I've been getting into the holiday spirit by posting my Christmas/wintry illustrations as an Advent Calendar over on my Instagram. As a greeting card designer it's no surprise that I have amassed quite a few Christmas designs and I thought this might be a good way to show some off. There might also be a few fresh ones that are just illustration thrown into the mix. I'm posting daily over on IG but I'll be posting them in batches over here for those who aren't on IG.
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
Advent Calendar: Days 1 thru 7 of my Christmas Illustrations
Thursday, December 1, 2022
Happy #KidLitArtPostcard Day!
Sunday, May 8, 2022
Happy Mother' Day!
Happy Mother's day to all the mom's, and mother figures. We are who we are because of you.
Sunday, April 17, 2022
Hoppy Easter!
Hoppy Easter!! Happy Spring to my fellow creatives!
Here's hoping everyone finds a way to grow and bloom wherever they're planted.
Sunday, April 10, 2022
April: KidLitArtPostcard: Kazu
Sunday, April 3, 2022
Good Fortune Fortune Cookie
Recently I got an amazingly auspicious fortune from a fortune cookie. I should point out that these days an actual fortune in a fortune cookie seems to be rarity. Nowadays they're mainly pithy sayings or quotes like the early bird catches the worm or something about being diligent. Which may be true but really, I don't need a cookie to tell me that. So this was an exciting moment.
"Look for the dream that keeps coming back. It is your destiny"
Yup this fortune is a keeper and I'm taping it to my desk. Mind you, I do take these things with a grain of salt, but it's still nice to see when you have a picture book dummy out on submission with your agent and a grant application out as well as numerous other things out that you won't get a response to for awhile if ever. Never mind the projects you're currently keeping busy with to keep your mind off of everything as well as the real need to have something new to: submit, share, always keep moving forward. It's like the universe sending you a message that all your efforts may come to fruition one day. No harm in finding a positive sign among all the negative voices that makes you question your illustrator/author dreams.
Here's to all my creative friends ever working, illustrating, writing, submitting and promoting: Good Luck and may all your creative dreams come true.
Sunday, March 31, 2019
SCBWI Long Island March Newsletter Art
Winter Friends © Diana Ting Delosh Colored Art and digital |
Winter/Spring 2019 Kid LIT News Cover |
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Of Life and Dreams - MATS Boot Camp February
Of Life and Dreams © Diana Ting Delosh Mixed media: Ink, Pencil, Digital Mock Journal or Book Cover |
Here's one of my minis, Bunny Amongst the Lily of the Valley © Diana Ting Delosh Derwent Inktense Color Pencil Sketch |
Of Life and Dreams © Diana Ting Delosh Rough Pencil Sketch layout of journal / book cover. |
For more samples of my art check out my web portfolio at dianadelosh.com
Follow me on Twitter @dtdelosh
Greeting Cards: greetingcarduniverse.com/dianascards
Gifts: zazzle.com/deloshdesigns*
Sunday, February 11, 2018
Art Process Experiments 4 - 6
Experiment No. 4A and 4B - Squirrel with Snowdrop: Semi Reverse Process
4A: Sketch. Watercolor. lines added with brush Scan. Add digital details.
4B: Sketch. Watercolor. Scan. Add all the lines and details digitally.
Sleeping Giraffe - Hate the colors. Had problems picking colors amongst other snafus. |
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Art Process Experiments 1 - 3
Experiment No. 1 - Old English Sheepdog: Reversed my process and No sketch.
Results: It felt daring working backwards. However, I can't imagine doing a whole piece this way. It does open up more possibilities. I like the less outlined look. I also like that I used less black lines and feel the gray lines give it a softer look.
Painted basic shapes with watercolors. Scan |
Added more shadows and lines with my Wacom tablet and Photoshop. |
Experiment No. 2 - Owl flying in a Pine Forest: The OWL only - Digital. NO sketch.
Experiment No. 3 - Squirrel: Oil Pastels. NO sketch.
I haven't used oil pastels since high school! Rediscovered why I stopped using them. |
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Bye Bye 2017
Had a lovely challenging illustration commission that I hope to be able to share... soon. Challenging because while it involved animals in costumes, YAY, it also involved a lot of detailed backgrounds and architecture. This project has taught me to truly respect illustrators that excel in backgrounds, especially urban scenes. As always, hope to acquire more fun illustration commissions in 2018.
It was also the year I became more political. Previously, I had always felt that my political views were private and I didn't talk or share much about it on social media. After all you didn't want to offend a potential buyer or client with your personal beliefs. However 2017 was different and I did share my views more openly. My feeling is that you can't be silent when you see things heading in the wrong direction. Did I loose out on any jobs, commissions or sales??? Not that I noticed. I did tire of seeing my twitter feed overtaken by political tweets rather than lovely art. Unfortunately, I fear there will be 3 more years of watching the planet being parceled off to line a few greedy pockets and other evils.
In 2017 I got excited about quite a few art challenges BUT I ended up not fulfilling most of these. Which made me a bit sad. I end 2017 with a long trail of unfinished personal art. Granted, I had real paying work deadlines. Good excuse not to be distracted by personal art projects. I'm not complaining. I need those paying projects. Rather I'm annoyed that I couldn't figure a way to balance my financial and my creative needs. Definitely need to work on that.
Only did one postcard campaign in 2017. I usually do 2 if not 3. The problem with commissions that you can't share is that it's makes self-promotion harder. Another reason to figure out the balance between paying work and nonpaying. Personal art is where you make your discoveries and build your future and hopefully your fortune. Here's to returning to 3 postcard mailers in 2018 and more creating and submitting
Made a huge art process discovery. I need to sketch, ink, paint, Photoshop something every week. So if I'm working on the sketch phase of a BIG project, to keep me in top form I need to also be doing "warm-up inks, paintings, Photoshop art" on the side. That way when the sketch phase is done I can move on to the ink phase without going through the I forgot how to... moment first. Less redos and more doing. I know a bit of a duh, obvious idea but a big revelation to me and my art process. I should probably add creative writing to the weekly mix for 2018 too.
Wishing All a Happy, Healthy, Creative , Prolific, Productive and Prosperous 2018!
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Lion & Mouse Illustration Process post
Lion & Mouse © Diana Ting Delosh Inks on watercolor paper & Digital. Here's the CARD |
Lion & Mouse Pencil Sketch © Diana Ting Delosh |
Lion & Mouse Ink Line © Diana Ting Delosh |
Lion & Mouse © Diana Ting Delosh Colored Inks on watercolor paper |
Lion & Mouse © Diana Ting Delosh on Background-A |
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Sky Pony Critique Winner
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Hand Lettering News
Flourish on Page 19 of Hand Lettering Creative Alphabets for Any Occasion by Thy Doan Graves |
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Thoughts On Being Creative
First I thought it was because I was sleep deprived. I remember when I was a new mom my creativity suffered. Getting more sleep did help my overall well being but the numbness remained. I did continue to slog on with whatever was in the studio. After all the real thinking part of those projects was already done -now it was just doing the work. So at least being productive, although lacking omph.
The last time I was in such state was right after 9/11. I remembered feeling insignificant and helpless. I found comfort watching bumble bees buzzing around my garden and thinking that nature would prevail even if we humans were bent on killing each other. What broke me free last time was an illustration commission and a rush job from 1 of my regular clients. Maybe I wasn't significant but I was still needed in my small world. So I, and the world moved on.
Which brings me to my current state of unease. Since the election, I've felt that all I've taken for granted as life in a democratic society is under attack. Even common sense notions about protecting our planet because we live on it have been sacrificed in the name of greed and stupidity. My new routine includes contacting my congressman and senators about things I'm outraged over. It's the effects of all those NYC signs that say if you see something say something. There is no hiding from what is going on. No peace or comfort that nature will prevail.
Unfortunately, this time around there were no calls from dream clients or rush jobs to distract me. This time around it was a string of small acts. Slogging forward on my current PB dummy revision. Even if it's going too s-l-o-w. Looking into yet another, as my hubby would say, harebrained scheme: opening an Etsy store. (I'll let you know when it's open). But the thing that really flipped my switch was submitting my picture book dummy out yet again. Which at first I thought was odd but I was still happy that something finally worked. Now, I don't think it's so odd. When you submit something you are saying you believe in your project/yourself. Whether the submission get's an acceptance or a rejection is a different story.
What do you do that helps to buoy your spirits and keeps you creative?