New Online Portfolio

Out of Order

I'd call it "sketch" comedy, but we do improv. har har ...

Check us out here.

Five Years Married to an Amazing Girl

Five years ago today I married Melinda; a beautiful, talented and inspirational girl with a heart of gold. So I doodled about it.

Band Shot

Here's some art from our new book "The Bourbon Street Band is Back." There's still time to get a soft-cover advanced reader copy over here, before the hardcover is released in September. 80% of the proceeds go directly to NOMAF, so you can feel good about that!

Time to Meet the Band

Starting today, we're offering up advanced soft-cover "reader" copies of our newest book "THE BOURBON STREET BAND IS BACK". Just click here to grab one, and 80% of the proceeds will be donated to The New Orleans Musicians Assistance Foundation. Or, pop on over to our website.

Out of Order Improv "Rehearsal Doodle" 5.19.11

This week's improv-based rehearsal doodle. This was a moment created by Omar, Joe and Jason in "String Scene".

Birds

Also from the new book.

Comments ...

I guess an unfortunate side effect of Blogger's outage over the weekend was the loss of a bunch of comments some of you left. So, if you did leave a swell comment on a recent post, many thanks. I didn't delete it, I think the robots did.

Out of Order Improv "Rehearsal Doodle" 5.12.11

Here's the first Out of Order Rehearsal Doodle from May 12. This one was Joe and Jay in "Playbook."

NOLA Backgrounds

Here are a couple of background images of the French Quarter for the upcoming book.

Aaaaaand we're back

There has been a large amount of no posting going on around here, and frankly, I'm ashamed. Seriously, September? Shameful. I demand answers.

... turns out there are none. But now I can post images from the new book I've been working on all this time. Here's an early sketch of two characters that appear in my upcoming New Orleans-based children's book. More details soon.

Champ=Champ

I got some good news today: The Mom's Choice Awards, who have previously awarded gold seals to our other books, have awarded "Champ and Me by the Maple Tree" with a gold seal in the picture books category. Three out of four ain't bad!

Toy Designs: Topozoo

I've had the pleasure of taking my first shot at toy design thanks to the fine folk at Geared For Imagination. Concept by Ryan Hamilton, design and silhouettes by yours truly, we created Topozoo.

What is Topozoo? A wood puzzle? A building system? A craft project? YES! Topozoo allows you to create incredible creatures, limited only by your imagination. The more pieces you collect, the more possibilities - over 1200 combinations in one set alone. Match them, mix them and make them uniquely yours. The best part? They are made right here in the good 'ol U.S. of A.

Here are some pictures from our first three sets: Dinos, Safari and Monsters.

Banjo Pig, the pig with a banjo.

Thought I'd do another Banjo-Pig for Dueling Banjo Pigs. Here's a pig with said banjo. Banjo pig.

Wow, Big Day

We got tons of great press and good news today. First off, "The Cods of Cape Cod" is now a Mom's Choice Gold Award Winner, for Children's Picture Book-Humor. This comes on the heals of our best-seller and fan favorite "I Met a Moose in Maine One Day"winning the same award last year.

Next, we received another amazing review at our old friends at Jolly Mom. Check it out and enter to win a book! She wrote this very kind quote, which we love: "If you've never read a Shankman and O'Neil children's book, you and your kids are surely missing out. Their books are instant classics. They are our generation's Dr. Seuss. Truly. These are books that your kids will want you to read over and over. And, you won't even mind because they are so enchanting." ... Too kind.

Lastly, Ed and I got some local press for "Champ and Me by the Maple Tree" as well. You can read that great article over at myveronanj.com. It sports an awesome title: "Monster, He Wrote" HA!

Onward and upward.

My new book trailer

The Tortoise and the Hares

Doodle doodle doodle ...

Dueling Banjo Pigs

I read over at Drawn today that artists Stacy Curtis and Guy Francis have started a fun blog calling for artists to submit illustrations of pigs playing banjos! The name? Why, Dueling Banjo Pigs, of course! I was on a recent Mythbusters kick, so here's what I submitted. Poor, poor banjo-pickin' pig Buster.

Jamie Hyneman?

I'm a bit bored today so I thought I'd try my hand at some caricature, something I'm horribly afraid of. So, here's Jamie Hyneman, Mythbuster guru. I'd love some feedback, tips, whatever ya got! Let's talk. Thanks!

Our New 5' Stand Up

Ah, but will it fit in the 'ol Civic? Time, my friends, will tell.

Book Contest: Win a Signed Copy of "Champ and Me by the Maple Tree"

Head on over to our Facebook page for details!

4

Trying to have a bit of fun with it today ...

Day 3

Day 2

Hello, my name is Dave ... and I don't draw hands. (Hiiii Daaaaave)

I'm guilty of getting very lazy when it comes to certain disciplines, one of which is drawing hands. So, this week is hand-drawing week. My goal is to post one set of hands per day and hopefully improve through practice! Fellow 'toonists, please offer up your comments, crits and suggestions. Lend a hand. (sorry.)

Fun with Harmony

I had a little "rainy Saturday morning" fun playing around with Harmony, a cool little online drawing tool that I found on Drawn.

Sneak Peak

Here's an interior from "Champ and Me by the Maple Tree", due out this summer.

(click image to bigify)

Final "Champ" Cover

Evolution of a "Champ" Cover

Here's a sampling of rough ideas for the cover of "Champ and Me by the Maple Tree." The last is the winner.

Rough Page Layout

This is a rough layout for one of the pages in our new book "Champ and Me by the Maple Tree."

Ye NEW Moose cover!

Moose takes the gold! Yup, we've been awarded the Gold Seal for Children's Picture Book/Humor from the Mom's Choice Awards. Thanks, Mom's Choice!

Ye Olde Moose Covers

We continue our tour of the ghosts of covers past with Moose. Here's a sampling of cover options (and an end paper design) originally presented. I'm pretty sure it's in order, too. That's a lie. I have no idea. But the last image is certainly, definitely, probably, maybe the final cover.

Lost Balloonies Covers

I've just completed the cover for our forth book (which we haven't announced yet) so I took a trip down memory lane. I thought I'd share some quick cover concepts for my first book, The Boston Balloonies. I always enjoy the cover creation steps ... it's arguably the most important element of the book building process.

Lost Cods Spread

I was cleaning out some files when I came across a bunch of cover concepts, reworked interior spreads and end papers. Here's one from The Cods of Cape Cod that ended up trashed and reworked. I kind of like this one, though.

Vacation Sketchbook

Gulls. With hats. Kids, don't smoke.

New Review and Giveaway

We've been graced with yet another awesome review over at Frugal Plus. Stop by and check it out. Enter the contest to win a signed copy of "Moose"along with some Moose stickers! Stickers! Joy!

Masterfully Matching Whimsical Text

I Met a Moose in Maine One Day just received a staggering review over at simplekids.net
Many thanks to the fine folks who sung our praises. Do take a look.

Bat-Smurf

My entry for this month's Super Happy Fun Day topic: Batman Variants

New Improv Website

It's not illustration work, but what the heck. I just redesigned the wesbite for the improv comedy troupe I'm a member of, "Out of Order." Check it out!

New Website is LIVE!

I'm happy to announce the launch of shankmanoneill.com! This will be our base for posting news, reviews, signing events and more! Check it out won't you?