The Peanuts are celebrating their 65th Anniversary this year with a new movie, video game, and a BOOK! Fans gathered early Sunday morning to get the inside scoop on the details of this highly anticipated book.
The panel was made up of Chip Kidd (Art Direction & Design, for the book), Paige Braddock (Creative Director for Schulz Studios), Cesar Gallegos (Archivist at Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center), and moderated by Charles Kochman (Editorial Director for Abrams ComicArts). The audience was treated to personal stories of working with Charles M. Schulz, and never-before seen comic strips.
The Book
The book is officially titled “Only What’s Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts” and contains rare and unpublished art. They dove deep into the archives and 2/3 of the art in the book has never been seen by the world. The book is 12”x 9” hardcover that is 304 pages, filled with 450 color illustrations. The book will be $40 and available this October.
The Art
In the book you will see Charles’s illustration and creative choices change throughout the years; his line work develops and you can see his confidence grow as he trusts his talent to recreate these iconic characters. The characters themselves develop and change look throughout the years, as well as use of speech bubbles. Comic content and jokes are primarily based off of political/economical situations of the time they were drawn.
The Cover
They wanted to keep it simple so they decided upon Charlie’s face, made up of 7 simple squiggles. The design was based off of a print on Charles’s original stationary. At first, the company was adamant that a logo be put on the cover to celebrate the 65th Anniversary of Peanuts, but eventually agreed it was better to keep it simple.
Charles and Charlie
A video clip was shown of Charles drawing his iconic character, Charlie Brown, and he discussed how he took out his emotions on poor Charlie. Whenever he lost a bowling game or felt down, he’d draw Charlie. Charlie is very much like everyone else, and wants “reassurance that people like us.”
Freebies!
A limited number of attendees were given preview booklets containing a first look at some of the comics and old marketing of our favorite ‘blockhead,’ Charlie Brown.
