nootdorp

Last week in Amsterdam, I reveiled to the book people that Tim's house really exists. They were dying to see it, so we used our new toy, the Tonino-Google, and found the photo. I thought we took the picture while committing architectural tourism in the Vinex location Ypenburg in the Summer of 2003, but Michiel's iron memory -and studying maps- told us we must have wandered away from there and ended up in the Koningin Julianastraat in Nootdorp. Though we cannot be completely sure. But the publisher can go rent a bus, invite the NRC editorial staff, and organize an excursion to present a free copy of "het bed van Tim" to the proud owners of Tim's house.

The street definitively needs different lamp posts.

airmiles

See, Big Brother knows I'm flying in, "het bed van Tim" payable with airmiles, LOL. From a V&D (department store) flyer. Thanks to Lex for emailing it to me. Send me more!

(If you look closely, you can see they used an old image, with the typography from before Piet Schreuders did his magic.)

prize winner

The contest has been won by my dear colleague Lex van de Oudeweetering! It's him above, proudly showing you "het bed van Tim", in "boekhandel Veenendaal", Amersfoort. He will receive a signed copy, congratulations. Of course Lex couldn't resist being a little mean. He took a picture of Tim leaning against two (yes, some people get to draw more than one book) books by my NRC co-worker Sieb Posthuma, and one of them is the bookstore's recommendation. So, yes Lex, I will be modest about my achievements. My book is part of a much more famous series though.

order

I found an online bookstore selling my book! And I'm choice of the week on some radio program. Gotta keep googling "Het bed van Tim", fun fun. Real Estate news: home inspection today. The sellers have not quite been telling the truth in the listing about the updated electrical wiring. So our agent is trying for a couple of thousands discount again. What a world.

advanced copy

Before we went to the cottage I told you that Tim had arrived, but it turns out they were advanced copies. The bulk is still on it's way from China. Anyway, I can show it, that's what counts. The celebratory book launch will take place end of September and then -or even before that, who knows- Tim will finally be in the bookstores. My book will even be distributed by the Dutch Railways, now isn't that lovely!

cover

The publisher sent me the Tim layout. The colours are hidious, but that's just software I hope. The graphic design in the book is partly great fantastic and tasteful. The title page is a masterpiece. After all, the graphic design has been done by a very well known designer. I have serious doubts and concerns about a couple of pages however. I emailed the publisher about those concerns, but it's probably too late anyway. The book is coming out in August instead of May. I hope and pray it will look good.

mother

I added a tiny little mother on one of the drawings, and that is really the last Tim thing I'll do. Yesterday I didn't have anything to blog, sorry. I went to the Dutch pub night. Which is very funny, a pub full of Dutch in the middle of Toronto. Last night it took place in a restaurant on the 51st floor. And you know what, ever since we live here, we ask ourselves why Canadians don't wash their windows. Even a restaurant whith a view as its only appeal has dirty windows. Rare jongens, die Canadezen. The pub nights chairman is the cousin of a Dutch TV celebrity, and it's weird how much they are alike. Looks, gestures, voice, humour, weird, weird. But ours is straight, which is even weirder. If you ask me. And very nice, by the way.

ready!

A few corrections here and there, but otherwise ready! Ha, almost a week before deadline. Now I can clean my house, go downtown, do anything I want. Oh no, have to get my daughter some vaccinations tomorrow. And my son to the dentist with a broken tooth. Okay, I'll mother.

sleeping

Although this is obviously the last page in the book, I still have to do two more.

looking

Does the doggy want to sleep in the bed?

close up

Tims in all shapes and sizes.

talking

Ready before dinner, I like that.

buying?

Only six illustrations left to draw. I am getting faster at last. I promised someone in the comments to post artist's blogs. Maybe I'll do that later.

Willem is published as reader's submission in the papers today!

tiptoeing

Not bad for a monday.

sleepy

I don't know if it's visible this petite, but this one is quite charming.

jump

I skipped blogging yesterday, how terrible. Didn't finish a drawing either. IB parent council meeting, you have no idea.
I should ask Marcel van Eeden to draw me a houseplant on this one.

Okay, I did one myself. With or without plant, that is the question.

waving

I figured out a way to keep my right hand warm while drawing. I just put the desklamp close over the tablet! So simple, so effective.

I flipped this one later when I realised Tim has to wave outward. And the picture is going to be on a right hand page.

lonely bed

I tried to picture a desolate feeling here. Hope I'm not going too poetic. I'm glad I decided not to draw the pictures chronologically because I am becoming experienced in these Tim things. Wouldn't want the book to start crappy and end in masterpieces. Exaggerating of course.

crawling

Blogwise this is not very exiting, I realise that. But it's extremely interesting to do, I can almost flip through the book mentally.

one day

I CAN do it in one day. I'll add a cat tomorrow.

slow down

This one should have been ready the day before yesterday. Oh, well. Maybe, just maybe we can even retrieve the lost drawing from the broken harddisk, who knows.

I noticed I didn't draw a curtain pole, I'll add one later.

trouble

I lost two days work. I didn't make backups because even burning CD's resulted in errors. So I put my work on a disk that was supposedly healthy. And that one gave up last night. One finished drawing completely gone, this one I lost the line drawing. I still had the pencil sketch on good old paper. Sigh.

red again

It almost seems like I have a consistent approach. The new harddisk is postponed to tonight, my nerves.

spread

This is going to be a two page spread, Tim dancing with the curtains while a fat man is walking by. I almost finished another illustration today, but somehow I find it easier to show something not nearly finished, than something nearly finished. I am as deranged as any other artist.

Tonight Michiel is going to put in a new harddisk, so if you don't hear from me again, I'm in deep shit.

climbing2

Sensible at last.

climbing

A very athletic little boy. My own son is a bit different. We were talking about getting enough exercise. He is getting enough exercise: "I walk from my laptop to the crackers and back all the time".

copyright

Finally signed the contract today, now I have to do the copyright thing. Looks kind of cool. I'll post-copyright earlier posts as soon as I'm bored :-O

(next day) A soccer ball came to me in my sleep. I'll put it in the lower right. If I get the chance. (Weekends, grrr)

double sketch

I think I am loosing my shyness about showing sketches. Some people seem to like seeing them so...

lap 2

The writer requested an inside joke. Now I can't refuse that, can I?

watching TV

I'm going to spend the rest of the week on simple drawings, gasp. But the Tim book needs a couple of detailed ones, complexity needs variation too.

red sketch

Since I am considered an interesting sketch blog, I'll post another sketch today. Early, because it seems we are in for a bad storm today with possible power outages, brr. The sketch is red, to make tracing the line drawing easier. Which I have done last night. Today is for colouring, I shoveled enough white stuff already. For a few hours at least.

tv

This Tim is going to be tiny. Dimensions need variation. I have sketched the room around him too today. But it's friday afternoon and time for some fun. Tobogganing with Arie.

no 2

I'll scatter some toys on the floor some other time. Not only on this one.

no

I don't want to go to bed, ever!

on the inside looking out

I do it my way, and try to stay within the golden laws. Scary but quite interesting. The window seals should really be seen on white paper, I shouldn't even have to say that.

drapes

Drapes and wallpaper in little golden books are often very creatively patterned. I am trying hard to meet the standard!

heads

I am quite proud of this composition, five heads in a row, ha! This is only a detail, I'm not always giving everything away.
Illustration news in the NYT today.

busy

sketching & planning

Real artistic sketches today. Planning which scenes on left, which on right hand pages... How many pages? Do I decide that? No clue, but I have to have some sort of system to work by. Michiel rendered the last Maya scenes I need. And now he's out getting beer, on his bike through the snow. Warm today, only minus eight celsius. T-shirt weather.

add cat

Please visit Otger's blog today, you will see 25 palm pilot portraits of his dad. We put them together for opa's birthday.

different colours

I read Lex's comments and I thought he was right, so I tried to combine the good things in the two prior versions. And still I forget the cat.

This week Tintin (Kuifje) celebrates his 75th birthday! Joost Swarte was on the radio, according to him, this inspired Hergé.

seven o'clock

See category. I hope Michiel will have a look at the colours...

busy timmy

Hey, mine is not the first little golden book about Tim!

mothers

Trying to keep the character in character. Otger is proud of me. This is a sequential entry, remember?

chair

Michiel modeled me a chair before I got out of bed this morning. I think that is sweeter than croissants & orange juice. Maybe we can surround ourselves with virtual designer objects. Definitely less snobby than with real ones. Happy new year to all of you by the way.

lap

Bit boring perhaps, but I need this character and his cat a zillion times. I'll put them in backgrounds later.
Found a nice art weblog.
And surfing for a chair that could replace the doodle: I would go for this one, just a little bit over Tim's parents budget I'm afraid. Maybe they can afford this one. Make sure you check out the doll's house on that site!!

pen & ink

You will see my book slowly develop, or maybe quickly. Depends on the publisher. This is how I make my lines seem very easy and right. I just draw what I need several times and put the good parts together. Sometimes I score a hole in one, that's when I start framing. A very nice thing happened on this rainy monday: Keri Smith mentiones me in her blog! Remember I wrote about Steve the taxidriver on christmas day? She actually sculpted a bust, and a reeeeaaalllyyy nice one as well, lazy me should have done that too, but you know me.
Hey, I even finished colouring the above today, not so lazy after all:

furniture

Of course Michiel is overdoing it. There is not one scene in the entire book that needs dining room furniture in it, but you know Michiel. And in the illustrations it will be utterly invisible that a computer came even near them. We can almost make a complete virtual walk through the house. You know Michiel. It keeps him busy. Enraged at times, surfing interior design, yikes. He even took a test to establish his STYLE, and guess what, he's fusion. I shall not tell you what I see when I walk around in our house :-/

little golden book

I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that I have been asked to illustrate a Dutch "little golden book", deal almost closed. The bad news is, I found what I hope to be a draft of the marketing brochure on the internet. Surely the mini jpg cover image will not be printed... And two character design drawings collaged on top of each other...