Castle Tour

Recently, I shared some concept art of a castle I drew for my next book, a choose-your-own-adventure-style picture book by Josh Lieb entitled: You Are The Boss Of This Book!:

People seemed to enjoy this castle, so I thought I’d share another. Lo and behold, after minimal digging through the ol’ archives, I realized that over a lifetime I’ve actually drawn QUITE a lot of castles and castle-like structures. I mean… here’s only a few more, and already this feels like a lot:

This last one isn’t even the whole painting. It was part of a huge panorama:

So then it occurred to me, that sharing even MORE of the many castles I’ve made might entertain the contingent of people who break into my secret diary to leave hearts¹ and witty notes. Or at least appease them enough that they’ll continue to not raid my refrigerator.

So take my hand, and join me on this tour of five… no… SIX castles that are important to my heart…

King Duncan’s Castle

This castle is from the book Mustache!, the first picture book I ever illustrated, and my first book with Mac Barnett. Mac of course has gone on to great success, authoring amazing books like this one, which angered the internet for a while—but I highly suggest ignoring the internet and reading it for yourself because it’s from a thoughtful expert writing about something he truly cares about. That’s probably just good general all-around life advice, now that I think of it.

Another interesting tidbit about this book: I used it as a pretense to email Dr. Ian Mortimer, who wrote several of my favorite historical non-fiction books, and ask him as many questions as possible about the feudal manor system, and how the landscape might actually look in medieval England (and the continent).

I realize how nerdy that sounds. Now you know why I went forty years before sharing all this castle art. I’m still afraid a few members of my high school soccer team might seek me out and berate me for not wanting “States” hard enough.

The Palace of Mandros

This was a castle I designed for The Wedding Guests, an illustrated recounting of the time I learned Dungeons & Dragons by being becoming a “Dungeon Master.” (for any of my soccer team still reading, that’s like learning soccer by becoming head referee). I haven’t quite figured out just how to bring the book to market, since it’s 300+ pages with like a bazillion color illustrations. Look how big this thing is:

But when I DO figure it out… it’s guaranteed to test the strength and resilience of any coffee table out there!

The Castle From Sketchbook A

I found this castle in my first real sketchbook (thus, Sketchbook A)², from around 1997, which would mean I was probably about… nineteen or twenty. I really like this one because it was drawn before I had any digital drawing tools. It’s just pencil and a micron pigmaliner. Also, I find it very charming that, of the few labels I used, I found it important to indicate where the nearest fishmarket would be, apparently the social center of any thriving fief.

The Utherhold

Now this is how you label a map! Some of you with keen eyes and diligent… uh… pupils might recognize this one, because its come up several times over the past several years. This is one of the pieces from my zine, Man In A Bog. The drawings themselves are based on a novel I’ve been working on forever, but you know life gets busy and I’m always putting it aside to do drawings of butter churns. Gotta follow your passion, man.

Olorean At Dusk

Regular explorers of my secret diary might recognize this image too. It popped up in my "Art From The Margins" entry from back in May of last year. This is more of a city than a castle, but I bet there’s a castle somewhere in the middle bit. It probably has a great dungeon too, being on the water there — nice and dank. That’s the main thing you want out of a dungeon I think, dampness. And rats. You definitely want some rats, or people will accuse your dungeon of being inauthentic. Again, another mainstay in a shore town. That’s why it’s smart to invest in waterfront property.

Let’s see, that’s one-two-three-four…

Okay, last one.

This is the castle that started this whole entry. If I was better at internet, the title of this post would be something like “Book reveal! First look at this amazing thing I made,” and it would probably be a TikTok with several animated dancing characters, but I’m constitutionally unable to pull that off. But I did save this castle for last, because I really think it might be my favorite…

The Mysterious Castle From YOU ARE THE BOSS OF THIS BOOK!

Talk about authentic! This thing probably has rats galore! And shark-infested waters? You won’t find that in just any castle. Mystical pink light, teetering towers, slippery steps without ANY handrails — this castle is an adventure waiting to happen. Which is probably why Josh put it in the book. Hm. That guy knows what he’s doing.

So, if adventure is your thing, why not pre-order our awesome picture book. It’s like ten books in one. Plus it’s got things kids are really into like… pizza and cats and tarantulas. And if you don’t feel like it right now, that’s cool, because I will be talking pretty much nonstop about it for the rest of my life.

TA!

1. Which, frankly, have become quite hard to explain to the authorities. Plus, they’re staining our new wall-to-wall carpeting, and I have to scoop them up after every post before Sadie finds one and gobbles it down. COME ON, PEOPLE. She is on a STRICT DIET.

2. Good piece of advice if you plan to ever have more than 26 sketchbooks — name them by number, and not letter.