Bob Staake

posted: April 20, 2009

The lovely and talented Ms. Mouly asked me last Wednesday if I might have any cover concepts about pirates and portuguese water dogs. I didn't really, and though I tried my best to combine the two in a singular idea, I found that pretty impossible to pull off, so I gave her 8 sketches -- and this is the one The New Yorker went with. Anyone who does covers for the magazine knows how blisteringly fast the process can be -- with this one, 16 hours from sketches to approval to final art. While I wanted the piece to work on a decidedly decorative level, I'm also pleased that people have picked up on the subtle allusion; the black and white mixed-breed pet juxtaposed against the vastness, scale and magnitude of the office itself. BTW, my preferred title for the cover was 'Oboma', the NYer opting instead for simply 'Bo'.

Detail of the dog

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The End Of A Book

posted: April 6, 2009

The last five weeks have been just hellacious. I've been working 16 hour days on a big new picture book for Random House (I did not write this one), and the art was far more complex and time consuming than I had anticipated. The thing is, you'd never know it by looking at these endpapers I designed for the book, but the fact that they're so different from the art in the spreads, we all agreed this was the way to go. Lollipop trees -- I've always called them that, so it was nice to be able to give them 16" x 10" of real estate to dance on. I love doing books. I just wish I didn't have to wait a year before showing anybody the art. ps: I actually tried posting something to the new, improved and lemon-scneted Drawg a couple weeks ago. Tried 6 times and it never saved my post. I got frustrated and starting cutting up photos of Kroninger with my pinking shears. IF this post works, I'll be a happy Bob!

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A Letter, By George

posted: March 18, 2009

Likely my fave all-time Booth

It's always nice to receive emails, letters and calls from people who like your work, but every now and then you receive a note that you would have never expected in a million years. Today I received a kind one from George Booth who, needless to say, remains a cartooning God to so many of us -- certainly me included. I grew up as a kid salivating over Booth's cartoons in The New Yorker, so to receive this letter, well, let's just say it's being framed even as you read this. So touched and honored.

Yeah, yeah, yeah -- I know, Barry has a stack of these

'Downsized' (probably even more valid today than on March 9)

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The Picture Book Dummy: Made Easy

posted: March 4, 2009

It's time to admit something:
No matter HOW many times I've done it, no matter how MANY of them I have published, no matter HOW I repeatedly try to convince my brain that page 1 really starts on page 6, I often begin a picture book all wrong.
Picture books, those lavishly colored, wildly intoxicating, altogether breathless mix of word and art, they follow a very specific format -- one necessitated by production techniques, cost considerations and, alas, literary tradition.
Of course there are execptions to the rule, but when we talk about a "picture book" we're speaking of a "32-pager" (or depending on how liquored up your editor is) a "40-pager". Think of it this way: you as the artist only have to worry about 15 spreads, a title page image, a single page finale and, of course, the cover. When the book is finished you'll have to create some really snazzy endpapers (those sheets that hold the pages of the front and back cover to the book), but don't worry about that right now -- an idea from those will come later.
So, now that you have written your picture book, your opus, your masterpiece that's gonna pull every kid in the country away from a 48" inch flat screen blasting 'Grand Theft Auto' into their eyeballs and deep into your story, you need to dummy the whole thing.
Use this dummy. Print it, follow it, don't deviate from it -- just make your books follow the "15 spreads and a finale page" rule.
It's as easy as that -- and you have NO idea how many times I've been off by a page or two.
Oh, wait -- one more thing: Just because you adhere to the traditional dummy it doesn't mean that your book will actually get published. At the end of the day, that's kinda the toughest part.
Start the easy way though -- with this.

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