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"Love is the mystery of water and a star." –Pablo Neruda 

April is National Poetry Month. Below is a new piece of art inspired by this
snippet of a poem, step-by-step, working backwards. Enjoy!

After much fussing over details... the final art!

Building up the color.

Another view from the drawing table.

First pencil layer.

Rough color thoughts and a few tweaks on a printout of the sketch.

The original pencil sketch.

Sketchbook thumbnails. (No wonder I can't read my own handwriting!)

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I meant to have a new blog post in January, but after doing Knott’s and going to see family, I was a bit worn out to be honest. But that is neither here nor there, I have a few shows coming up soon, plus working on new art along with commissions. Without further ado, let us begin with some shows.

Long Beach Comic Expo is coming up on February 28 and March 1st at the Long Beach Convention Center. I love doing show and hope to see everyone there.

Then it is off to do the 3rd Annual Spook Show on March 7th at the Halloween Club in La Mirada. I did this show last year and had a blast; great music, horror, and food.Finally I will be ending March with two big shows. First up is Monsterpalooza on March 27th-29th at the Marriott Burbank Hotel and Convention Center. Well I won’t be there, but Shawn will be there representing me. So please stop by and say hello to him.And the reason I won’t be there is because I shall be going to Emerald City Comicon on March 27th-29th for my second year at the Washington State Convention Center. I had an amazing time last year and can’t wait to go back, maybe this time I will get a chance to look around. Now for a quick look at a new piece I have of a dark fairy with wings and horns. She playfully sits on a stone block in front of a doorway. Is she here to stop you from entering or to entice you to your doom? Available as a print at my store.That is it for now, I am off to pack up for the shows. Take care and keep creating.

–Diana

 

 

The post Short blog to let you know I am alive… appeared first on Diana Levin Art.

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Finding the special in the ordinary comes naturally to photographer, Kim Kauffman. She has found her own unique way to translate her dual passions of photography and gardening into stunning imagery that simply begs to be noticed. We are thrilled to introduce Kim's striking artistic vision to Tustin!

A Peaceful Place, photography by Kim Kauffman

Kim continues the tradition of botanical discovery that blossomed in the 1600 and 1700's with artistic documentation of horticultural treasures found by European travelers. Her photographic series, Florilegium, pays homage to those explorers and travelers with its name, meaning "a gathering of flowers." These images evolved along with her growth as a curious artist and an avid gardener. Kim is drawn to her garden for the lessons nature affords if one simply slows down and looks. Flowers, leaves, seed pods and other objects collected from the environment provide her with the building blocks of her cameraless and filmless photographs.

Blue Clematis, photography by Kim Kauffman

How can a photograph be both cameraless and filmless, you might wonder? Kim has developed a special technique that utilizes both a flatbed scanner and digital process that she's been working with since the late 1990's. You might be surprised to consider that cameraless photographic techniques have been around since the birth of photography! Kim has taken inspiration from techniques of the 1830's and 40's developed by William Henry Fox Talbot and Anna Atkins. Anna is considered by some to be the world's first female photographer.

Equipoise, photography by Kim Kauffman

Images from the Florilegium series are composed of multiple layers that present a specimen straight from Kim's imagination. New environments emerge from these layers over time, much like a garden that is continually renewing itself. Each building block of the final image is carefully considered for its texture, color and pattern, and assembled into a photo collage that invites us to appraise with the eyes of a gardener and wonder with the eyes of an explorer.

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No words today, just pictures. :-)

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So, it seems that after an eternal period of bad and/or middling weather, it’s finally summer! Let us celebrate, shall we?

Maybe you’ll hit a Newport Creamery sometime soon, and grab an AwfulAwful… while you’re there, pick up one of my children’s menus. This one is Block Island themed. It was fun for me to work on this one, as I spent many summers out there courtesy of my uncle, Captain Nick.

 

 

And maybe, in your beach bag you’ll have a copy of the current July/August 2014 issue of Rachael Ray magazine. If so, you may find one of my design items in there… it’s TingTing Tongs, which are salad tongs shaped like one of those cymbal-bashing monkeys. Thank you Rachael and staff for featuring it!

 

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www.jenniferthermes.com

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Happy Holidays to all of my fans from all over the world. I hope 2014 brings you lots of laughter, good health, and happiness. Here is a little painting I did for the season. Cheers!

 

 

Here is a quote from one of my favorite author’s Neil Gaiman. You can view the entire message and previous years wishes on his blog here.

 

I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you’ll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you’ll make something that didn’t exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind. -Neil Gaiman 2008

 

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Since I have been in my cave (aka the art studio), I seem to lose track of time. But it has been very productive and I have several new art pieces ready to display. Just in time too as I have Keen Halloween coming up in two weeks and I need to get prints made aplenty.

I have been in a Cthulhu state of mind recently and have made a proper portrait of the Old One in all his grand glory. Let me know what you guys think, maybe I should do one of his buddy King Hastur too.

I will be doing the Canoga Park Art Walk on September 19th, the last one of the summer and I may just have a few of my newer mini paintings on display too. Music, food, and art… what more could you ask for?

I also have just signed up to vend at the Whimsic Alley Halloween Craft Faire in late October. I will have more details as the date gets closer, looks like it will be a lot of fun.

Take care,

–Diana

 

 

The post September is half over? Where did the time go… appeared first on Diana Levin Art.

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Above, the final color piece from this sketch, coming soon to a postcard near you.

Below, a black & white piece for the back. Steady as she goes!

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So, we have a blizzard occurring at the moment here in RI. Anytime there is a serious quantity of snow, those of us who were alive at the time remember the legendary Blizzard of 1978. I know I do! I was 11 at the time, and it made a huge impression.

So, when asked to come up with a winter themed Newport Creamery kid’s menu, I thought it would be interesting for todays’s kids to hear about the storm that many of their parents lived through. A lot has changed in the meantime, especially the ability to know a storm is coming well in advance. We all have SO much information these days that it’s hard to envision a time where we could literally be caught off guard by weather!

The menu cover shows what I remember it being like (sort of). There were actually no cows or other farm animals at my house then. But snowdrifts halfway up the house? Yes! A mom who barely made it home on time? Yup. A dad who got stuck downtown at the Providence Marriott for 3 days, and then decided to walk home to Scituate? Yup. There was no school for days on end, and no power either. We had a fireplace and could cook some things in it. I remember making impressive snow forts and sculptures after all was said and done.

So, after THIS blizzard passes through, and you find yourself in a Newport Creamery, check out the kid’s menu. Go ahead, just ask for one. Here’s a peek at the inside. J. Joseph Garrahy, the Governor of RI at the time, appears inside since he was the one who had to deal with the situation. I hope kids will like this issue, and that it sparks conversation!

 

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I am happy to say that my artwork is currently appearing in a brand NEW little magazine published by our friends at Highlights.

Highlights Hello is designed for the youngest babies and toddlers, and is even printed on rip-proof coated paper and stitched like a little board book.

I love illustrating for this age group. Here is my “Find It” feature, which is like baby’s first Hidden Pictures!

 

 

 

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Here's a new map for an upcoming issue of Adirondack Life magazine. This one was a lot of fun to do, because the Art Director wanted a sort of 1940's-vintage-linen postcard feel to the map. (Try looking those up on ebay... way to want to start collecting 'em!) This will run on a tilt across a spread, so I had to design it to keep the lettering out of the gutter– thus the blankish area toward the right. (That sneaky little gutter... always good for a challenge!)

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Being an artist is surely not a job for the faint of heart. At least if you are trying to earn a living at it.  I am a student to many of my successful artist friends.  I have seen the common thread of those who are doing well, is this “KNOWING” that no matter what, you will continue to create. There is also the need for a “skin like a rhino” and the drive to keep getting out the pencil and keep sketching and creating, even when you hear words like, the economy is down, business is slow, yada yada yadaa bla!

Call me what you will, I was born to make art, draw cartoons and color pictures each day. It is what makes me get up in the morning and what I often think about when going to bed. I have even gotten ideas in the night when I am happily dreaming away!  Oh the paintings I have done in my sleep!

I finished this last panel for the Licensing show in Las Vegas yesterday. What a load lifted.   I thought I finished the art late Sunday night, but upon sleeping on it, I woke up knowing it needed more tweaking.  I LOVE how the bright turquoise came out.  Pro Copy really got this one right!

Off to work on a snow man story!

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Great weather around here lately for bugs. (And frogs. And ducks. And people with curly hair...)

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Well, what do you know? It turned into another year! As I was poking around looking at vintage images, I found a bunch of New Year pig images:

Pigs. For New Year. Hmmm.

It appears to have been an all-Europe phenomenon, imported to the US.

I am surprised I never noticed this ‘gluckschwein’ (lucky pig) imagery in conjunction with the New Year before.

By luck, I happen to have a pig book coming out early in this New Year- in a mere 17 days! This is what my little pig guy looks like.

With maybe just a little more luck, it will be discovered and enjoyed by actual kids.
Happy New Year everyone! Oink!

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Well, look. It’s already November.
I’ve been very busy here with all kinds of fun goings-on. Well, fun + work+ The Usual Stuff That Must Be Done, you know what I mean! In the meantime, a few new Highlights High Five magazine features came out. Cowboy Cornbread for October:

And Saucy Turkey Sandwiches for November!

Ah, turkey. Tis the season!

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And here's the finish! I've scanned in the art and made some adjustments to the color to bring it as close to the original as possible. This can be tricky, since the image prints differently than it appears on my monitor. Ah well, technology isn't perfect.

I think my little bug has the right idea.

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This is from a while back. I haven't looked at if for a while, and I forgot how much I liked it.
I'm thinking of doing something with this idea for licensing. Except that this piece took forever to do, and this style, done this way, wouldn't be practical. I do love the brightness of the watercolor though, and hadn't realized how soft my colored pencil work is by comparison until I, well, compared the two.

I used ink, watercolor, AND colored pencils on this. Yikes.

I've been fiddling with my website, reorganizing my art (the new version isn't published yet, so don't bother going to look). I decided to do a little detail of each piece in addition to the whole piece, so that means doing a whole separate html page for each piece of art. I know, I'm conking myself on my head. But I know that when I look at people's sites I like to see details, so I'm doing details.

Today I've sneezed about 12,000 times. Seems I'm allergic to something or other. Staring at a computer screen, coding html, and sneezing ~ doesn't that sound like a fun way to spend the day? Hey, maybe I'm allergic to my computer. Now there's a thought.

There's nothing earth-shatteringly interesting to post about. I have a bunch of stuff half ready to show, but I can't seem to gather my thoughts together properly and also do adequate photos or scans. Some days you just can't get it together, and that's all there is to it.

I can't get Michael Jackson songs out of my head. They're just permanently stuck there now it seems. Sigh.

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Available NOW at a newsstand near you!
It’s the July 09 issue of Highlights High Five.
This month’s recipe teaches you how to roll your own apple pies.
You know you want to. Don’t fight it.

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Wow, the difference a day makes!
Wendell, who I was so worried about in the last post, is on meds for an infection, and is not leaving us like I thought he might be. He just teeters precariously sometimes, and I get gloom and doomy. Today the sun is shining and the birdies are singing and there is hope, so YAY. Sorry I hit the panic button ~ and thanks for all the well wishes.


Other stuff~
I'm working on some new art that is REALLY different than my usual style. Can't say much about what its for, but I'm kind of excited about it. These are super duper fast "first thought" rough sketches of a couple of ideas.



I've been doing really tight, and/or realistically rendered or laborious time consuming art for so long, I've almost forgotten how to do "simple"! Its like those muscles have atrophied or something. Trying to get back in shape!


And here's something that has absolutely nothing to do with anything, but it was a funny thought: Today I was pulling the car into traffic; busy traffic, coming and going, and I was looking both ways, waiting, waiting, until just the right moment to pull into the flow ~ and it hit me that it was exactly the same as trying to time the right moment to jump in when you're doing Double Dutch jumprope! Remember that? Those two ropes would be going around and around, and you'd be standing there, kind of swaying in rhythmn to them, trying to gauge the exact right moment to JUMP IN. If you did it wrong you got tangled and the ropes stopped and it had to be started up all over again. But if you hit it just right, it was so cool.

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