Turtleboat
New York City, NY
Turtleboat is a comic book artist and illustrator based in NYC. He works primarily with pen and ink, and colors either digitally or with watercolor. His clients include Okayplayer.com, Random House, and VOX Media.
In his free time he watches highlights of PRIDE FC and K1 Championships, or collects reference photos from Pinterest and photo books. He also has a grey cat named Kato.
What was your favorite book as a child?
Favorite comic book growing up was definitely Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama.
What is your favorite food?
Favorite food is Korean braised beef stew made by my mom.
Specialties:
Action-adventure, Advertising, Animals, Black & white, Board books, Book Covers, Character design, Coloring, Concept art, Editorial, Fantasy, Graphic novel interior art, Humor, Illustration, Indie comics, Inking, Manga, Middle Grade, Non-fiction, Packaging, Penciling, Picture books, Sci-fi, Slice-of-life, Spot art, Storyboarding, Writing, Young Adult
Art Process:
I start off with loose pencil sketches. After that, I spend a good chunk of time finding the correct reference materials. If I can’t find them, I pose for them myself (LOL).
Once the pencils are roughly in place, I utilize a lightbox to ink with a combination of nib pen, microns and brush. I scan the finished inks, and decide to either color traditionally with watercolor, or digitally with Photoshop. Once the back and neck aches start creeping in, I step away and stretch or workout a little bit. Then, back to the drawing!
Published books:
Awkwafina’s NYC 2015 – illustrator, sketch
Pankronicles: Early History of MMA – illustrator for Youtube series under Bloody Elbow, VOX Media
Mediums:
Location:
Visit Turtleboat at:
Available for School Visits:
I’ve spoken at a panel for comics creators at the Queens Book Festival, as well as at a program for high school students at the New School. I enjoy presenting about the craft of comics
Awards and honors:
Silent Manga Audition, Coamix – SMA5, Award Nominee
Silent Manga Audition – SMA4, Award Nominee
Steve Metzger
New York City, NY
Steve Metzger is the award-winning author of many children’s books, including Detective Blue (SLJ starred review) and Pluto Visits Earth (Children’s Choice Book Awards Nominee). The first book in his graphic-novel series, The Bumble Brothers (illustrated by Brian Schatell), was published in Fall 2022. While growing up, he enjoyed being silly, which sometimes got him in trouble at school. Now that he’s a grown-up, he (mostly) keeps out of trouble by writing silly books. Steve lives with his family in New York City.
What was your favorite book as a child?
When I was a young child, I loved The Red Carpet by Rex Parkin. It’s a wild, rhyming read-aloud about a carpet that keeps rolling…and rolling…and rolling all through the town…
Awards and honors:
The Way I Act: (Parenting Press) Winner of the Gold Award in the illustrated children’s book category of Book Design of the Publishers Association of the West; Approved for classroom use by the California Reading Association.
Detective Blue: (Scholastic) Starred Review (SLJ); Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Nominee; IRA-CBC Children’s Choice Nominee: Kansas Bill Martin Jr. Children’s Book Award Nominee; Colorado Children’s Book Nominee.
Pluto Visits Earth!: (Scholastic) ABC Best Books for Children catalog.
Yes, I Can Listen: (Chicago Review Press) Eureka! Honor Award from the California Reading Association.
Bank Street Alumni Association Award
Location:
What cool travel spots would you most highly recommend?
Nothing too exotic here: Jamaica, Venice, Paris, Florence, Yellowstone National Park, and the Grand Canyon.
Published Books:
We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt (Scholastic, 2005)
The Great Turkey Race (Scholastic, 2006)
The Mixed-Up Alphabet (Scholastic, 2007)
Skeleton Meets the Mummy (Scholastic, 2010)
The Way I Act (Parenting Press, 2011)
The Dancing Clock (Tiger Tales, 2011)
Detective Blue (Scholastic, 2011)
The Ice Cream King (Tiger Tales, 2011)
Pluto Visits Earth! (Scholastic, 2012)
The Turkey Train (Scholastic, 2012)
Lincoln and Grace: Why Abraham Lincoln Grew a Beard (Scholastic, 2013)
This Is the House that Monsters Built (Scholastic, 2016)
Toto’s Story (self-published chapter book, 2016)
Princess Kitty (HarperCollins, 2017)
Yes, I Can Listen! (Chicago Review Press, 2019)
Turn Off Your Silly Phone! (Koehler Books, 2020)
Thankful Animals, Thankful Me (Familius, 2022)
The Bumble Brothers: Crazy for Comics! (Reycraft, 2022)
The Bumble Brothers: The Not-So-Secret Clubhouse! (Reycraft, 2023)
The Bumble Brothers: Frabbit: Birth of a Superhero! (Reycraft, 2025)
Forthcoming Books:
Visit Steve at:
www.stevemetzgerbooks.com
www.facebook.com/stevemetzgerbooks
www.twitter.com/SMetzgerbooks
Goodreads: Steve Metzger
Available for School Visits:
My program (PreK – 5th Grade) features:
Award-winning picture books, including The Way I Act, Detective Blue, and Yes, I Can Listen!
Science connections are made with Pluto Visits Earth!
The power of writing is emphasized through Lincoln and Grace: Why Abraham Lincoln Grew a Beard.
The six traits of writing, especially “point of view,” is communicated through Toto’s Story: My Amazing Adventures with Dorothy in Oz.
An engaging PowerPoint presentation: the process of how a picture book is created–from idea to publication.
Published Books
