Wednesday, September 08, 2010

The Familiars - Magic Isn't Just for Wizards Anymore



Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to illustrate Harper Collin's new children's novel titled 'The Familiars'. The book has finally hit the shelves yesterday.

'The Familiars' is a kid's story about three young wizard apprentices who are kidnapped by the evil queen of a distant land and it is up to their familiars, their magical animal companions -- a street smart alley cat, a precocious blue jay, and a bumbling tree frog -- to save them.

I had worked on the cover and illustrated the interior pages as well. It was quite a challenge, but I learned a lot from this project and it was a very amazing experience. Currently, started working on the second book and it has been a lot of fun!

In 2012 the book will also be made into a feature film by Sony Pictures Animation directed by Sam Raimi. Excited to see the book translate into the film.

Here are a selected few illustrations that I worked on - all of them were done traditionally:







To find out more, please click here to browse inside the book.

Follow @the_familiars on twitter for future updates on the book.

Other info/press about 'The Familiars': CoronaComingAttractions.com, Hollywood Reporter, IMDB, The Brain Lair, Cartoon Brew, Reuters, Georgia McBride, PageTurner'sBlog, AllisonBookMarks.com, SchoolLibraryJournal

23 comments:

Yuta Onoda said...

Nice!! Great work Peter!!

Lettie Lo said...

peter this is great!!

Hyein Lee said...

Whoa! Beautiful work. Congrats for another book!

Kitty said...

woohoo~ It's finally out! the book is looking really nice! Congratulations~ =D

Ken McCuen said...

Peter, that cover is amazing! I also like the pencil work. Awesome, awesome stuff!

Jeffrey Cheung said...

Beautiful!
I'll check it out at Chapters the next time I'm there!

Chanp said...

Thank you for your kind words everyone!

It was fun working on it.

Hoshino Ai said...

This looks amazing, you've got me more excited than ever to read this wonderful story. I'm an aspiring writer myself, and it's been such an inspiration to me. ^___^

rikit said...

woohooo congrats!!
the b&w drawings are so awesome!
i'll look for this in bookstores

Chanp said...

@hoshino & rikit - thank you. Glad you guys like it. :)

The Art of Kim Kincaid said...

Delightful illustrations. I will check this book out. Looks enchanting. Wonderful work, Peter.

George Bletsis said...

Niiiice! Particularly the frogs ;)

Vanilla said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Vanilla said...

Wow, these sure are some beautiful illustrations! They have so much detail and intricacy, simply wonderful!

Unknown said...

Really love these!
I just discovered your blog now and I am amazed by your illustrations.

Unknown said...

I might have told you this already but it's worth repeating -absolutely love the work here. I'll definitely have to pick this book up. I can pretend it's for my kid ;)

Chanp said...

Just wanted to say thank you, everyone.

@scott - thanks - that is a sweet plan..haha

Roberto Zaghi said...

Great blog, I especially love the sketch on your banner!

Unknown said...

Hi Peter, your art is amazing. I follow you See you soon.

Joe Beale said...

Hello, this work is a lot of fun! I like many of your earlier posts too especially your use of colour. Thanks for stopping by my blog by the way.

Federico Distefano said...

Congratulations Peter! Very beautiful illustrations!
:)
I like, in particular, that one with the child in a cinema full of monsters.

Good bye!

SaraLynnArt said...

This book looks absolutely fantastic and is officially going on my Christmas list, now! lol The story itself sounds like something I would love, since I am a children's fantasy fanatic, but your illustrations are so incredibly beautiful! I'm so glad you gave us a peek at the black and white pictures inside the book. They are stunning.

Anonymous said...

oh my gosh! This is great work! Looking forward to it.