You may have to log in to see it online. And you may have to scroll down a bit.

More Pen

A little taste of my new book, The Obstinate Pen. It will be featured as editor's choice in this Sunday's New York Times.

Top Secret

Coming soon to a book store near you...

It's a book!!

I received the preview copy of my next book, The Obstinate Pen, from the publisher. More pictures to follow.

Aggie Gets Lost!

Presenting the fourth 'Aggie' book by Lori Ries.

I'm very proud of how the book looks. It's 3 chapters pack quite a wallop. Aggie gets lost (of course) and the remaining story is told from Ben's point of view. Just last night our neighbors had their dog get out, and the kids went through the same emotional roller coaster as Ben. It's a great story with a fun ending.

Available in June. You can pre-order it here.

New, and a question

If you get the SCBWI bulletin, you might have seen an article written by Ann Sibley O-Brien where she interviews me about a class I have taught called 'Thinking Before you Draw.'

I have been approached in the past to begin an online version of the class. If anyone is interested, let me know in the comments section. If there is enough interest, I would be happy to facilitate this. If you have not read the article, the idea is similar to Illustration Friday, where a topic is illustrated. In Thinking Before you Draw, we only submit simple, quick sketches to capture (or try to) an idea, or an emotion within the sketch. There is more to it, but you get the gist. I won't be able to start until after the new year, so please be patient. If you are interested, please let me know.

Nothing better...

than stretched watercolor paper, ready to be inked and painted. than a book given by a friend that has William Steig's art in it. Thank you Thea!

than a fresh sketchbook, waiting to be doodled in.

Bad Hatter

The wonderful Jules (and also Eisha) From 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast have many thank you's coming from me. If you read this latest interview, you will see why. Thanks again ladies! Someday I hope to be worthy of all your attention.

Accolades

From the upcoming School Library Journal on Socksquatch:

"The characters and action are picture perfect. Dormer's hilarious spot-on-watercolor and ink illustrations make a monsterful hit."

And the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books:

"The writing debut of illustrator Dormer has plenty of comic sensibility to go along with his signature scratchy line-and-watercolor illustrations. The witty ending offers extra laughs. While youngsters will definitely enjoy listening to this one in a crowd, don't be surprised if they borrow it afterwards to reenact with a friend."

Thanks to SLJ and the BCCB!

Modern Art

I have been reading this book, The Innocent Eye. It demonstrates how the Modern Art movement was influenced by the art of children. As Caspar David Friedrich writes, 'The only true source of art is our heart, the language of a true childlike spirit.' The book follows the rise of child's art in the eyes of artists in Europe. Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Gabrielle Munter, Vassily Kandinsky, and Jean Dubuffet all collected and, in some cases, copied the art of children in their own paintings.

Picasso's friend Brasai, on watching Picasso look at a child's drawing; "He looks at them as though he had never before seen a drawing. His eyes never leave them."

Jean Dubuffet writes: I have always tried to represent any object, transcribing it in a most summary manner, hardly descriptive at all, very far removed from the actual objective measurement of things, making many people speak of children's drawings.

Joan Miro said of his art; "The older I get and the more I master the medium, the more I return to my earliest experiences. I think that at the end of my life I will recover all the force of my childhood."

I love watching kids at the moment you hand them paper and art materials. They jump right in. They work without a net. Children and their art have a lot to teach us. They put what is important in the art that they make. Just like we strive to do for our books. children play with line and shape like magicians! So the next time you are looking for inspiration, find a child, get some paper, and draw together.

In the future I will post some images from the Dormer family draw-a-thons.

Interview

I have another interview, this time with the lovely Cynthia Leitich Smith.

Interview, and Reggie

The comprehensible Faith Hough has tied me down for an interview. I mostly talk about Socksquatch.

And don't forget to wear your goofiest socks on Sunday at Books of Wonder, where I will be signing books and socks upon request. I will be there from 1-3, just in time to rush home and dress up.

Inspiration

The simplicity and ability to leave wonderful negative space is what inspires me about the work of John Porcellino. His blog is in my links to the right, if you would like to see more of his work.

Horn Book review

The Horn Book gives Aggie the Brave a star and a "Best in show for Dormer and Ries."

Cheers!

SCBWI New England Conference

I will be teaching a class at the SCBWI conference in New England on May 15. It's called "Thinking Before You Draw" a term coined by David Macauley. David taught me a lot about illustrating text when he taught it to me at SCAD in the mid-eighties. I hope I do it justice.
So if you are one of the two people to read this blog, come on out. I look forward to interacting with some like-minded people. You can register for the conference here.

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