Here is an Inside Look at My Studio

So This is Where the Magic Happens...

This is where Gang Stories and Max Teller's Amazing Adventure was created. It was in the studio of the Wynot's Wand Shop. On the other side of the wall there was a wood turner creating magical wands. I had to contend for the space between a dynamic brother and sister ghost team and a few undines. Plus across the street was where Ann Bradstreet's mansion was. She was the first poet and female author in the country. It was a strange but magical place for a studio.

Cheers,

Chris

For More information about Chris and Salem House Press visit www.salemhousepress.com.

A Walk Through Salem~ A Magical and Whimsical Tour Through Salem

I Have Seen Everything When I see a Pig Fly...

Have you read the whimsical magical tale set in Salem called A Walk Through Salem, the first in the Salem Trilogy? A tale where fish fly tall ships drop anchor next to parking meters, church steeples blast off like rockets, and Vikings storm Dead Horse Beach. A tale in which you walk through the Unzipping Tree to follow Mr. Zac on a zany journey to the other side you may not return from. For you are the main character!
Get it today at Remember Salem, the Harry Potter store on Essex Street in Salem. Also available on Amazon.com.

Where is This in Salem Ma ?

Can You Name This Location?

You don't have to be a local to guess these locations. Salem has thousands of thousands who have visited us over the years. You might of been one of them. So go ahead and take your best guess where this image from A walk Through Salem is in town. I bet you can...

So take your guess. What do you have to loose...a kidney?

~Mr. Zac

To find out more about A Walk Through Salem visit www.salemhousepress.com. The book is available at 172 Essex Street in Salem, MA at Remember Salem and also on Amazon.com.

Can You Name These Salem Locals

It was a place. And you and you and you...and you were there.

After reading the Salem Trilogy you might just feel like Dorothy, for most of the characters in the books are real people. They are just interpreted within the pages as their true magical whimsical selves. So come to Salem and walk our streets and see how many you can spy. If you live in town you might know many of them personally. If you do, go ahead and name them off.

 

 So who do you recognize? Tell us below.

Cheers,
Chris

For more fun games visit www.salemhousepress.com!

So Many Rings to Choose From...

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RING FROM MR. PLELINGER'S HOUSE?

There is so many rings within Mr. Pelinger's House. Some are M.C. by Sitting Bull and others by General Custer in the Intergalactic Roadshow. Did you enjoy the ones that General Custer had or those offered by Sitting Bull? Granted Sitting Bull's rings were much safer with a ladder to the next level and some loveable characters, but General Custer's rings looked fun and adventurous...even if they ended down a chute or into a large snake's mouth. So tell us what you thought and share your favorite ring with us.

 

 

So let us know below.

Cheers,

Chris 

Visit www.salemhousepress.com to find out more about Mr. Pelinger's House & Intergalactic Roadshow and all of the other wonderful books by Chris Dowgin and many others. If you are not one of the many already who has read Mr. Pelinger's House & Intergalactic Roadshow it is available on Amazon.com.

Bob Peak: Illustrator of the Week.

Movie Posters!

Sometimes artists are in the background when you are growing up. Bob Peak was one of them. The classic movie poster was created by him. The first movie I watched on VCR was Excalibur. Sitting their nursing a broken arm I watched it on a recorded version of the original that my mother's friend copied from the Video Store she helped run. So I only seen the movie poster years later, but I remember seeing the posters to other films I grew up with like the Star Trek films, Clint Eastwood films like Pale Rider and Every Which Way but Loose, and Superman. Bob Peak created the art for some of the most epic and remember-able films of my childhood, but I only put it all together a few years ago. So sit back and enjoy the works of Bob Peak!

 More Info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Peak
https://bobpeak.com/

THE PROCESS

 I have a quirky way of illustrating. It started years ago before I owned a Mac or Photoshop I would copy drawings I had done with a Zerox and enlarge them and place them on large canvases to paint in front of large audiences while a live band played. In truth the idea might of sprouted from a Star Trek Clorforms set.

You remember them...You took thin plastic cut out of figures and furniture and stick it to a background scene.

So what I do is draw the figures' faces on one paper large enough to get the details. Then the bodies on another. If I keep the paper smaller than 11" x 14" I can fit it on my scanner. If I did the whole image on one sheet that could fit on the scanner the faces would be too small. God love what Howard Pyle could do in such a small space, but I can't... Then I can draw the backgrounds.

I like to scan the drawings before I paint them, just in case. If I screw up a painting, I can reprint it and start again. Then they are brought into Photoshop and I play with an electric Colorforms. Only difference now is I can shrink or enlarge the figures and furniture. I move things around until I get the right composition and the save it. Then years later after looking at it in a book for awhile and I don't like it, I can rearrange things or add new figures.

So take a look below and watch the process. Enjoy!

 

Cheers,
~Chris

To find out more about Chris Dowgin and his books feel free to visit Salem House Press at www.salemhousepres.com.