Tony DiTerlizzi
Encyclopedia
Tony M. DiTerlizzi is an American
fantasy
artist
, children's book creator, and motion picture producer.
DiTerlizzi created The Spiderwick Chronicles
series with Holly Black
, and was an executive producer on the 2008 film adaptation of the series. He won a Caldecott Honor Medal
for his adaptation of The Spider and the Fly. In the gaming industry, he best known for his work in the collectible card game
Magic: The Gathering
and on the Planescape
product line for the Dungeons & Dragons
role-playing game
.
, California
in 1969, the first of three children. The name DiTerlizzi means "from Terlizzi
", a village in Italy's Pulia
province. He grew up in South Florida where he attended South Fork High School
. During his childhood he was introduced to the work of a variety of artists including Norman Rockwell
, Dr. Seuss
, and Roald Dahl
, that he cites as major creative influences. "Many good fantasy artists will tell you their influences are Frazetta
or Boris Vallejo
. Realizing this, I went for more diverse influences, since it seemed to me that most current fantasy work has that same oil-painted feel." DiTerlizzi was influenced by artists such as Heironymus Bosch and Leonardo da Vinci
to early 1900s magazine artists (Maxfield Parrish
, Heinrich Kley
) to classic children's book illustrators (Arthur Rackham
, Ernest Shepard
, John Tenniel
) to offbeat modern fantastists (Brian Froud
, Moebius
, William Stout
, Jim Henson
). Another inspiration was David Trampier
, who illustrated much of AD&Ds first Monster Manual
, which DiTerlizzi recalled as his favorite book as a child: "I would copy Trampier's drawings over and over." He went to college at the Florida School of the Arts and The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale where he earned a graphic design degree in 1992.
After art school, DiTerlizzi moved to New York with his wife Angela and began a freelance illustration career working for TSR's Dungeons & Dragons
role-playing game. "I was so psyched when I got a chance to work on [the 1993 Monstrous Manual tome]. My entire goal was to 'blow away' the other artists. It helped me in getting the job for the Planescape
setting." DiTerlizzi worked on the 1994 Planescape Campaign Setting
and its supplements, redesigning the look of the Outer Plane
s, "Not only buildings but the people had to have a rusted, organic look. This seemed to come naturally in my art style. When I went to work on Planescape, I looked at anime and Japanese fantasy art like. Yoshitaka Amano
." DiTerlizzi continued to work for TSR
, as well as White Wolf
's Changeling
and Werewolf
Storyteller games, and illustrated many cards for Magic
.
DiTerlizzi branched out from games art by illustrating books such as 1997's Giant Bones by Peter Beagle
, and 1998's Dinosaur Summer
by Greg Bear
. After seven years of work as a gaming and fantasy artist, DiTerlizzi entered the field of creating children’s picture books. With the publication in 2000 of Jimmy Zangwow's Out-of-this-World Moon Pie Adventure, he fulfilled a childhood dream of writing and illustrating his own book. Jimmy Zangwow was followed the next year by Ted
, which received the 2002 Zena Sutherland Award. Ted was followed with his spooky-themed picture book of Mary Howitt
's classic poem The Spider and the Fly
, which became a New York Times best-seller, and for which DiTerlizzi was awarded the 2003 Caldecott Honor Medal.
DiTerlizzi met author Holly Black
when she came to interview him for the role-playing games magazine d8, and they soon began working together. In an effort to bring fantasy to younger readers, DiTerlizzi and Black created The Spiderwick Chronicles
, and sold it to Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing and Nickelodeon Movies in 2002. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing launched the series in 2003. Since then, Spiderwick has been published internationally and translated into over 30 languages. In 2005, Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You was published. In 2008, Paramount Pictures
released a live-action movie adaptation
of the series, with DiTerlizzi acting as co-executive producer. A sequel series, Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, began publication in September 2007.
with his wife and manager Angela DiTerlizzi and their daughter, Sophia.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, children's book creator, and motion picture producer.
DiTerlizzi created The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Spiderwick Chronicles is a series of children's books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. They chronicle the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into Spiderwick Estate and discover a world of fairies that they never knew...
series with Holly Black
Holly Black
Holly Black née Riggenbach is an American writer and editor, best known for writing The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi.-Early life and education:...
, and was an executive producer on the 2008 film adaptation of the series. He won a Caldecott Honor Medal
Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
for his adaptation of The Spider and the Fly. In the gaming industry, he best known for his work in the collectible card game
Collectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
and on the Planescape
Planescape
Planescape is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, originally designed by Zeb Cook. The Planescape setting was published in 1994...
product line for the Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
.
Early life and education
DiTerlizzi was born into an artistic household in WhittierWhittier, California
Whittier is a city in Los Angeles County, California about southeast of Los Angeles. The city had a population of 85,331 at the 2010 census, up from 83,680 as of the 2000 census, and encompasses 14.7 square miles . Like nearby Montebello, the city constitutes part of the Gateway Cities...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1969, the first of three children. The name DiTerlizzi means "from Terlizzi
Terlizzi
Terlizzi is a town and comune in Apulia, Italy, in the province of Bari, to the west of the city of Bari, situated in the midst of a fertile plain. As of 2008, its population was some 27,400.-History:...
", a village in Italy's Pulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
province. He grew up in South Florida where he attended South Fork High School
South Fork High School
South Fork High School is a public high school in Stuart, Florida, USA. It is part of the Martin County School District.The school's mascot is the Bulldog and its colors are Black, Red and White. South Fork is the only high school in the US to have a golf course on campus, which is used to teach,...
. During his childhood he was introduced to the work of a variety of artists including Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
, Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
, and Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
, that he cites as major creative influences. "Many good fantasy artists will tell you their influences are Frazetta
Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for work in comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers and other media...
or Boris Vallejo
Boris Vallejo
Boris Vallejo is a Peruvian-born American painter. He immigrated to the United States in 1964, and he currently resides in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He frequently works with Julie Bell, his wife, painter, and model....
. Realizing this, I went for more diverse influences, since it seemed to me that most current fantasy work has that same oil-painted feel." DiTerlizzi was influenced by artists such as Heironymus Bosch and Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
to early 1900s magazine artists (Maxfield Parrish
Maxfield Parrish
Maxfield Parrish was an American painter and illustrator active in the first half of the twentieth century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery.-Life:...
, Heinrich Kley
Heinrich Kley
Heinrich Kley in Munich was a German caricaturist, editorial cartoonist and painter.Kley studied "practical arts" at the Karlsruhe Akademie and finished his studies in Munich. His early works were conventional portraits, landscapes, still lifes, city scenes and historical paintings...
) to classic children's book illustrators (Arthur Rackham
Arthur Rackham
Arthur Rackham was an English book illustrator.-Biography:Rackham was born in London as one of 12 children. At the age of 18, he worked as a clerk at the Westminster Fire Office and began studying part-time at the Lambeth School of Art.In 1892 he left his job and started working for The...
, Ernest Shepard
E. H. Shepard
Ernest Howard Shepard was an English artist and book illustrator. He was known especially for his human-like animals in illustrations for The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne....
, John Tenniel
John Tenniel
Sir John Tenniel was a British illustrator, graphic humorist and political cartoonist whose work was prominent during the second half of England’s 19th century. Tenniel is considered important to the study of that period’s social, literary, and art histories...
) to offbeat modern fantastists (Brian Froud
Brian Froud
Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator. He lives and works in Devon with his wife, Wendy Froud, who is also a fantasy artist...
, Moebius
Jean Giraud
Jean Henri Gaston Giraud is a French comics artist. Giraud has earned worldwide fame, not only under his own name but also under the pseudonym Moebius, and to a lesser extent Gir, the latter appearing mostly in the form of a boxed signature at the bottom of the artist's paintings, for instance the...
, William Stout
William Stout
William Stout is an American fantasy artist and illustrator with a specialization in paleontological art. His paintings have been shown in over seventy exhibitions, including twelve one-man shows. He has worked on over thirty feature films, doing everything from storyboard art to production design...
, Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
). Another inspiration was David Trampier
David A. Trampier
Dave A. Trampier is a former artist and writer who worked on some of the earliest editions of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and was the creator of the Wormy comic strip that ran in Dragon magazine...
, who illustrated much of AD&Ds first Monster Manual
Monster Manual
The Monster Manual is the primary bestiary sourcebook for monsters in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It includes monsters derived from mythology, and folklore, as well as creatures created for D&D specifically...
, which DiTerlizzi recalled as his favorite book as a child: "I would copy Trampier's drawings over and over." He went to college at the Florida School of the Arts and The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale where he earned a graphic design degree in 1992.
Career
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
role-playing game. "I was so psyched when I got a chance to work on [the 1993 Monstrous Manual tome]. My entire goal was to 'blow away' the other artists. It helped me in getting the job for the Planescape
Planescape
Planescape is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, originally designed by Zeb Cook. The Planescape setting was published in 1994...
setting." DiTerlizzi worked on the 1994 Planescape Campaign Setting
Planescape Campaign Setting
The Planescape Campaign Setting was a boxed set for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The set was designed by David "Zeb" Cook and published in 1994, and introduced the Planescape setting.-Contents:...
and its supplements, redesigning the look of the Outer Plane
Outer Plane
In the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, an Outer Plane is one of a number of general types of planes of existence. They can also be referred to as godly planes, spiritual planes or divine planes. The Outer Planes are home to beings such as deities and otherworldly creatures such as...
s, "Not only buildings but the people had to have a rusted, organic look. This seemed to come naturally in my art style. When I went to work on Planescape, I looked at anime and Japanese fantasy art like. Yoshitaka Amano
Yoshitaka Amano
is a Japanese artist. He began his career as an animator and has become known for his illustrations for the anime Vampire Hunter D and for his character designs, image illustrations and title logo designs for the Final Fantasy video game series developed by Square Enix . His influences include...
." DiTerlizzi continued to work for TSR
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
, as well as White Wolf
White Wolf
White Wolf is a publisher of role-playing games, notably the World of Darkness.White Wolf may also refer to:*White Wolf , a location in Yosemite National Park*White Wolf , a Canadian heavy metal band...
's Changeling
Changeling: The Dreaming
Changeling: The Dreaming was part of White Wolf Game Studio's original "World of Darkness" role playing game line. Player characters are changelings, fae souls reborn into human bodies, a practice begun by the fae to protect themselves as magic vanished from the world...
and Werewolf
Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Werewolf: The Apocalypse is a role-playing game and series of novels from the now defunct World of Darkness line by White Wolf. In the game, players take the role of werewolves known as Garou , as well as other lycanthropes: warriors who are locked in a two-front war against both the spiritual...
Storyteller games, and illustrated many cards for Magic
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
.
DiTerlizzi branched out from games art by illustrating books such as 1997's Giant Bones by Peter Beagle
Peter S. Beagle
Peter Soyer Beagle is an American fantasist and author of novels, nonfiction, and screenplays. His most notable works include the novels The Last Unicorn, A Fine and Private Place and Tamsin, and the award-winning story "Two Hearts".-Career:Beagle won early recognition from The Scholastic Art &...
, and 1998's Dinosaur Summer
Dinosaur Summer
Dinosaur Summer is a novel by Greg Bear, published in 1998.Tony DiTerlizzi illustrated the book.- Background :The novel is set in an alternate history in which the events of Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Lost World actually occurred...
by Greg Bear
Greg Bear
Gregory Dale Bear is an American science fiction and mainstream author. His work has covered themes of galactic conflict , artificial universes , consciousness and cultural practices , and accelerated evolution...
. After seven years of work as a gaming and fantasy artist, DiTerlizzi entered the field of creating children’s picture books. With the publication in 2000 of Jimmy Zangwow's Out-of-this-World Moon Pie Adventure, he fulfilled a childhood dream of writing and illustrating his own book. Jimmy Zangwow was followed the next year by Ted
Ted
Ted is:* a nickname for:** Edward** Edwin** Theodore* short for Teddy boy- Notable people :People known as “Ted” include:* Bruce Slesinger , second drummer for the Dead Kennedys...
, which received the 2002 Zena Sutherland Award. Ted was followed with his spooky-themed picture book of Mary Howitt
Mary Howitt
Mary Howitt was an English poet, and author of the famous poem The Spider and the Fly. She was born Mary Botham at Coleford, in Gloucestershire, the temporary residence of her parents, while her father, Samuel Botham, a prosperous Quaker of Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, was looking after some mining...
's classic poem The Spider and the Fly
The Spider and the Fly (poem)
The Spider and the Fly is a poem by Mary Howitt , published in 1829. The first line of the poem is "'Will you walk into my parlor?' said the Spider to the Fly." When Lewis Carroll was readying Alice's Adventures Under Ground for publication he replaced a parody he had made of a negro minstrel song...
, which became a New York Times best-seller, and for which DiTerlizzi was awarded the 2003 Caldecott Honor Medal.
DiTerlizzi met author Holly Black
Holly Black
Holly Black née Riggenbach is an American writer and editor, best known for writing The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi.-Early life and education:...
when she came to interview him for the role-playing games magazine d8, and they soon began working together. In an effort to bring fantasy to younger readers, DiTerlizzi and Black created The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Spiderwick Chronicles is a series of children's books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. They chronicle the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into Spiderwick Estate and discover a world of fairies that they never knew...
, and sold it to Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing and Nickelodeon Movies in 2002. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing launched the series in 2003. Since then, Spiderwick has been published internationally and translated into over 30 languages. In 2005, Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You was published. In 2008, Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
released a live-action movie adaptation
The Spiderwick Chronicles (film)
The Spiderwick Chronicles is a 2008 fantasy film adaptation of Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi's bestselling series of the same name. Set in the Spiderwick Estate in New England, United States, it follows the adventures of Jared Grace and his family as they discover a field guide to faeries, battle...
of the series, with DiTerlizzi acting as co-executive producer. A sequel series, Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, began publication in September 2007.
Personal life
DiTerlizzi lives and works in Amherst, MassachusettsAmherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
with his wife and manager Angela DiTerlizzi and their daughter, Sophia.
Writings
- Jimmy Zangwow's Out-of-This-World Moon-Pie Adventure, 2000
- Ted, 2001
- The Spiderwick ChroniclesSpiderwickThe Spiderwick Chronicles is a series of children's books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. They chronicle the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into Spiderwick Estate and discover a world of fairies that they never knew...
(co-created/written with Holly BlackHolly BlackHolly Black née Riggenbach is an American writer and editor, best known for writing The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi.-Early life and education:...
), 2003–2006 - Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You, 2005
- G is for One Gzonk, 2006
- Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles (co-created/written with Holly BlackHolly BlackHolly Black née Riggenbach is an American writer and editor, best known for writing The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi.-Early life and education:...
), 2007–2009 - Kenny & the DragonKenny & the DragonKenny & the Dragon is a 2008 children's novel by Tony DiTerlizzi.-Plot:Kenny Rabbit is a young bunny that lives in a village called Roundbrook and enjoys reading. He is informed from his father that a dragon has moved to the hill by his parents' farm...
, 2008 - The Search for WondLaThe Search for WondLaThe Search for WondLa is a children's science fiction fantasy novel by Tony DiTerlizzi published in 2010. It is the first book of the WondLa series. The website dedicated to the book has an innovative section which interacts with the book's illustrations via webcam.- Description from the book :Eva...
, 2010
Illustrations
- Dinosaur SummerDinosaur SummerDinosaur Summer is a novel by Greg Bear, published in 1998.Tony DiTerlizzi illustrated the book.- Background :The novel is set in an alternate history in which the events of Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Lost World actually occurred...
, 1998 - Ribbiting Tales, 2000
- Alien & Possum: Friends No Matter What, 2001
- Alien & Possum: Hanging Around, 2002
- The Spider & The Fly, 2002
- Dragonflight, 2002
- Peter Pan in Scarlet, 2005