Spring Cleaning

I've been going through my old sketchbooks. These made me smile.

The lion was on the back of the tiger drawing. I like how the newsprint let the ink bleed through. It's like he's hiding.

danielmiyares.com is up and running! It's my new portfolio site. Please check it out. I welcome any and all feedback. I'll be tweaking things as I go. I'll have a blog on the website as well as here for awhile. Eventually I'll migrate over. Also you can give me a follow on twitter @danielmiyares for updates and what not.

a new jazz drawing

A new novel cover for Charlesbridge Publishing!

It is going to be released August 1, 2013.  Many thanks to Whitney and team for the opportunity to work on this and to Leah Pileggi for writing such a poignant story.

Here's the author's summary of the book:

Ten-year-old Jake Oliver Evans is the newest – and youngest – inmate at the Idaho Territorial Penitentiary. It’s 1885, and he’s been sentenced to five years for shooting a man who had threatened his pa.

Alone in a dark cell at night and ordered to muck out hog pens by day, Jake makes the most of prison life. A boy among men, he refuses to be bullied by hardened criminals and lifts the spirits of the inmates who befriend him. Mostly, though, he’s just happy to be fed. But when Jake finds himself caught in the center of an explosive escape attempt, it becomes clear that a penitentiary is no place for a young boy.

Inspired by an actual ten-year-old boy who served time in the Idaho Territorial Penitentiary in the 1880’s, Prisoner 88 tells the story of a courageous boy who faces danger and finds friendship under the most unusual circumstances.

If you're interested in learning more check out Leah's website at leahpileggi.com

Finished this recently. It was for fun.

A sample piece from a story idea I've been working on. 

Santa Scribbles

Finally starting to get into the Christmas mood...better late than never.

All Hallows' Eve

Told and Retold

Told and Retold is a children's book illustration show I'm currently in at the Art Institute of Chicago. It's in the modern wing of the museum and features eight different artists. The show is all about artist's who've taken well known stories and put them into new contexts. Each artist has a couple of pieces featured from the book they illustrated as well as some process samples. My pieces came from Bambino and Mr. Twain. The show opened in May and is closing in just a few days.

Below are some photos and a link to more info if you're interested.

Many thanks to Mary Erbach for curating and to my brilliant friends at Studio Goodwin Sturges for the invitation.

http://www.artic.edu/exhibition/toldandretold

 

Cover For Spider Magazine

I was asked to do this month's cover for Spider Magazine. It's my first cover for them. Included here are my initial thumbnail concepts, final sketch and finished art.

Recently went to the Adirondack Mountains for a friend's wedding. It was beautiful, and I came back thinking about bears. This is a piece I made for my kid's room.

He had intended to return all along, but not like this.

New Image for Lady Bug Magazine

This is a new image that I was asked to do for Lady Bug magazine. It's paired with a great children's poem that's appearing in the April issue.

White Out

There's something really humbling about the winters in the Midwest. I grew up in the south so my world wasn't in this frosted state for long periods of time. At the end of last winter I started this piece because I was feeling that way. It got shelved because of other projects. Just finished it and thought I'd share.

Bambino and Mr. Twain is now available for pre-sale on Amazon and Barnes and Noble! The actual release date will be Feb. 2012. More info soon. 

New Illustration for Spider Magazine

I was asked to create this illo based on a short poem.

Waking Up Is Hard To Do was on the Today Show this morning!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Hope House of Kansas City is hosting their annual Hope & All That Jazz event coming up Aug. 21st. If you're in the area and are interested check out the first link below to get more specifics. The event is a black tie affair and they have an amazing auction each year. The proceeds go towards their mission of helping victims of domestic violence. The amount of good they're doing for the Kansas City community is unbelievable.

Last year I donated a piece of art for the auction (pictured above). This year It's an advanced copy of Waking Up Is Hard to Do signed by Neil Sedaka and myself. It's available now for pre-order on Amazon.com.


http://www.hopehouse.net/hope-all-jazz

http://www.amazon.com/Waking-Up-Hard-Do-Book/dp/1936140136/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280526196&sr=1-1