BLAST FROM THE PAST! – The Fish Video

So I was digging in my archives today and found this little treasure– a video I illustrated for Nickelodeon back in 1992. At the time it was my biggest gig out of college (Ringling School of Art and Design, '91). It ran nationally on Nick at Nite for a while, then quietly faded off into the sunset. It's fun to see how my style has developed over the years, but it's kind of strange how it hasn't changed much either. Enjoy!

DIGITAL DOODLING #3 by Ethan Long

MUDDY AS A DUCK PUDDLE is coming!!!!

Here is a sneak peek of the cover of one of my next books, written by the talented and prestigious author Laurie Lawlor. It looks fantastic! Just as I did with One Little Chicken, the art was created completely digital, with flat, graphic shapes and colors, giving the book a clean, crisp look. It mainly serves my control freak nature though, seeing that it's so easy to fix mistakes and I don't have the added pressure of spilling paint, ruining brushes, and starting an illustration over because of miniscule editorial changes. But I have to say, I did love getting (and smelling) the printed pages the other day and seeing all of the hard work finally coming together. A job well done!

I'm the David Hasselhoff of Children's Books!

Okay, so I don't sell a ton of books here in the states. I did have a hit with Tickle the Duck, which according to my royalty statements, net somewhere in the neighborhood of 60,000 copies. And cumulatively, my 35 or so children's books have sold in the neighborhood of 200,000 copies, so, I guess I'm no slouch. I would say my books sales and popularity fall somewhere in between Mo Willems' hamster and Eric Carle's cockatoo and neither of them can use a pen.

But the more I think about it, maybe the U.S. market is not for me. I have thought especially hard about this since the Polish printing of Stinky Smelly Feet arrived in the mail two days ago. The first (and only) printing of the book sold no more than 3,000 copies, and despite the fact that I get emails from people letting me know how much they loved it, the book was a commercial dud, and I haven't worked with Dutton Children's Books since. I wouldn't be surprised if a telegram came tomorrow telling me it was going out of print.

But getting back to the Polish, I had no idea they had such a hunger for such commercially under appreciated books. I'm so happy they are giving Stinky Smelly Feet another chance!

Maybe this will lead to celebrity book signings! My own publishing label! Dazzling concerts abroad!!!! . . . . . . . .

I need to call David Hasslehoff. He'll know exactly what to do.

ROOTBEER makes the NOT TOP TEN!

Well, *sniff* it was a great run but my comic strip ROOTBEER did not make it into the top ten of the Comic Strip Superstar competition. Some really great strips did move along, including my favorite Thatababy, which I hope makes it's way to great popularity and riches. Click here to see a selection of what I entered. Then, please hand me a tissue. *sniff*

One Drowsy Dragon due for a Spring 2010 Release!

Oh, yeah! I have another book coming out in the Spring! I was reminded when the F & Gs (Folded, Gathered, unbound book pages) arrived in the mail yesterday. It looks REALLY great! Kudos to Ken Geist and his team of editors and designers for helping to this book a reality, as well as making it look so excellently marketable. Thanks also goes to Dan Whiting for giving the pages such a sharp clean look. I can't wait to see this book on shelves!

A new character?

My 6 year old son, Carson, happily handed me this sharpy drawing of what looks like some sort of cockroachy, pig-like martian creature. So I refined it a little. . .

ROOTBEER makes it to the Semi-Finals!

Holy Cow! My beloved comic strip ROOTBEER made it into the Top Fifty and the Semi- Final round of the Comic Strip Superstar competition! I'm very excited.

Here's the schedule:

10/12/2009: Third Round Review Period starts (Universal Press Syndicate editors, UCLICK editors, and approximately three syndicated comic strip creator judges will review and rate the Feature Collection of every Semi-Finalist and will select 10 Finalists. Each Finalist will receive a written review from the judges.)

10/25/2009: Third Round Review Period ends

10/28/2009: Finalist Period starts (After the Finalists are announced, the customer voting phase to determine the Grand Prize Winner will commence and will continue through November 6, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time).)

11/6/2009: Finalist Period ends

11/9/2009: Winner announced

Wish ROOTBEER luck in the following weeks!

Only 19 More Days Until Halloween!

It's not too early to start celebrating . . . is it?

A ZOMBIE NITE CAFÉ sighting!

From Publisher's Weekly Online, 10/8/2009

Six children’s book authors and illustrators won a spot at the booth of online children’s book community JacketFlap at the Orange County Children’s Book Festival, held this past weekend in Costa Mesa, Calif. Seen here (l. to r.) are JacketFlap CEO Tracy Grand with this year’s winners: Susan Lendroth (Ocean Wide, Ocean Deep), Ashley Wolff (I Call My Grandma Nana/I Call My Grandpa Papa), Merrily Kutner (The Zombie Nite Café), Joy Allen (Princess Party), Dan Santat (Bobby Versus Girls [Accidentally] by Lisa Yee) and Erik Brooks (Boo’s Surprise by Betsy Byars).

click here to see original article

ROOTBEER survives in Comic Strip Contest!

I'm not much for contests anymore. I just figured I never had the time for them. Writing books, drawing pictures, making money, and raising kids was enough for me, and I was cool with that. But my friend Mark Simon emailed me a link in August that made me rethink the idea of throwing my work in the ring to be judged.

You see , for years I have been trying to syndicate my comic strip ROOTBEER, which is loosely based on my childhood. I have submitted and submitted to the syndicates and even had some interest from King Features Sundicate. I was also lucky enough to have my other strip "Rick and Rack" chosen to be part of UClick, the online comics forum. I have since stopped writing RICK AND RACK but have still dreamed of what it would be like to draw ROOTBEER on a daily basis and get paid for it.

So back to the emailed link. It was for a contest called "Comic Strip Superstar", which, if chosen, would give the winner a development deal with Andrews McMeel Publishing and $5,000 to develop your idea. I hesitated submitting my work, (for fear of not winning) but then came to my senses and decided to see what would happen. So I gathered the requested material and sent it off.

Well, ROOTBEER made it to the quarterfinals! I'm not sure how many artists submitted strips but I thought I heard there were between 1,000-2,000 submissions. Of course, to make it sound better, I'll go with the 2,000 submissions and say that ROOTBEER was in the top 12.5 %!

There'll be more results at the end of October. I will keep you updated on it's progress. Go ROOTBEER!

Ethan Long Designs Book Cover for Princeton Elementary School!

This was a fun project once it finally came together! At my kids' elementary school, some of the students and parents collected favorite recipes from the Princeton Elementary community and compiled them into a cookbook, which will be sold to raise money for the school. Fun stuff. They asked me a few times to donate a cover illustration, but I never heard back. Finally, due to the hard work of the parent Marion Chavarie and teacher Patti Gordon, it finally came together. The tight budget left me a two color palette, which was actually very exciting for me. I love having limits and it makes for cool looking art. Great job everyone! I can't wait to see and smell the printed book!

DIGITAL DOODLING #2 by Ethan Long

Illustrator Ethan Long to Design Book Cover for Library Charity

GROVELAND, Fla. – Ethan Long, the artist who creates Disney Channel’s Tasty Time with ZeFronk and has illustrated and written numerous children’s books, is donating cover art for a personalized children’s story book to be auctioned off to benefit the Friends of the Marion Baysinger Memorial Library in Groveland.

Long has illustrated many popular children’s books, including Tickle the Duck!, You and Me:We’re Opposites and Have You Been Naughty or Nice?, which is scheduled for release in October.

Tasty Time with ZeFronk airs on Playhouse Disney weekdays at 9:25 a.m. New episodes are currently in production. The short program stars Long’s creation ZeFronk, a dachshund chef who teaches children about healthy eating.

Long graduated from the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fla. He lives in Orlando with his wife and three children. His blog can be found at http://www.ethanlong.com

Doris Bloodsworth, a Pulitzer-nominated writer, is donating the story, which along with the cover art will be based on the life of the child whose family or friends submit the highest bid.

Bids will be accepted through Oct. 3, when the Friends of the Library will hold its Family Fun Day event from 2 p.m. – 7 p.m. at the Puryear Building, 243 S. Lake Ave., Groveland. After the event, Friends President Cylian Law will announce the winner.

People who are interested in bidding can submit bids directly by e-mail to dbloods@gmail.comor at the Family Fun Day event on Oct. 3.

About Friends of the Marion Baysinger Memorial Library. The Friends organization is a nonprofit group that helps raises funds for books and programs for the public library in Groveland, which is part of the Lake County, Florida, library system. For more details about the library, go to mylaelibrary.org and click on “libraries” and “Marion Baysinger Memorial Library.”

More kind words about IGUANA & Friends!

From the DPL Kids Blog

Just about everyone loves a classic folk tale. I bet you can remember someone in your life sharing “The Three Little Pigs” or “Beauty and the Beast” or “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” — one of those stories that has been around for ages and will likely be around when our children’s children’s children are ready for a story. These stories . . . (read more)

And here's another fun blog!

. . . And, alas, there are good days, too!

So lately, despite my recent flurry of sales (which I am truly grateful for) I hit a couple of bumps in the road and needed a pick me up. Back story – Both my father and grandfather were architects and watercolor artists. I used to spend hours watching them at their drafting tables painting away on their stinky watercolor paper, and I LOOOOOOOVED IT. – End of back story. So last week I busted out my watercolors and did 6 book covers (yes, I work fast) for some picture book manuscripts I recently wrote. It felt so good recharging my battery and made me remember (it tends to slip my mind) why I do what I do – because I LOVE it and the work perspires out of me. My paper is simply a flat, acid-free sweatband soaking it all up. Whether I'm happy, angry, sad, mentally ill, or just plain lazy, this thing called "the work" is and always has been there for me. I am truly blessed and wish the same upon anyone who decides to take this long endless trip into creativity. Without love, you cannot and will not last. Press on.

Even Author/Illustrators have BAD DAYS . . .

This was drawn in about an hour and 45 minutes this morning during a fit of crankiness. If my talent didn't exist, I might have taken that time and done this to some unsuspecting town. God bless the arts.

Today is INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY!

Help both children and adults reach their reading goals!

Click here for more information!

DIGITAL DOODLING #1 by Ethan Long

Try this at home to exercise your visual muscles! If you have Photoshop or a similar program, take the lasso tool and a blank document, close your eyes and quickly draw out a random shape with the lasso. When you're done, open your eyes, fill it in with your favorite color, and see if you can make something out of the shape! The great part is, you never know what you're going to come up with! Have fun!

Recycling Is Fun at The Ethan Long Studio, Inc.!

Two big boxes of my new book Have You Been Naughty or Nice? (see sidebar) arrived at my doorstep on Friday. It's always a fun time to get new books, but I was equally excited when I opened the package and found 24 sheets of cardboard cut 5.5" x 9.25" (they aided in the packaging of the books). I immediately thought "these should be made into some sort of card set!". Recently, my kids have been messing around with memory card games, so that's what I decided to make. It was refreshingly fun. Amazing what a little ink and some white-out can do.

Another thumbs up for ZEFRONK!

Our little wiener dog and his friends are really getting a lot of attention!

Check out this great review!

TORTUGA IN TROUBLE releases August 2009!

And here's a sneak peak!

Also, check out the Activity Sheets for this book series at holidayhouse.com!

Doodle

Ode to Tedd Arnold's Fly Guy!

Idea Guy: Carson Long (my 6 yr. old son)

Art Director: Carson Long

Production Manager: Ethan Long

Materials: Styrofoam balls, tissue paper, felt, construction paper, wire, hot glue, wool, foam paper, wooden dowel

A DUCK LESSON

A BIRD AND BIRDIE SIGHTING!

I sure do love my mailman. Sure, he brings bills, late notices, and too many Entertainment Weeklys, but he also brings the new Publishers catalogs. I smiled today because inside my mailbox was Tricycle Press's Spring 2010 Catalog . . . and guess who was on the back cover?! It is officially the first Bird and Birdie sighting and hopefully, if all goes well,  not the last. My little friends flew into my life a year and a half ago and made me write stories about them and now are already making more demands. I am scurrying to develop more stories for them just to keep them happy. Keep an eye out for these two in bookstores sometime in April! Thanks to Abi Samoun for embracing Bird and Birdy and also to Nicole Tugeau for guiding it along. TWEET!!!

From Chaos Comes Creativity

I recently finished another wave of studio organization and realized all that was left to rummage through was the container of clay I share with my kids. Frustrated, I pulled the disaster in a box down from the shelf and decided to put all the usable pieces into color coordinated piles. Sigh after sigh, color after color, I labored over the clay, all with the dream in mind of having usable clay for the kids to create new work with. Little did I know what I was in for.

As I got to the end of the mess, I felt the strange sensation of an idea come into my head. I immediately rolled all the colors into little balls and starting playing around. Within minutes, I had the head of a new character, complete with costume and expression, and within hours had a full figure, complete with an idea for a new animated series.

And that's why I love what I do. It's not always easy, (and believe me, sometimes it is maddening) but the days when it feels like everything is in a jumble and there's no way to sort through it all, these special moments arise to remind me of how wonderful creativity is.

The mess. The chaos. That's where the gold is.

Korean Books?!? Who knew?

It's amazing the difference between the U.S. Market and the Korean Market. Overseas, they like their books to have color throughout the book (the U.S. printing has b/w interior art) and for the characters to have rosy cheeks. The Korean publisher had to get my permission to add to/change the art. They actually re-drew my art and added color to it! Note the book design change, too! It's the SAME BOOK!

Portrait of Ethan Long

by Amanda

Grade K/Mrs. Selepack 

Princeton Elementary School 

Orlando, FL

Hot Chick Spotted at HOOKED ON PHONICS!

Oh, CHICK CHICK! Your feathers glow in the backlit sky of the Grand Canyon and sparkle in the mist of Niagara Falls! What a fun project to work on! Thanks to Amy Kraft for thinking of me for the LEARN TO READ Series! Find out more about Hooked on Phonics and LEARN TO READ right now!

SEA MONSTERS IN SEDONA!!!!!

Not really, but I can see how it would be kind of frightening, especially if they looked like one of my drawings. (photo and frightening drawing by Ethan Long)

Dead Stuntman dies, but LIVES ON!

Two years ago, with the help of animator Tom Labaff, I created three of 20-second animation spots for SPIKE TV. They never aired and at that point they were a tough sell to other companies because they were made specifically for the mindset of the SPIKE TV audience. I always thought they were funny. Here's one of them.

Stop Kissing Me! Inspires Kids

So I received a yellow envelope from my new friends at Downingtown (PA) Head Start. It was filled with drawings the kids had done after reading Stop Kissing Me! starring the duck and his saucy poodle friend. The kids decided to write their own titles for books, which were accompanied by some excellent drawings. Well, I have to say, I loved the drawings, but I was really amused by the titles they dreamed up.

Here are my top ten favorites!:

10. Stop throwing the blocks!

9. Stop being a witch!

8. Stop turning the lights on!

7. Stop doing my puzzle!

6. Stop knocking over my ice cream!

5. Just stop!

4. Stop turning me into a carrot!

3. Stop putting purple dots on me!

2. Stop jumping on the roof!

and my number one favorite new title. . .

1. Stop hitting on me!

Great work everyone and I will keep these titles in mind when writing my next book!

Book Selling Spurt Hits the Ethan Long Studio!

So after 18 years in the business of illustration and learning how to write (added to the 20 or so previous years of drawing as a hobby), I finally feel like I am just now gaining some confidence! My goal has always been to write and illustrate children's books, and it's getting better all the time. I sold another book to Scholastic in October, and since January, have sold three more books, to Little Brown (not a duck book), Tricycle Press (Random House), and Blue Apple Books, respectively. I am very grateful for this spurt of success in such a trying time, since I hear that so many others are struggling, but I am also grateful to my parents for instilling in me some sense of tenacity and consistency, which I never thought I had.

Thanks to everyone for making my journey a fulfilling one and let's hope for lots more joy (and sales) in the world of children's books!

TORTUGA IN TROUBLE in Junior Library Guild Monthly!

Wow! What an honor for this book! The Iguana series has been a real success with librarians and teachers from across the country and this only makes it sweeter. I personally think this book is the best of the series and we owe it all to Ann Paul and her naughty Coyote! For more about the Junior Library Guild, go to:

http://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/jlg/home.dT   

P.S.  OLÉ!

"Have You Been Naughty or Nice?" coming October 2009!

I can't find the image online, so here's a page from the Little Brown catalog for the Duck's new book, "Have You Been Naughty or Nice?". The picture doesn't show it, but we added a fuzzy touchable Santa hat to the cover. Fun stuff! Watch out babies! Chewing on red duck hats will make your tooth turn pink!

10 more Zefronks! MAGNIFIQUE!

Great news, my culinary friends! Playhouse Disney will be producing ten more 4-minute episodes of "Tasty Time with ZeFronk!" That's really all we know at this point. The productions move quickly so my hope is that they will have the shows airing by November. They've already got Craig Shemin working on scripts! I'll keep you posted! Until then, AU REVOIR!

Ethan Long to design new Playhouse Disney show!

Once again, I cannot discuss the details, but Playhouse Disney has commissioned me to design the look and characters for an exciting new preschool show! Let's just say it's simple and funny and it's been a blast so far to develop. Stay tuned for more updates!

20 second doodle- June 8, 2009

With a little editing, this might just be a masterpiece. Or maybe it is already!

I was a KIDS ARE AUTHORS judge!

Thanks to Carolyn Longest for inviting me to judge this year's KIDS ARE AUTHORS competition on April 4th at Scholastic Book Fairs! We read so many excellent stories from some amazing young artists and writers. The lovely (and oh so talented) Loreen Leedy was there for the festivities, too, and we shared a croissant . . . or was it just great conversation? Either way, I love that this is part of what I do as an artist and writer – helping young people reach for their dreams. See you again next year! For more information about KIDS ARE AUTHORS, go to http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/contest/kaa_about.asp