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By:
Deborah Cuneo,
on 12/14/2016
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| Holiday Card / Mixed Media |
2016 has been quite the ride for me, both professionally and personally, and it's not over yet...there's lots more to come!
But, as I start to wrap things up for this year and get ready for 2017, I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks. Thanks for following along, thanks to those that take the time to leave supportive and encouraging comments, thanks for sharing this blog with others on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or whatever social media you use and thanks for reaching out via email to say that something I posted helped or inspired you in some way. I truly love hearing your feedback on these posts. It not only helps me to improve the content, but it makes the countless hours of studio isolation, way more palatable!! ;o)
Wishing you and yours a very Merry, Happy and Healthy! No matter what you celebrate, may you find inspiration, comfort and joy, in the hope and blessings that this season brings. :o)
Creatively Yours...
~Deborah
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Deborah Cuneo,
on 11/8/2016
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| Owl- Mixed Media |
For the last year, I've listened to people on both sides of this "conversation" address their opposition with an intensity and hatred that I have not ever witnessed in my lifetime. I've watched family and friends that I care about, respond to each other with everything from politely, condescending name calling, all the way to calling each others candidate and their followers, hateful things that would make even a seasoned criminal blush. I even heard someone call for one candidate's followers to be tagged and tracked like the animals they are and it made me sick to my stomach that our culture gone so far down the toilet that all this is deemed mature, reasonable and tolerable behavior. Election Day is an important day on many levels. We all have our own, passionate ideas of what's important to this country and that's okay. We are never all going to agree with each other, but disagreeing with someone's point of view is not license to abuse, bully or passive-aggressively initiate ganging up against each other. Just vote your conscience, then do something positive to help our nation heal. Choose to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. |
| Mixed Media |
I know, I know...I've not posted for a couple of weeks...I'm blog-slacking here at COL and should bury my head in shame.
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| Burying the Prize! - Pencil Sketch |
In my defense, I have had a few weeks of complete stress and craziness leading up to completing and submitting the cover to Little Dragon (Sky Pony Press 2017). You can find out more about what happened,see some new art and even get a little peek at a snippet of LD art from the book over at my group blog Drawn to Picture Books, this week.
Just click on the following link : http://drawntopicturebooks.blogspot.com/2016/08/when-good-eggplants-go-bad-and-other.html Or click on the red D2PB badge on the sidebar of this blog! You can also use the following links to follow me on any of the social media listed below. As always , I'd love to hear your thoughts so, please feel free to post a comment on either post. I'll even reply!
Because I create illustrations for children's books, from time to time, I get asked to do custom children's-style art, as announcements, thank-you's or baby gifts. Doing children's book-type illustration as commission work is a bit different than doing it for a publishing house. When creating a piece of art for a commission, the person hiring you usually has a very detailed vision in mind and likes to be a lot more involved in the art direction. As a freelance artist, the trick has always been to find the balance so, I can bring my client's vision to life without completely sacrificing my visual voice.
The client will contact me because, they've seen my work somewhere and like my style. They give me the reason for the commission then a listing of the parameters in which I am expected to create. This can be anywhere from..."I would like an illustration for a baby boy's room, I want it to include the name and date of birth, very contemporary... I think the nursery is blue and gray."
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| T: Client Sample Sheet - B: Final Art - Baby Elephant Wall Art Announcement |
...to a much more detailed request..."I would like an illustration done to commemorate the birth of this new baby, whose grandmother ( the mom-to-be's mother) just passed, so we need to include the following list of things (insert list here), using specific colors based on a
garment she wore and other symbols, as well as a specific, mythical representation of the grandmother
herself watching over the baby."
I am sometimes supplied with photos of the specifics, which are always helpful!
After a bit more dialogue about time frame, style, etc, I begin with a very, quick doodle to send to the client just to make sure we're on the same page, before I spend too much time on a more polished version that they don't want.
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| Top - rough doodle/ Bottom- final sketch - Golden Dragon Wall Art |
I get immediate feedback, make whatever changes were necessary and continue to a finished sketch, that I work from to create the final art. In this case, the dragon needed to have the grandmother's traits and I was informed that the room was not a nursery, but more of a random room in the home that the baby will be in. I made the changes and the final sketch was approved.
I move on to the final color and 3/4 of the way, I make a good quality print. This way I am able to look at it with fresh eyes and make some notes about what I need to add or change. I always flip my image back and forth at different points in the process as well, which not only helps to detect any unwanted skewing, but also forces you to see it differently than the many, many hours you've been looking at it as you work on it.
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| Worksheet Print - Golden Dragon Wall Art |
I decided that the final piece looked better flipped horizontally and presented it to the client for the final approval, which she gave. Although it does not look exactly like the style I create in for picture books, I satisfied all the client requests and managed to keep some of my visual voice intact.
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| Final Art - Golden Dragon Wall Art |
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| Flag Mouse - Digital / Mixed Media |
My little friend and I just wanted to wish you and yours a very happy July 4th! I also want to give a special shout out to all the brave, men and women in the military, past, present and future. Thank you and your families for your dedication and sacrifice to protect those freedoms that we celebrate this holiday!
Be safe and enjoy!ll!!
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| Two Studios! |
Although I never shy away from artistic experimentation, I've always had two main creative outlets...drawing/painting and quilting/fiber art. Both of these interests have lived quite happily in the same studio space for years, until that ill fated day, I went to the kitchen to heat my coffee for 30 seconds and my studio mate decided to stand guard inone of my paint filled, wet palettes!
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| Original Art Area |
When I returned, my rather loud gasp, caused her to run out of that palette, into the other palette, across the counter to the other end, where she (and her wet, painty-paws) leapt off the counters and ran out of the room! I was cleaning up multicolored paw-prints all over the house for days, but took solace in the fact that she missed (barely) stepping on my half-done quilt project and some new fabric that was in the studio at the time. The event inspired me to start exploring the idea of a separate space for my fabric creations.
The final move wasn't immediate, so there was a certain amount of precautionary juggling to be dealt with each day, but ultimately, another space became available (daughter number two graduated college and decided to share an apartment with daughter number one) and studio number two was born! |
| Old sewing area/new computer station and new sewing studio with Hubby's handiwork! |
Some paint to get rid of the pale neon green on the walls, a new area rug, the sequestering of two unused tv tables and my handy Hubby built (and assembled!) a counter top that spanned both. The new studio is strictly for fiber art and quilting. It has a cool cutting /sewing table, lots of storage and a design wall where several "ideas" currently live.  |
| Top R-L: new color-play project/Oakshot Cottons, ongoing scrap quilt pieces on machine. Bottom R-L: stash storage, postage stamp scrap quilt on back design wall, improv piecing wip on design wall. |
I can also leave works-in-progress out, without concern. This is especially helpful during those times I'm on a work deadline and have no spare time to work on anything else, but the job at hand!
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| Guess who?! |
And, after a long day of working in one room, I definitely welcome the change of scenery (and inspiration), that the blessing of an additional, non-work related, creative space provides.
The best part...it has a door!
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| Scrap wreath and a peek at the postage stamp scrap quilt wip. |
Well, the NJSCBWI conference is over, my summer postcard mailer is sent out, winding up a side job and have been working on my book again!
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| June 2016 Post Cards |
This particular conference/chapter is just outstanding (I really have to dedicate one whole blog post to this subject one day)! I'm not an official NJ SCBWI member, because I live in NY, but I'm one in my heart and would do anything to help out the leaders of this chapter! Kudos to all who have had a hand in making it what it is today! If you've never been to their annual conference, I urge you to attend at least once, you won't be sorry and it I guarantee it definitely wouldn't be your last time!
Aside from the great workshops, meet and greet, intensives , the juried art show, meeting up with old friends and making new ones...One of the most exciting things that happened, was that I finally got to meet one of my illustrator idols...multiple Caldecott winner and amazing artist... David Wiesner! Even though I completely "dorked out" in front of him (multiple times!!), I still managed to get a signed book and came away with some pearls of wisdom.
To find out more about that, and see some of the art I did for the conference, use the following link:
and hop on over to the group blog I belong to...
Drawn to Picture Books and read my post this week. As always, feel free to leave me a message in the comment section, I'd love to hear your thoughts!!
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| Creative Challenge - Day 1 / Watercolor and India Ink |
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It's been a creatively-intense few months around here,for a number of reasons (that I still can't share, ugh) and I just needed to break the stress level a little, so I decided to take part in a Creativebug 30 day painting challenge. When my work life gets this way, I find I have to create something totally unrelated to what I've been working on to get back on track in a healthier (less intense) way.
The challenge is to create a quick sketchbook study based on a daily word prompt. The first word was sushi. Using the paints/ink as my drawing medium instead of my beloved pencil, and only giving myself 30 minutes to do it, really forced me to loosen up! I'm going to try to keep up (or catch up!) for the entire month of June and I'll share my progress as i go along. I like the result of this first prompt and feel more relaxed already. Now... back to work!
By:
Deborah Cuneo,
on 5/11/2016
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| Crickets Sketch - Over in the Meadow/Pioneer Valley Books - Pencil Sketch |
Hi Everyone!
I know that it's only been the sound of crickets that you've heard on my blog lately, but I have been working really hard on my book,
Little Dragon / Sky Pony Press 2017 and getting ready for the NJ SCBWI June conference.
I did, however, come up for air long enough to blog about Style and Risk over on my group Blog...Drawn To Picture Books. Here's the link for the post...
http://drawntopicturebooks.blogspot.com/2016/05/risk-and-stylekeeping-it-real.html I'll be back actively blogging again and will also be updating my website in June to show off the new work I've been creating, but in the meantime...Feel free to pop on over to
Drawn To Picture Books and read all about how I came to make the decision (and maybe see a teensey sneak peek of the new art look!) Feel free to leave a comment either on that post or here on my personal blog. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
By:
Deborah Cuneo,
on 3/30/2016
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Happy Wednesday everyone! Want to find out more about my little friend and my character creation process? Hop on over to my group blog by clicking on the button in the side bar, clicking on the following link...
or copy and paste the following web address into your browser...
http://drawntopicturebooks.blogspot.com/2016/03/deborah-cuneo-creating-characters.html
Hope to see you there!!
The question "Are we there yet? " has come up regularly during the course of my life. The term "there" might have carried a different meaning each time it was asked, but it usually meant that I had my eye on some goal that always seemed a distance away. When I was younger, for the most part "are we there yet" referred to a geographic destination ( just ask my parents about our family car trips!). As a teenager and beyond, it was more often related to some personal, academic or professional milestone I wanted to achieve. Over the past several years, the milestones have been mostly about my art career.
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| The Babysitter - Pencil Sketch |
Whenever I set out to accomplish something, master a new medium or technique, create a specific piece or collection of art/writing, I proclaim it a goal and proceed to create a plan. I end up with a list of smaller tasks that I need to perform in order to get me "there". Once "there", I should have sense of satisfaction that I've completed my list and therefore reached my destination, right?...sort of. I find when I get to the end of that list, I am happy ...for about 30 seconds. Is it because, although I've finished what was on my list, I haven't really mastered what I set out to, or is it because my intended milestone was achieved, but I don't actually see it as the end game?
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| Bird Character Sketches - Pencil |
I recently heard that Michelangelo once said "Lord, grant that I would desire more than I can accomplish." I think this has always been engrained in my dna ( even before I learned that it came from Michelangelo!). I just love to learn, especially when it's related to art and creativity. And...I find that as I reach each creative goal, it seems to trigger a whole other set of things I want to do and learn. I also genuinely try to never get so comfortable in where I am, personally or creatively, that I'm afraid to make an adjustment or completely change it up by trying something new. I'm on a never-ending journey of self discovery, with no final destination and I don't necessarily see it as a bad thing.
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| Giant Lizard-Window Display - Foam Core/Spray Paint |
I'm very open to new creative experiences, but in trying to build a career as a artist, while continuing to evolve, how are we supposed to hang in there through the long hours of doing client work while reinventing ourselves, keeping our work fresh, dealing with work that doesn't come out right, thinking it came out right but getting rejected anyway or worse...crickets (you all know the drill)? Always reaching "A" goal but, never reaching "The" goal, if we really even have that clearly defined in our head. When do we actually "get there" and how do we prevent ourselves from becoming so worn down and discouraged by all the hurdles along the way, that we want to give up before we arrive?
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| Cricket Character Sketches - Pencil |
I think for me, it's been more about what I've learned (and still learning) from the journey and not necessarily from each destination. I survive it all by allowing myself to be human and feel badly in those down times, but not for long! I try to pick right back up as quickly as possible, with a positive attitude and action... maybe a new project or art piece or even shake things up bit by taking a professional risk. Sometimes it's just a matter of small accomplishment, like straightening up my creative spaces or cleaning my art supplies that moves me forward again with that feeling of new beginnings.
I also have an amazing support system in my husband and kids, my close friends and, of course, my crit group! Sometimes, it's simply an encouraging word from my "people" that gives me the courage to try again. But more than anything, I've learned to rise and fall with the tides more, by developing an emotional buoyancy, that for me, is deeply rooted in my faith, the rush I get from learning something new and the ability to always see hope in creativity!
By:
Deborah Cuneo,
on 3/15/2016
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Anyone who teaches art at the elementary level, knows that working with young children on a group art piece is a little (ok, a lot) like herding cats. It's taxing, but it's not impossible. And, If it goes even close to plan, the takeaway can be an incredibly enriching and valuable experience, on so many levels!
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| Eric Carle Inspired Paper Quilt / Kindergarten Collaborative Project - Colors of Long Island Exhibit 2008 |
I did quite a few group projects during my time teaching. My policy was always to just give them some parameters to work with, but never do it for them. I'm proud to say that the children's work you see here (minus drawing a large 20 x20 some odd inch rectangle for the kindergartners to glue their quilt blocks in and laminating the 2nd and 3rd graders pattern shapes after they made them) is totally kid designed, arranged and assembled!
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| 3D Pattern Sculpture / 2nd and 3rd Grade Collaborative Project - Colors of Long Island Exhibit 2009 |
Once we got past some of the bigger personalities wanting to control the ENTIRE outcome, the kids eventually realized that working together could actually be fun and result in beautiful art. But more importantly, most of them experienced a personal growth and creative evolution, that could not have taken place without having participated in that type of exercise. If you're open to the experience, the same thing can happen as an adult.  |
| Chihuly Inspired Sculpture / 4th and 5th grade Collaborative Project - Colors of Long Island Exhibit 2010 |
In my own artistic journey, I find myself constantly trying to prevent creative brain-drain, from juggling my home and family obligations, with my somewhat reclusive work life of art deadlines, proposals, submissions, marketing and keeping an active social media presence (still working on that part!). I do try to step outside my little box of isolation to re-charge from time to time, temporarily removing my self-imposed boundaries and releasing a bit of control over the way I normally experience my day.
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| Time for Another Cup of Tea! - A sketchbook sneak-peek - watercolor/micron botanical and gel pen/white and black ink doodling |
I try to sketch, play with different media, participate in workshops and go to creative events as much as time (and my pocketbook ) will allow. One medium I love to play around with, is fabric... and I even sew some of it together occasionally too! (my fellow textile "aficionados" will appreciate that statement)
In a recent effort to stretch my creative self, I signed up for a quilting "round robin" through a local fabric shop. In a nutshell, each participant provides a large, pre-sewn block design and a few yards of coordinating fabric. The package gets passed around to three random people over the course of three or four months, who then put their own creative stamp on your project, by adding a new border to it each time.
Now...handing over a sizable (and fairly expensive) pile of treasured textiles to strangers, that may not share your quilting aesthetic and you have no say in what they do to your initial contribution, is not all that easy...BUT, once you hand in your package, like it or not, you are forced give up any control you might have had on the outcome. While I like to look at fabric as another medium to create art with, most of the participants were more traditional quilters. I made peace with that, took a page from my former students collaborative experience and "Let it go"(sorry, had to)!
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| Round Robin Quilting - Addition of 1st Border |
I handed over my very first attempt at improvisational piecing, to three ladies that had never done improv either and the results were actually kind of great! They each seemed to be inspired by my first block, embraced the challenge, took a creative leap of faith and jumped right in. They also had to give up controlling every size, shape, placement and color that you normally do in traditional quilting, but they learned something new that they might never have tried otherwise, and most importantly, they said they had fun because, they allowed themselves the freedom to just play!
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| Round Robin Quilting - Addition of 2nd Border |
For me, giving up control of the outcome and seeing what was returned, left me inspired by their creative fearlessness and gave me a tremendous amount of creative information to take forward (not to mention a pretty neat quilt top!). I'm certain what I learned, will show up in future fabric projects and maybe even inform my illustrative work as well...you never know.
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| Round Robin Quilting - Addition of 3rd Border then returned to me |
What I do know for sure, is that occasionally working on a collaborative project and learning to give over that control (whether it's internal, external or both), is a great way to shake things up and keep the creative flames burning. You never know what amazing creation one of those new, little sparks will ignite!
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| "Baby" J. Egg - Mixed Media Sketch |
There I am, minding my own business and...WHAM, It hit's me!! Inspiration comes at the weirdest times, usually when I'm supposed to be doing something else. Does that happen to anyone else?... Just me?... Anyway, sometimes, you just have to go with it!
A friend posted her adorable (VERY dark colored) little dog on Facebook, then I read Barbara DiLorenzo's post on
Drawn to Picture Books and she mentioned liquid pencil. I remembered I had a little jar so..... I sat down to play.
30 min sketch with liquid pencil, white acrylic ink, micron pen and the kitchen sink! I had fun and also discovered that because I'm working on a picture book, I seem to transform everything I draw lately into a very young version of whatever it is supposed to be. Too funny!!
By:
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on 2/26/2016
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I was now on a mission, I could do this!! It would be just like teaching myself about every other medium I ever used. I began to play more withdigital as a paint tool. The more I played, the more I loved it, especially the flexibility of revision! The fact that I could easily undo something if it wasn't appealing, pretty much sealed the deal for me and seemed to remove my creative inhibitions! I definitely wanted to paint this story digitally, even if it was just for a dummy to start, but in order to do a whole book, I felt l needed to learn how to use the digital tools more confidently.
I worked hard to develop this new style, in between jobs, after work and any spare time I had. As a result of weeks and weeks of 10-15 hour workdays, my eyes started to develop some pretty serious vision problems. I was instructed by the doctor to cut waaaaaayy back on my illustration time. Unfortunately, It slowed down my progress A LOT, but after a few months of practice and discovery (and my eyes had a chance to heal...a bit), I was ready to revise the dragon and paint it digitally. Let the sketching begin...
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| Revised LD Sketch/Front - Pencil |
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| Revised LD Sketch/Side - Pencil |
When I had a couple that I was happy with, I started to paint. They looked better than all the other versions, but my eyes were not completely healed, so my vision was not at it's peak. I felt like something was off a little in the color studies, but I couldn't put my finger on it (or see it clearly). Frustration set in! |
| Revised LD Sketch/Angry! - Digitally Colored Sketch |
It had been a while since I was in contact with the editor, so I decided that I at least wanted to touch base with her and let her know that I didn't fall off the face of the planet. I emailed her my progress along with the original storyboard.  |
| Revised LD Character Study - Digitally Colored |
The abridged version...There was a bit of "radio silence" (insert extreme anxiousness here), but she did eventually get back to me ...and told me she was taking it all to acquisitions, as is, YIKES! I thought I was going to just say "Hey, here's my progress.", then get a second go at the rendering, but she took it and ran with the "as is" version. And I'm glad she did!
I am so incredibly excited to announce, that despite some hiccups along the way, by the end of last year, Little Dragon, my first book as author and illustrator (and my little friend that kept me company all these years), had finally found a home at Sky Pony Press! (And I'm even getting my opportunity to work a bit more on the rendering too!).  |
| Revised LD (latest revision) - Digitally Colored Sketch |
What a ride it's been, but it's not the end of the journey, it's just the beginning of the next part!! The book is set to be released in Spring 2017, So...I hope you'll stop back to my blog, say hi in the comment section ( It gets lonely here in cyber-space!) and continue to join me as I share more about my journey forward with Little Dragon, as well as my other artventures! Now, about that duck... ;o)  |
| Original Dragon-Duck Character - Marker/Colored Pencil |
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Deborah Cuneo,
on 2/23/2016
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I continued to sketch and paint my little guy over the years, in different forms, using different media and I even made some more story notes here and there, but nothing really ever came of any of it. It seemed like my little dragon probably was never going to be anything more than just a good friend that would show up from time to time. Maybe he was meant to be just a quiet, reassuring presence that kept me company as I navigated the ups and downs of children's publishing. |
Little Dragon Artiste! - Pencil Sketch |
As all artists do from time to time, I started to reevaluate my rendering style, which was mostly acrylic. I was getting bored with it and my guess was that was coming through in my finished pieces as well. I had used Photoshop in the past, to manipulate my sketches and to do some quick color studies, and actually had a lot of fun with it (especially the color studies)! I decided to dabble a little with digital coloring. I needed a quick sketch to play with and guess who showed up again?!
I brought it to the 2013 NJSCBWI conference that year (Great conference but that's for a different blog post!) and at the end of my portfolio review, I pulled out the sketch to show the direction I was considering taking my art. I got really encouraging words from my reviewer and it got me to think about a story again. I went back and roughed out some thumbnail ideas, but it just wouldn't come together for me yet.
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| Little Dragon - Very First Digitally Colored Sketch |
The following spring, I signed up for the NJSCBWI conference like I always did, but this time, I impulsively decided to take the leap and sign up for the one on one with an editor. I figured I could use this opportunity to force my writing hand. Submission was in a few weeks so, I had to come up with a story quick. Although this definitely fell into the category of "what the heck was I thinking", I pulled it together and wrote the story...visually. So much for me honing my "writing" skills.
Long and short...I included a few words (very few), got the ok to submit (again, NJSCBWI is awesome!!) and when I showed up for the review, the editor loved the storyboard and the few words that went with it...but felt the character needed a bit more work. There were a couple more versions of the character that I did for that year's Illustrator Intensive and Art show, so I showed her ...
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| Little Dragon NJSCBWI Illustrator Intensive - Acrylic/Colored Pencil |
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| Little Dragon/ " Down The Shore" NJSCBWI Juried Art Show (Honorable Mention) - Acrylic/Colored Pencil/Digital |
...but the one that was getting the best response, was the little bit of digital play that I did. The editor sent me on my way with the mission of revamping the character and said I could send it whenever I was ready. Great! Now all I had to do was teach myself how to paint digitally!
(next up...conclusion...)
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Deborah Cuneo,
on 2/21/2016
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About 9 years ago, as my kids got older and I was making a career change, I found I could squeak out small blocks of time that I could call "my own". Everything seemed to be coming together for me to finally pursue my dream of creating art for children's books. First order of business would be to create a portfolio!
In that first grouping of kid-lit illustrations, there was this little duck, dressed in a dragon costume, leaning over a ginormous egg. Each time I showed the portfolio, the reviewer would pause over this one piece and always ask if there was a story to go with it. Sadly, at that point in my career, there wasn't.
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| Original Dragon Duck - Markers/Colored Pencil |
That first year, after attending a portfolio day at the Society of Illustrators, an agent contacted me about creating a story for that character. I was super excited about being approached and really did give it an honest shot, but I just couldn't seem to come up with anything I was happy with.
A month or two after that experience, I decided to submit to a conference at Rutgers and wanted to do a new piece to send. I was still trying to find my visual voice, so I experimented with pastel pencils and although he looked a bit different, that curious little duck in a dragon suit showed up again! I received the same response to this new dragon-ish character at that conference, as I did at the other reviews. There was definitely something about him that I needed to explore further.
 |
| Close up of Rutger's Submission - Pastel Pencils |
As I continued on my illustrative journey in kid-lit, different versions of my little character (which was now completely a dragon) would always seem to pop up in my work. Sometimes as just a sketch...  |
| Assorted little dragon sketches - Pencil |
sometimes a finished piece... |
| Little Dragon with Colored Pencils - Acrylic/colored pencil |
and I even did a little sculpture once, for a class I was teaching. |
| Little Dragon sculpture - Air Dry Clay |
It began to feel like he was desperately trying to tell me something, but I just couldn't figure out what it was.(to be continued...)
By:
Deborah Cuneo,
on 1/15/2016
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Self portrait Twitter #MeetTheCCArtist - digital
This self portrait was done for this Twitter weekly challenge I participate in. I took a couple of liberties by eliminating a few "experience" lines (and maybe a couple of pounds), lol. Actually, because I'm still practicing human faces (and digital painting), I decided that less is more...that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Got to say, I'm loving this new tablet!! Going from drawing on a 10 yr old wacom with a drawing space the size of a large postcard, to being able to draw directly on the screen, has made such an improvement in my digital sketching.
The Twitter challenge is # colour_collective #MeetTheCCArtist Once a week (Saturdays) the moderator announces a new color and each participant posts an image 2:30 pm the following Friday. It's such a fun challenge and the constant drawing is helping me improve my drawing and "painting"skills. Next challenge for color collective will be announced tomorrow and the next group of finished pieces will be Friday, Jan22 at 2pm. Come look me up on twitter @debcuneoart
and follow along!
Just a little reward for a hard day's work. I was exhausted, but I had to take a new toy for a quick "test drive". It was a little awkward because it's not set up properly yet, but not bad for a first try at a colored doodle. Oh....the possibilities!!!!
By:
Deborah Cuneo,
on 1/7/2016
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"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
~Scott Adams
Just a quick little doodle done in pencil,watercolor, brush pen markers and micron pen.
I feel like I should have stopped at the watercolor, but it
is a doodle...
Fox Doodle - Experimenting... ...and the markers
were just sitting there in my cup, calling to me... ;o)
Inspirational mugs...they're not just for coffee!!Kidding aside, it really
is hard to know when to stop and when to keep going, especially when I'm unfamiliar with the medium. I find that sometimes, I become more concerned about not making mistakes, than focusing on the pure enjoyment of creating art, and that mindset not only prevents me from enjoying the experience, but it holds me back from realizing my full potential with whatever I'm using to create with. I know so many artists who struggle with the same thing. Fortunately, in this case, this was total play and the end result wasn't all that critical.
When I do play, I make a conscious decision to allow myself the freedom of experimenting without restriction... and agree not to beat myself up if it isn't perfect (the most important part!!). That's really the only way for me to work out the kinks and find out what's possible, what works and what doesn't without destroying an important piece that might be for a client!
Sketchbook page- Experiments with new medium combinationsCreative play also affords me an opportunity to tap into my childhood, creative brain. It transports me back to a time in my life that I was completely open to ALL possibilities, because the world hadn't told me that I wasn't allowed to do "that" yet. A time when I used to create without care. Where I would select colors and make marks, just because... just to see...and what better way to create than that!
The best thing is, the more I give myself opportunity to play, the more my brain automatically defaults to that very organic way of creating
every time I sit down to make any art and the end product (as well as my state of mind) has been so much better for it!
So, bottom line... I make an effort to "play" often! I put aside the restrictions and stress of my daily world, try a new medium, loose myself in creativity and open myself up to the mindset that all things are possible and all things are okay, because when making art...they are! :o)
Happy Creating!!
~Deborah
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Deborah Cuneo,
on 1/2/2016
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Happy New Year! I hope this post finds everyone well and rested from your holiday season. I love this time of year!! The act of turning the calendar to a new year always seems to energize and motivate me, and this year is no different. I think it's the whole idea of "new" that does it.
"New" can be exciting and inspiring, like a new outfit or a new "toy". It can also be intimidating and a bit scary, like moving to a new town or starting a new job. Sometimes, it can be both at the same time, but whatever the case, I always attempt to not to let that stop me from trying new things. Truth be told, things don't always work out the way I envision...but sometimes it works out really well, even exceeding my expectations With either outcome, I try to embrace every new experience as an opportunity to learn and take another step forward on my journey in this life.Onion Study - First attempt at watercolors other than in grade school! First unfinished attempt at an illustration colored digitally. :o/
So, with that in mind, along with ringing in 2016, I present to you "Creating Out LOUD!" ... a new, more appropriate title to my updated blog format. The web address will still be:
and going forward a lot of the content will still be about my illustrative art. But, what's new (aside from the banner ;o)) is that I'll be opening a window into what has traditionally been my more private, creative life. I'll be sharing my experiences as I experiment with new ideas, other mediums, techniques, flops and successes alike, and showing how all areas of my creative play are intertwined and help inform each other. It's really to share about the entire process of creativity (the emotional as well as the physical) and hopefully inspire others to embrace the idea of being creatively fearless (or at least creatively daring) as well! Improv Pin Cushion/Caddy - For holiday exchange at Long Island Modern Quilting Guild. First attempt at sewing a complicated, 3-d structure completely independently. Thought I'd start out with the most complicated thing I could find :o)
Glass Dish - First attempt at creating art with colored glass at NJSCBWI meet the editor craft workshopLooking forward to sharing with you, an exciting new year of... creating out loud! ~Deborah
(Very first blog post 2009 -Pastel work from 1980-something!)
I love all kinds of art and have been creating (very privately!!) all kinds of art my whole life. But, it wasn't until I got into the kid-lit world, that it became apparent I needed to have a very public, online art presence. I was new to the technology world, so I wasn't even sure where to start. I spoke to other artists and heard some were using a blog for that purpose. It seemed easy, so I jumped on board!
I found it to be a simple, no cost (free is good!) way to share my artwork with industry professionals. Whenever I'd created a new piece, I'd simply post it with a short blurb about what it was and what I used to create it. I kept it all about the visual to make it be as close to a "portfolio" as my blog format would allow. I knew I eventually have to spring for a proper website and one day I would get "there", but I was just starting out and this worked for the here and now.
(First Dragon Post -Pastel 2007)
When I finally created my website, I felt that having both the blog and the website doing exactly the same thing, seemed a little silly, so I decided it was time to dip my pinky toe into the very scary world of actual blogging. I began to elaborate, just a little, with my posts, to make it more than just another gallery and the response to the change was very favorable, so I continued. It was hard to know what to talk about at first, but I knew I would eventually get "there". I actually loved reading about other artists' process, so maybe I'd share mine. It was sort of like creating out-loud. I was doing a lot of kid-lit work at the time too, so I had tons to blog about...or so I thought.
(Markers and Colored Pencils -2009)
The down side to the timing of all of this, was that a lot of what I was illustrating for the kid-lit world, was either experimental or came with contractual restrictions that prevented me from immediately sharing any of it on my blog. This left big blocks of time without a post... but it occurred to me that children's book illustration wasn't the only type of art I did. I was constantly working on all kinds of art, experimenting with all sorts of mediums and all of that could be shared. So, I did more of that type of sharing over the last year to fill in for what I couldn't talk about yet and it seemed to go over really well again. It took a thousand baby steps, but I got "there"...I was actually blogging, (IN PUBLIC!) and it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be! So now what?
(Dragon in Studio - Acrylic and Colored Pencils 2011)
Well, with the holidays upon us, I've decided to take a short blogging break for the next couple of weeks to spend some time with my family, regroup and get ready for all the exciting changes that are taking place in my creative world! When I come back after New Years, I plan to kick off 2016 with blogging not just about my up and coming, kid-lit, illustrative artventures, but I'll be regularly sharing a bit of those other projects and experiments as well.
( Private Commission, Baby Announcement - Digital and Pencil - 2015)
( Promo Page - Digital and Pencil 2015)
I will also share about my creative journey this past year and how allowing myself the emotional freedom of "play " in all areas of art, has even informed my illustrative work and helped me evolve as an artist (and blogger!). Hopefully, some of those posts will help inspire others to try being creatively fearless themselves and if that happens, then me taking that first (very scary) step towards creating out loud, will have all been worth it! The blog will still have the same web address, just the blog name will be adjusted a little bit, to reflect more of what I am actually doing with the content. I'm definitely looking forward to ringing in this exciting New Year with everyone!!
(A Christmas Carol - Acrylic and Colored pencil 2012)
But, until then...
Wishing you and yours the many blessings and good tidings of this Holiday Season and a very happy, healthy and safe New Year!!
Creatively Yours,
~Deborah
I can't believe that Christmas is only 10 days away, I feel like I just finished eating the bag of Halloween candy that I was supposed to give out!! Actually, the Christmas Spirit seemed to start early for me this year, October to be exact. No, I didn't follow the stores and decorate 2 months early and no, I wasn't playing Christmas music before the " allowed" date, as set by my kids many years ago... I simply participated in an amazing ministry project called Operation Christmas Child.
This is a worldwide "gift giving" mission where churches like C3 Church on Long Island , along with countless others, all team up with an amazing organization called Samaritan's Purse, who coordinates the collection, packing and distribution of gift filled shoe-boxes to children in poverty and high risk situations internationally. The donations are all new items and based on the age group the box will go to. I helped collect for younger children, so the boxes usually consist of basic necessities like soap, washcloths, tooth brushes, socks, pencils, notebooks, art supplies, small toys and such.
I not only had the pleasure of working with an amazing bunch of ladies in C3 Church collecting donations and packing some boxes, but I also had the privilege of working with some of the kids in the children's ministry at C3, to create beautiful, homemade Christmas cards, that were then included in the boxes. (**please note this card is not my design. I saw this a long time ago on the internet, but wasn't able to find it again to give the artist proper recognition) The kids were awesome and completely embraced the reason they were spending all that time and effort creating these small masterpieces to be given away. These were just a few of the beautiful works of art that went out!
I think everyone that participated in this effort, was touched by the cause in some way. While I loved working with the Ladies and really enjoyed creating with the children again, I was overcome with sadness by the thought that there were so many children in the world that are in desperate need of even the most basic necessities of life and i wanted to help them all, but couldn't. It was really humbling to hear about their stories and I felt privileged that I was able to play even the teensey-tiniest part of such a wonderful mission!
If you would like to find out more about C3 Long Island or Samaritan's Purse, feel free to click the links below:
By:
Deborah Cuneo,
on 11/17/2015
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WOW! I can't believe the Holidays are upon us and 2016 is just around the corner! 2015 has really been the year of experimentation for me. The end of last year left me feeling a bit stale and it was showing in my work, so I spent this year playing with many new mediums. I have to say, I'm really loving the results of all that experimenting both artistically and emotionally! Who doesn't love playing with new "toys"?!
One of the mediums I recently tried out was suggested by an artist friend. It's called Liquid Pencil made by Derivan. From what I understand, there are a couple of different brands, but I went with whatever the art store carried, which happened to be the one my friend told me about.
They come in a couple of colors and either rewettable or permanent. You can also get them in a small, tube form or in 50ml jars.
I picked up a jar of Blue, Sepia and Grey9 in the rewettable formula. They act similarly to tube watercolor and were fairly easy to use. It's a little thick to start, but you just mix them with water to get more flow from the brush and you can play with value that way as well. They have a slight sheen to them, similar to heavily rendered graphite. I decided to play with the Blue to start.
I did a quick 10 minute painted sketch to get a feel for the medium. I decided to try a human (to keep up with my mission from last year). I went in directly with paint, no advance sketch. I did briefly glance at a photo of a girl to get the placement of the features and some of the shadowing, but this is my most independant human rendering yet. After I finished, I scanned it into the computer and used photoshop to flip the image to check my proportions and placement and make sure it wasn't too skewed (I do this with every image I create). Considering this was done so quickly, without sketching on the paper first, it didn't come out too badly...even flipped.I still have a ways to go, but I feel like I've made a lot of progress since the beginning of my learn-to-draw-humans journey.
So here's what I've learned from this experiment...
MEDIUM: I like that the liquid pencil can be used to create a "graphite-looking" rendering without the mess on your hands (anybody?...just me?...). You also have the option to use it like watercolor or ink wash (which I did here) by really watering it down. It does bleed like watercolor though, so you have to let it dry thoroughly if you want to layer shadow, line and color. The drying time seemed longer than watercolors, but I wasn't paying too close attention because...multitasking.
EMOTIONALLY: I always get a rush playing with new products or combinations of products! A happy side-effect of using something I've never used before, is that my approach to the piece is different. When I'm using a familiar medium, I tend to take the basic elements of art and design for granted. I see and then try to do everything at once without thinking. When I use a new medium, I seem to approach the piece a bit more methodically, breaking "it" down to it's most basic state relying more on shape and value to start and building from there. I'm not sure why it happens, but I like when it does. The other great thing is that when it happens, it usually helps inform the next few pieces I create, that is, until I get too comfortable again and lose that focus. That's why it's good to play with new materials from time to time! (I can always justify the purchase of new art supplies!!;o))
Overall, I really like the product so far, and am looking forward to trying the other colors and maybe even combining this with other mediums. Stay tuned...
I dug this little guy out of my "art-chives" to help wish everyone a very happy first day of Autumn! The crispness in the air, the acorns crunching beneath my feet and the beautiful colors that are slowly making their way into the landscape... It's incredibly inspirational! Best part is that I can open the windows in my studio again. I just LOVE this time of year in New York!!!
(Acrylic and Colored Pencil. Click on image to enlarge.)
Well it's been quite a ride this summer! Lots of fun visits with family and friends, not so fun attack of the mosquitoes and all the medication to follow, new creative artventures , a joint exhibit at the Brooklyn Library and a solo exhibit at Syosset Public Library Art Gallery! The library and staff are wonderful, the facility is beautiful and they have the best air conditioning (always a priority for me <wink> )!! There are some of my traditional paintings and a little of my new digital style in a mix of prints and original art.
So...If you're in the area and feel like checking it out, the exhibit runs from
September 4th to September 27th.
The library is located at:
225 South Oyster Bay Road
Syosset, NY 11791
For more information and directions, you can go to...
If you go, I would love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to comment on this blog!
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