Greg Ruth is a remarkable illustrator and, from what I can gather, an all-around good guy. He’s currently finishing up the illustrations for our upcoming book, scheduled for sometime in 2010, A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade (Feiwel & Friends). What you are looking at is an early ROUGH SKETCH that Greg produced for it. Yes, that’s loosey-goosey Greg, getting all jiggy with it; I can’t wait to see the finishes.
But that’s not why I’m writing. I’d like to belatedly announce Greg’s latest experiment, THE 52 WEEKS PROJECT. Each Monday for a full year Greg promises to offer a new drawing of the same size and proportion, but wildly varying subject matter, posted on the STOREFRONT section of his way cool website (just click on the bag of bananas to find the storefront). Greg has worked for years on comic books, graphic novels, book covers, and other stuff; Pirates is his first (but certainly not last) picture book. Click around and enjoy — and thank Feiwel & Friends for bringing this incredible talent into the world of picture books.
(By the way, you can click on Greg’s artwork above for a larger image, revealing more detail. But you knew that already, didn’t you?)
I teach with Greg’s aunt, Sue Ellen Williamson. She showed us a copy of the Pirate’s Guide to First Grade before school started this year. I told her we always do pirates on the first day and take a tour of our building and meet the staff. We borrowed her copy of the book and our students LOVED the book! I am trying to find an e-mail and mailing address for him.
Thanks a million!