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Meet Big Baddy, pictured above. <\/p>\n
He comes from Tim Miller, who is visiting 7-Imp today, since it’s the first Sunday of the month, when I like to feature student or newly-graduated illustrators. Tim doesn’t have a website up, but that won’t stop me from showing you all some of his artwork anyway. <\/p>\n
Tim calls himself a “satirical illustrator who specializes in Picture Books.” He studied at the School of Visual Arts<\/a><\/strong>, where he earned his Bachelor\u2019s in Cartooning and his Master\u2019s in Art Education. He is currently based in New York City. Wait, this illustration tells you what you need to know: <\/p>\n Tim also tells me that his work is rooted in an interest in creating images and stories that are both playful and absurd. In other words, he says, he\u2019s serious about being funny.<\/p>\n Tim\u2019s influences include the work of Satoshi Kitamura<\/a><\/strong>, James Marshall<\/a><\/strong>, Sergio Ruzzier<\/a><\/strong>, Uri Shulevitz<\/a><\/strong>, William Steig<\/a><\/strong>, David Ezra Stein<\/a><\/strong>, and Tomi Ungerer<\/a><\/strong>. Some of his other creative heroes include Pieter Bruegel<\/a><\/strong>, Jean Dubuffet<\/a><\/strong>, James Ensor<\/a><\/strong>, Lyonel Feininger<\/a><\/strong>, George Grosz<\/a><\/strong>, and F\u00e9lix Vallotton<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Tim uses mixed media to create his artwork. “My top-secret recipe,” he told me, “consists of pen and ink, mixed with watercolor, mixed with digital hocus-pocus.”<\/p>\n I’m hoping we see Tim in picture books one day. Here’s some more of his artwork. Enjoy. <\/p>\n All images are copyright \u00a9 Tim Miller and used with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome. <\/p>\n 1)<\/strong><\/font> The ALA conference last weekend was a wild ride, indeed. Overwhelming, but fun. (I wrote about it here<\/a><\/strong>.)<\/p>\n 2)<\/strong><\/font> The memorial event we had for Peter<\/a><\/strong> was very lovely. Thanks to Stephen Barbara<\/a><\/strong> for making it happen. <\/p>\n 3)<\/strong><\/font> I got to see Adrienne Furness<\/a><\/strong> at ALA, and she and I and one of her co-workers\/friends, whom I really enjoyed meeting, went to this Second City show<\/a><\/strong>. Given that I’m a huge SNL<\/a><\/strong><\/em> fan and many SNL<\/em> folks have been Second City alum, I was rather in heaven. And what a great show it was — and with excellent company. (People who will sit with me and rank SNL<\/em> Weekend Update<\/em> correspondents in order of best to worst, as we wait for the show to start, are my kind of people.)<\/p>\n And I got to meet regular kicker, Margie Myers<\/a><\/strong>, if only briefly. We met on the exhibit hall floor, which is an experience in and of itself, this place with all the books and all the people and all the talking and all the networking and all the even more talking. Whew. <\/p>\n 4)<\/strong><\/font> The awards speeches (Caldecott<\/a><\/strong>, Newbery<\/a><\/strong>, and Wilder<\/a><\/strong>) were so good, you all. I lucked out to go this year. <\/p>\n 5)<\/strong><\/font> The preconference event<\/a><\/strong>, all about the Caldecott and its 75 years, was downright dreamy if you love picture books, as I do. I particularly enjoyed meeting Leonard Marcus<\/a><\/strong> (and<\/em> getting the chance to tell him how much I enjoy the work of Amy Schwartz<\/a><\/strong>, to whom he happens to be married). And Brian Selznick’s<\/a><\/strong> opening talk, which ended up being a tribute to Sendak<\/a><\/strong>, was very moving. <\/p>\n 6)<\/strong><\/font> Our almost-book cover!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n 7)<\/strong><\/font> I gotta squeeze in some music kicks, don’t I? In fact, I’ve been listening to the great Laura Marling<\/a><\/strong>—old tunes and new tunes—as I type this post. That is a kick right there. <\/p>\n I always enjoy hearing my secret BFF, Rufus<\/a><\/strong>. I look forward to seeing this documentary about his late mother<\/a><\/strong>, though who knows when it will be available for those of us, say, not in New York City: <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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