Bob Blog

And now for something completly different

2011-11-29T14:00:00.000-08:00

(click on image for enlarged view)

What would happen if uber-talented artist, Andy Suriano, asked me to do a pin up for his new comic book?
Well it would look something like the image above. Actually, it would look exactly like the image above.

It was really fun for me to step outside of my usual playful style and do something a little bit darker. I've really been wanting to work on a graphic novel so it gave me a chance to play around with what that style might be like.

So, thanks for the opportunity to play around with your characters, Andy!

You can get more info on Andy's awesome book, "Doc Bizarre, M.D." (co-created by Joe Casey) at Andy's blog- http://www.andyupdates.blogspot.com/

It's available in fine comic book stores everywhere on November 30th but you can check out a 10 page preview right here- PREVIEW

In addition to being a good friend, Andy is by far one of the most talented artists I've ever know. You won't be disappointed by anything he's involved with.

20!

2011-11-28T09:38:00.000-08:00

Here's another film that I did for the new season of Sesame Street. This time we tackle the number 20.

Once again, Brad Mossman created the super catchy tune and Jake Armstrong provided the awesome animation.

Big thanks to everyone involved!

Y is for Yaaay!

2011-10-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a film I Designed and Directed for the new season of Sesame Street.

Brad Mossman created the catchy tune and Jake Armstrong provided the stellar animation.

Super special thanks to Bill Chernega for editing the piece and Yvette Espinosa for being our Post Production Guru.

Want more Brad and Bob songs? Visit: http://wubbzysongs.blogspot.com/

L.A. Times Festival of Books

2011-04-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

I'll be appearing on the Target Stage at the L.A. Times Festival of Books on April 30th at 10:40AM.

The festival is Saturday April 30th and Sunday May 1st. All the details are here- http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/

If you've never been, the festival is lots of fun for the whole family. And the Target Stage is especially fun for the kids! It's part of Target's great Commitment To Reading program.

And since Hip Hop Harry is performing after me, I'm gonna challenge him to a dance off! You've been served, Harry!

Come on out and get your kids excited about books! And Hip Hop!

I'll also be signing books at the CM School Supply and Bookstore booth (Section K5 Booth 546) on Sunday between 1-2PM.

GEEK LIFE!

2011-02-26T09:24:00.000-08:00

Calling all Geeks! Calling all Geeks!

On Monday, Feb. 28th, I'm launching a web comic that will run on the wired.com blogs, Geek Dad and Geek Mom.

Geek Life is a web comic centered on a geeky young couple, their genius 10-year-old son, and his crotchety pet frog. They are the modern geek family.

You can check it all out here- http://www.geeklifecomic.com

And get an intro by watching the trailer:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2010-12-21T11:20:00.000-08:00

Many thanks for everyone's kindness and support this year. And for putting up with the endless promotion of my book!

I hope you all have a wonderful winter holiday and a 2011 filled with goodness!

Encino Man

2010-11-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

Big thanks to the Encino Elementary School for having me as the headliner of their Book Fair. Barnes and Noble Encino hosted a big crowd of book loving kids, parents, and teachers.

I got to draw the school librarian, Mrs. Cummings.

Unfortunately, caricature isn't my strong point. Sorry, Mrs. Cummings.

I signed a lot of books...

I met some adorable Wubbzy fans...

And hung out with some very photogenic families...

AND- as a thank you gift, I was given a really awesome customized tin of cookies. Yum! Yum!

A Cow Named Wubbzy

2010-11-15T22:25:00.000-08:00

I've heard of at least 3 dogs that have been named Wubbzy but I was really surprised to find out that there is a calf named Wubbzy. Wubbzy the calf is on a dairy farm in Stockton, California.

I'm a big fan of cows so next time I'm up that way I'm going to make sure to stop by and say "Hi".

Read all about the cow named Wubbzy right here- http://crazymoos.wordpress.com

Wubbzy Painting

2010-10-24T22:11:00.000-07:00

I recently painted a piece of original art that is being given away as part of the Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Fly Us To The Moon DVD Sweepstakes.

You can enter here- http://www.wubbzy.com/sweep/

The deadline to enter is November 16th!

And thanks to Susan Heim for the nice mention on her blog-http://susanheim.blogspot.com/2010/10/wow-wow-wubbzy-enter-to-win-one-of-kind.html

Wubb Cookies!

2010-09-26T23:06:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Thyjuan Rosario of Inspirations By Thyjuan for sending me a box of awesome Wubbzy cookies!

They look great. They taste delicious. And if you eat them you'll get super powers!
My niece ate one and now she has the ability to talk to donkeys.
Well, I didn't say that they would be good super powers.

Oh, poor Wubbzy cookie!

If you want cool cookies (and super powers!) go here- http://inspirationsbythyjuan.blogspot.com/

Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!
And more thanks to the hip Australian site Babyology for the nice post on Hugo - babyology.com.au/sunday-arts/hu…

A cool site like that makes me wish I was an Australian mom!

Minneapolis Is Awesomopolis!

2010-09-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

Words can't describe how great appearing at the Target Book Festival in Minneapolis was so here are a bunch of photos (with few words):

Drawing!

Reading!

Kids!

Nature!

Signing!

A cool Cat in The Hat!

Wife makes friends with Lamb Chop!

Downtown for the cherry on top!

Many thanks to all the cool people that made this such a great experience!

Minneapolis Target Book Festival

2010-09-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

I'll be appearing at the Target Book Festival in Minneapolis on Saturday, September 11th.

I've never been but I expect it to be the Lollapalooza of Book Festivals!

And as an extra bonus, Lamb Chop and Hip Hop Harry will be there!

Auction Action Go Time!

2010-08-31T09:34:00.000-07:00

The charity auction in support of LA826 is up and running!

Buy some great art from some of the tippy top bestest childrens book illustrators and support a great cause! All the proceeds go to a fantastic organization for kids.

Get in on the bidding here- ART AUCTION (the bidding ends on Sept 4th)

Here's my contribution.

OH NO! Take 2

2010-08-13T18:18:00.000-07:00

After getting some distance on the pen and ink pieces I did for the Dan Santat's Oh No! Charity art auction, I decided that a painting would be more appropriate.
Any excuse to paint a robot!

You can check out all the great art at Gallery Nucleus opening tomorrow night, August 14th.

OH NO!

2010-08-10T16:48:00.000-07:00

OH NO! It's more charity art!

I was lucky enough to be have big time author/illustrator/show creator/kung fu master Dan Santat ask me to be a part of a great charity art auction for 826LA.

It's all tied into the release of Dan's new book (written by the amazing Mac Barnett), OH NO! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World)

Dan put together a very cool promotional video showing almost all of the great artwork from the show. Check it out here-

Dan explains it all here:

As a parent I can relate to the frustrations many parents must have in finding any decent place to help educate their kids. Here in California we suffer from state budget cuts and schools continue to suffer from even more budget cuts when they already have nothing left to lose. So I gathered up some friends. A little over 30 children's book artists (any more and my head would have exploded), and they did their own interpretations of Mac's book "OH NO! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World)"and starting August 23rd people can begin buying pieces off of eBay. (There will be two auctions, one starting August 23rd, and another starting on August 30th. There will also be a gallery show where all the pieces will be on display at the Nucleus Gallery starting August 14th. I will also be selling very limited edition prints from the book to go towards the charity as well as copies of the book itself.

So come to the cool opening on Saturday the 14th, buy cool art online, and watch Dan's cool promotional trailers. It's all cool!

Here's my contribution:

Gulf Fundraiser Art

2010-07-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

Ripple is an online art fundraiser in support of the wildlife devastated by the BP oil disaster.

I created a few pieces of art work that will be available to purchase online tonight, Monday, July 26th at 6:30PM Eastern/3:30PM Pacific.

This great charity endeavor has been put together by Illustrator Kelly Light.
Check it all out here- http://ripplesketches.blogspot.com/

The drawings below and the painting at the top of the post will all be available tonight.
Each piece is $50 and all the money goes directly to the animal rescue efforts.

Super Mega Epic Virginia Book Tour!

2010-06-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

7 schools, over 3000 kids, and a whole lot of fun!
I was lucky enough to spend 10 days giving presentations to elementary schools in the great state of Virginia.

Here's a video that tries to capture the experience:

Did that seem like a blur? Yeah, it did for me too! A super awesome blur!
So here's a run down of just what happened:

St. Bridget's School in Richmond
Thanks to Assistant Principal Charlene Bechely, and Principal Ray Honeycutt for setting up the visit.
And extra super special thanks to Ann Neuhaus for promoting the event, selling books, and providing a bag of Bill's BBQ for the author at 9AM!

* You know that the Principal is cool when he asks you to draw on his shirt!

South Anna Elementary School in Montpelier

I was able to lead a group of exceptional 5th grade art students in the creation of a story that we all drew out on ceiling tiles. The kids are going to paint them and they will be placed back in the schools ceiling so that everyone can see their great work!

Huge thanks to Lara Ivey and Julie Dauksys at Growing Up With Books (it's like Netflix for books!) for making this visit so special!

They really promoted the event and had the kids fill the school with 'What's at the end of the red string art work!

They even gave me a goodie bag filled with diet appropriate snacks, South Anna swag, and.......... a cell phone strap with my favorite Japanese character, Sato Chan, on it! Lara had it shipped from Japan!!

Beech Tree Elementary School in Falls Church (My old elementary school!)
Thanks to Ellen Valentine for setting up this visit.

Pennington Elementary School in Manassas

Colonial Trail Elementary School in Glen Allen

Extra special thanks to Jackie Rice and Linda Levine for making this happen!

Rivers Edge Elementary School in Glen Allen
Thank you to Susie Milwit and Principal Johnna Riley for putting together the visit!

Nuckols Farm Elementary School in Henrico
Thanks to Principal Mary Cox and Assistant Principal Lisa Merriam for hosting my visit.
And super-sized muchas gracias to Diane Schnupp and her family for making everything so easy and treating me like a Rock Star!

Thanks to everyone at the schools for their amazing southern hospitality!

Moustaches, Math, and Merriment!

2010-05-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend's book signing/presentation at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena was a blast!

I tried donning a moustache and reading from my new book, The Joy Of Math, but apparently kids aren't that excited by math and moustaches on Saturday mornings. Go figure!
So I read them HUGO, did some drawing, and fed them some cake. When in doubt, give them cake!

Thanks to everyone who came out.
If you didn't make it, here's a super condensed video version of what you missed:

Special thanks to Tom Warburton for being my crowd wrangler! He seemed to use the "BOO" sign quite a bit but I probably deserved it!

Bustin' a book!

2010-05-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, LL Cool J was signing his book at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena.
This Saturday, it's my turn!

I'll be reading, drawing, and generally making a fool of myself!
The fun begins at 10:30am. Bring the whole family!

Maybe I'll even bust out a rap or two!

Peace out!

Color Blind Fun!

2010-05-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

Messing around with some black and white art for a new book.

Festival of Friends!

2010-04-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

It was super fun to be at the L.A. Times Festival of Books signing books and meeting fans, but it was also great to hang out with good friends . Here are some highlights:

It's always great to spend time with Author/Illustrator, Kid's Lit Rock Star, Jarrett J. Krosoczka. He is the man responsible for wonderful things like the picture book, Punk Farm and the graphic novel series, Lunch Lady.
He's also one of the nicest and funniest guys I know.

And I finally got meet his equally nice and funny wife, Gina. Apparently their secret to staying young and energetic is a strict diet of Cotton Candy and Churros!

As if hanging out with Jarrett and Gina wasn't enough, we got to stroll around the festival together with YA Lit Super Star Author and Scholastic Editor David Levithan. He wrote Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, co-wrote the hit book Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green, and is the editor of Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (who used to write scripts for Wubbzy). He also has great taste in t-shirts!

We were yukking it up in front of the YA stage when I spotted Animation creator/Author/Illustrator, Tom Warburton. Mr. Warburton is responsible for Codename: Kids Next Door and the book 1000 Times No.

But wait! There's more!

We also got to chat with our good friends Stephen Silver and his lovely wife, Heidi. As usual, Stephen had an amazing booth set up with all of his amazing books and prints.

My super awesome niece, Viviana, is attending UCLA and since the Festival was held on their campus, I was able to visit with her and her crew of friends.

My friend and Wubbzy Post Production Supervisor, Yvette Espinosa (on the right) stopped by with her family. I was busy signing so I didn't get to spend any time with her but my wife Teri (on the left) was lucky enough to hang out with her for a bit.

And Angela and Ned Gilman stopped by with the kids.

Books are cool, but people are even cooler!

Festival Fun!

2010-04-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

The L.A. Times Festival Of Books was a blast!

I was signing and drawing non-stop at the CM School Supply and Bookstore Booth and we sold out of books in one hour! The second we hung up our Wubbzy poster, kids and parents swamped the booth. It didn't hurt that I was wearing a silly Wubbzy hat too! Anything to sell a book, right?

Many thanks to Lori Vaillancourt at CM School Supply and Bookstore for putting this together!

L.A Times Festival of Books

2010-04-20T17:47:00.000-07:00

If you're headed to the L.A.Times Festival of Books, come by and say hi!
I'll be there on Saturday between 2-3 PM signing books at the CM School Supply and Bookstore booth (#839).
It's right across from the Target Stage. So once you get bored with me, you can go see my uber-talented pal, and author of Lunch Lady, Jarrett Krosoczka. He hits the stage at 2:20PM.

So, put down your iPads and come check out some real books!
All the info is here. http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/

Oliver and Friends

2010-04-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

I got to meet the amazing Oliver Jeffers today!
"Oliver who?" you ask. Oliver Jeffers! One of the most super amazing artist/authors in the world!
Plus, he has an awesome moustache! I think it has magical powers.

Seriously, check out his brilliance here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnPk8gmwPuQ

He was appearing at Mrs. Nelson's Books where he gave a wonderful presentation that included him redrawing his books as his friend read them and a paper airplane flying competition!

I carpooled out to the event with my amazing artist pals James Burks and Dan Santat. And while we were there, we got to hang out with a couple of cool new pals, Alethea Allarey, Alyson Beecher, and Candace Ryan.

I'd try to give a better description of the event but Alethea does a great job on her blog- http://www.readnowsleeplater.com/2010/04/makeover-by-oliver-jeffers.html

I was lucky enough to snag a couple of Oliver's drawings and get him to sign a few books.

Needless to say, it was an awesome and inspiring afternoon! Now, pardon me as I go try to grow a magical moustache!

Wubbzy Gets Down On The White House Lawn!

2010-04-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

Wubbzy Goes To Washington!

2010-04-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

BREAKING NEWS!

Wubbzy has been chosen as one of the characters to be present at the White
House Easter Egg Roll on Monday, April 5, 2010!

The White House Easter Egg Roll is a tradition that has spanned more than
130 years and numerous Presidents. The event is held on the South Lawn of
the White House.

Thousands of children and their families are expected to travel to
Washington, D.C. to participate.

More on this breaking story as it develops!

Hugo the Musical!

2010-03-29T14:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it's not quite a musical but it is a 'music video' that I put together for my new children's book, Hugo and the Really Really, Really Long String.

Many thanks to Brad Mossman for lending his amazing song making skills!
Brad and I worked together to create all of the songs on Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! I wrote the silly lyrics and Brad turned them into really great, high-energy pop songs!

You can find out all you want to know about the Wubbzy songs here- http://wubbzysongs.blogspot.com/

And you can view all the Wubbzy music videos here- http://wubbzysongvideos.blogspot.com/

Birth of a book!

2010-03-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

My first children's book, Hugo and the Really, Really, Really Long String, hits the stores today!

And in celebration, I'm posting some of the first little lunchtime scribbles of Hugo. It's always fun to look back at where an idea started and see how far it's come.

Lights! Camera! Book!

2010-03-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

My first children's book, Hugo and the Really, Really, Really Long String, will be in book stores on March 23rd.

Here is a silly little video that I put together to help promote it.

Many thanks to Jann Carl for the lending her voice over skills and the neighborhood kids for sharing their amazing acting abilities.

That new book smell

2010-01-17T20:24:00.000-08:00

During the Holidays, I got one of the greatest gifts ever-
an advance copy of my first Children's book!

It's called Hugo and the Really,Really, Really Long String.

Random House is the Publisher and it will be in stores on March 23rd (or you could hit the link over on the left to pre-order).

Big thanks to my Editor, Heidi Kilgras!

Virginia Winter

2009-12-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

Thinking of a snowy winter in Virginia.
Mostly because I'll be headed there soon-ish to see Ma Boyle and the family.

Bobo the Magic Dog

2009-12-15T11:14:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest drawing I did for our Doodle Dorks blog.
The style is a little bit different for me.
It was fun to try something new.

You can check out the drawings from my fellow dorks here-http://doodledorks.blogspot.com/

Touchdown Tiki

2009-12-14T13:56:00.000-08:00

Former N.Y. Giants running back, Tiki Barber, makes an appearance on Wubbzy tomorrow, Dec. 15th at 3PM Eastern.
As a Dallas Cowboy fan, this was a bittersweet experience.
Why couldn't it be Troy Aikman?

Ty Ty the Tool Guy

2009-12-11T11:25:00.000-08:00

A while back we were lucky enough to get the incredibly busy Ty Pennington, of Extreme Home Makeover fame, into the studio to do a voice for Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!
He was a super nice guy and we had a blast doing the episode.
It's premiering Monday, December 14 at 3:00 p.m. ET on Nick Jr.

A day at the beach

2009-12-06T23:14:00.000-08:00

Forest Fun

2009-12-04T15:31:00.001-08:00

City Life

2009-12-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

Cheesey Art!

2009-11-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

This is the most recent piece that I did for the Doodle Dorks blog.
You can check out the other dorks work here- http://doodledorks.blogspot.com/

Brad and Bob on NPR!

2009-11-20T13:34:00.000-08:00

Wubbzy composer/singer, Brad Mossman and myself created a song in response to a challenge on NPR (National Public Radio) to "Create a song in a weekend".
I wrote some silly lyrics and Brad used his musical genius to turn it into a fun little groovin' song.

Everyone at NPR liked it so much that they decided to do a piece about it's creation!

Brad was interviewed by NPR's Scott Simon for a story that will air tomorrow morning on Weekend Edition Saturday.

If you want to hear it live you can find the time and station here- http://www.npr.org/templates/stations/schedule/index.php?prgId=7

Or it will be posted here after the show airs- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7

Pet Party!

2009-11-15T22:24:00.000-08:00

Wubbzy Halloween costumes

2009-11-03T23:18:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the great Wubbzy Halloween costumes that I have stumbled upon.

This one is by Sara Haley for her daughter April. http://sarakhaley.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-make-wow-wow-wubbzy-halloween.html

This one is by Melanie for her daughter Megan. http://bagsbymelaniec.blogspot.com/2009/11/halloween-has-come-and-gone.html

And this one is by Jenn for her son Ryan. http://www.jenn.nu/2009/10/31/happy-halloween-2/

They are all super cool!
Thank you Google Alerts!

Halloween Night!

2009-10-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

This is one of my fave Wubbzy songs.

Storyboard by James Burks
Design by James Burks and Frank Rocco
Music and singing by Brad Mossman
Mixed by Scott Greiner
Lyrics by me.

Monster Doodles

2009-10-27T10:35:00.003-07:00

Dork bands

2009-10-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

For our semi-weekly Doodle Dorks assignment, we had to come up with a fictional band and an accompanying image.

Mine is the mysterious Scandinavian pop duo, Goot Munkee.

You can check out the other Dork bands at -http://doodledorks.blogspot.com/

PUMPKINS!

2009-10-23T09:24:00.000-07:00

October Nights

2009-10-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

"Then summer fades and passes and October comes. We'll smell smoke then, and feel an unexpected sharpness, a thrill of nervousness, swift elation, a sense of sadness and departure."

- Thomas Wolfe

All that and it's football season!

Yin! Yang! Yo!

2009-10-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

Someone on-line put together this collection of a bunch of the cool characters from the show I created for Disney.

Thanks whoever you are.

Doodle Dorks!

2009-09-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

Doodle Dorks is a weekly-ish blog in which me and my fellow doodlers, David Fremont and Brad Mossman, create an image and 'poem' based on an assigned word, phrase, or concept.

This weeks assignment was the word 'nut'.

We each have totally different styles and points of view so it's a ton o' fun to see what each other does.

Check it out- http://doodledorks.blogspot.com/

Bookie Woogie Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty

2009-09-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

Children's book Author/Illustrator, Aaron Zenz , has a blog called Bookie Woogie where he and his kids review their favorite books and create accompanying fan art.

In celebration of the blogs 3 year anniversary, he posted an open invitation for artists to pick one of the kids drawings and use it as inspiration to create their own image.

I kind of liked the idea of doing a 'cover version' of kids art so I gave it a go.

You can check out all the action at the Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty blog.

Three Kisses for Tomie

2009-09-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

I've recently had the pleasure of becoming pals with the uber talented, rock star of the children's publishing world, Jarrett Krosoczka.

Jarrett and his wife Gina have started a really cool tribute blog to the legendary author/illustrator Tomie dePaola in honor of his 75th birthday.
It's called Three Kisses for Tomie.
They have reached out to the Children's book community to create artwork in celebration of Tomie and I was lucky enough to be included.

Check it out- http://threekissesfortomie.blogspot.com/

Thanks Jarret and Gina!

Bobby McBloggy

2009-09-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

Hello people of the internet!

I've decided to stick my toes back into the blog world.
Why?
Because, honestly, there just aren't enough artists blogging these days, are there?

More soon.