Chicken Dragon is printed on heavyweight Archival ink Jet paper.
I started it off as an acrylic painting on masonite board, scanned it into photoshop and repainted and retouched it.
It’s 8.5″ x 11″ with a 1″ white border around the image.
Does not come with a frame or matte.
Signed and dated by the artist
shipped in a clear plastic bag and stiff unbendable envelope.
Only $15 Buy Now
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This is a very cute original oval painting of a little girl wearing a cat costume and holding a human heart.
The wooden Oval shape is 4.5″ x 2.2 ” in diameter and 1/8″ thick.
Original Handmade Ornament, mounted print on wood, painted with acrylics, textured with acrylic gel paste and glazed with acrylic gold leaf paint
A cooper wire is a attached, ready to hand.
It’s only $15
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It’s finally moving. The Illustrators Mentor Group, a community project designed to bring artists, illustrators and creative people together.
To learn from each other and create new possibilities for the future. We are committed to building a thriving community of artists.
The Facebook Page is up!
Use this page to ask questions (no matter how silly they are), discuss art-related stuff, make announcements about industry events, organize meet-ups and sketch sessions and hook up with mentors.
Artwork by Ray Hwang
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Just bought some wooden panels. I am ready to start making new products to list in my Etsy store.
Bought Plywood small oval and square shapes to start making ornaments for Christmas.
Mixed Media mini paintings and collage originals!
Ordered glass and glaze to make pendents.
I will be putting those up for sale soon.
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Celebrate Dia De Los Muertos with this 4″ x 6″ original mixed media collage painting.
Mounted print on canvas board, acrylic glass bead gel, acrylic paint, gold leaf paint, glitter and colored pencil. Textured surface.
Little Catrina is wearing a green dress with a sugar skull belt and eating a sugar skull cookie. She is so wickedly cute.
I will sign and date on the back
It will be packaged neatly and shipped in a cardboard box.
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Love and Devotion is created from a vividly rendered illustration. Two phoenix doves flying into the light with tattoos, symbolizing love, passion and heaven.
The painting is printed on heavyweight archival ink jet paper. Beautiful bright colors.
The Art Print is 8.5″ x 11″ with a white 1″ border around the image.
It comes unframed and unmatted.
Would you like to share a little magic with your favorite person this holiday season? Love and Devotion is a greeting card created from a vividly rendered illustration. Two phoenix doves flying into the light with tattoos, symbolizing love, passion and heaven.
I have one piece included in the First Friday show at Stoneworks Gallery in Ventura County.
Friday October 1 6pm-10pm
Stoneworks Studios and Gallery
I working on my new Children’s Book. I have already written out a short and sweet story and sketched out a book dummy. Now I am in the process of illustrating it.
The story feels like a fairytale. It’s about an old woman named Tessa and a garden full of magic. That is as much as I will say for now.
This is one illustration that will go into the book. The first page.
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I am starting to understand that building my illustration business is about having fun and playing.
This month I am committed to finding pathways to creating financial stability for myself. So some of the actions I am taking involve looking for a part-time job and/or freelance projects and creating new ways to promote the hell out of my art.
In the past, due to the how it occurred for me, I have always seen these steps as boring and unfulfilled. To me it occurred as competing with more qualified artists than myself and getting constantly rejected or being completely ignored.
Now I am choosing my quest for income to be fun and enjoyable. I am shifting the way I a see it.
Now I see it as an opportunity for me to explore different venues, meet new people, learn new things, develop relationships and expand my creativity.
I am starting to look at it as a game. When it’s a game, it’s suddenly not so crucial anymore and I am not so emotionally attached to the outcome.
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Stand Out! Use these unique business card designs and patterns for your indie business.
Tired of your old design? Try these retro and chic biz cards, with strip patterns and a single bead strand on the left side.
How it works:
After you order, you will send me all your biz and contact information that you want on the card. Send it to diana [!at] dianalevinart.com or through Etsy message conversations. I will place your info on the card and send you the new version ready for print
You will receive through email an electronic packet consisting of 2 psd and jpeg files: Yellow stripes and Peach Stripes with your information on each card.
Go to the listing page now to order your unique biz cards
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I have so much going on in my head right now that I am not sure where to begin.
A few weeks ago I made the choice to join the Introduction Leaders Program at Landmark Education. I know it’s going to be an exciting experience and I cannot wait to see what’s next.
This last week I was on a San Francisco Road trip with my good friend Matt. We had so much fun. After a few museums, strolling along San Francisco streets, eating at the Rainforest Cafe, walking around Fisherman’s Warf, touring the Winchester Mystery House and staying one night at beautiful and relaxing beach house in Morro Bay, I was completely rejuvenated.
My next trip will have to be Italy. I am not sure how I will manage that yet. I will have to figure it out and do my research.
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High Fashion is my latest digital painting that was inspired by Steampunk. This dark lady had been a concept lying around in my files for almost a year. So I decided to finally complete the piece. Steampunk has been a trend these past couple of years. It was especially obvious this year at Comic-con. I saw many people dressed up in interesting Steampunk costumes. I might as well join the fun and come up with some fun artwork of my own.
I doodled this during ICON 6. It’s some kind of cute but slightly hideous insect with tiny wings that probably wouldn’t be enough to hold him up. Just something out of my insane imagination.
Here is the final rendered drawing for the cover of my Fairy Fashion Show Picture Book.
The last couple of weeks I was in New York, walking around the city, dropping off portfolios at the major publishing houses and having a great time site seeing and visiting museums. I stayed with my cousins in New Jersey and took the bus to New York City almost every day.
I had three books to show, plenty of electronic copies of my work and promo cards. I was prepared to finally do this. I learned a few valuable lessons in the process.
I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Natural History Museum and the Sex Museum. I had dinner a Jekyll and Hyde, this fun Halloween restaurant/museum that puts on spooky performances. This place must be fun on Halloween. On my last day in the city, my cousin and I had a few drinks at Olive Tree Café.
Big Harry Monster is a vibrant digital illustration print. It’s a fun and lighthearted treat for the eyes.
Here are some details about the print:
It’s printed on 8.5″ x 11″ heavyweight archival paper
I leave a white border around the image
Unmatted and unframed
Signed by the artist
It’s time for my weekly Blog Recommendations. Every once in while I stumble upon a blog that really speaks to me. Here are 3 fabulous blogs that I am currently following:
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The Escape Hatch: a blog published by Susan Baker, a Creative Career Consultant of The Escape Hatcher. She helps passionate people make money doing what they love. I recently had my article, “The Mystery of Inspiration is Solved” featured on her blog. The Escape Hatch is full of inspirational stories and insights from people who got creative about making a living.
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Marie Forleo: This woman is amazing. She teaches women entrepreneurs how to have it all. She offers some very powerful insights into living “Rich, Happy & Hot.” I love that motto.
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Rock Unemployment: What a clever idea for a business. I met Melanie at a local Biznik mixer. She gave me her card which read, “Rock Unemployment.” I was sold. She helps creative freelancers go from unemployed to “happy and hired.” No more making excuses about why we can’t get work. Rock Unemployment offers a way for creative freelancers to get back on their feet.
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“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world—that is the myth of the Atomic age—as in being able to remake ourselves.”
–Mahatma Gandhi
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Why do we artists have to wait for inspiration to hit us in order to get our projects done? If I am passionate about what I do, wouldn’t I be inspired 24/7 and naturally find myself working on it non-stop? Shouldn’t I be getting up every morning fired up and exploding with creativity to get started on those projects?
In all honesty, inspiration used to be a rare thing for me. Sometimes it came upon me strongly and prompted me to accomplish many things in a short time. Those were usually the days when I would feel like I was “in the zone.” I like to call it being, “In the Flow.”
Unfortunately, I didn’t always understand how this phenomenon occurred. Most days I experienced the same old, same old. Just getting through the task list was hard enough. Some days, I “just didn’t feel like doing it right now” and so I don’t. And I might have told myself that the reason I was not working on my projects was because I was feeling uninspired, using that justification for why I couldn’t get started. The worst part was that after spending 3 hours playing video games instead of working on my art, I ended up feeling guilty and began to doubt whether I was the artist I claimed to be.
And the cycle continued over and over.
So what is it? What causes inspiration and how can it be leveraged so that we have real power instead of using it as an excuse for why things get done or not? After years of battling procrastination, I have realized a few important things.
There is no power in relying on inspiration. It comes and goes. It is like that friend who always shows up late, stands you up, cancels plans at the last minute and never apologizes. They might say they’ll be there. But you know there is good chance they won’t. So let’s first admit something. Inspiration is a flake.
When procrastination hits, usually caused by stress, worry, uncertainty, fear of failure, self-doubt and any other sort of negativity, I begin to convince myself that I am not inspired. I hear an inner voice inside my head telling me how worthless I am. I am overwhelmed. The task suddenly seems rather daunting rather than exciting. It’s almost like I can already predict how it’s going to go, how long it’s going to take, what I am going to feel like in the process and the result that will follow. I do not anticipate a reward for my actions and see very little pay-off at the end. I am too focused on the outcome rather than the exciting process of creativity and the possibilities it will bring.
I believe that inspiration can be generated. Here is what I do to generate inspiration so that I start working on those projects and get a lot more done.
First I distinguish when I am getting that, “I don’t feel like it” thing, and try to listen for what I am telling myself afterwards. Usually I will hear guilty self-defeating thoughts. I just become present to that inner dialogue, that little voice inside my head. Sometimes that voice is referred to as the “inner critic.” Every artist knows about that voice. It is the voice that is constantly berating, criticizing and comparing. It tells us we are not good enough and we need to strive for perfection. It stops us from taking risks and moving forward in our careers.
Once I become aware of the voice, I distinguish it and allow it to be present without judging it, and eventually it dissolves when it doesn’t have anything to sustain it.
A space is cleared. Now I can create. Here is what I do….
