Electric Fire iPhone 5 case

Its been a while, I didn't mean to ignore my blog--but lots and lots of things have been happening in my life! First of all, I'm moving back to California! I have been thinking about moving back on and off while living in NYC and I finally decided on it two weeks ago when I gave my two-week notice at my job. I am completely ecstatic to be coming home and I just have missed my family and friends so so much!

Anyway, that's not why I blogged! I recently finished this concept art painting about a month ago, its been sitting in my hard drive the last few months unfinished and finally I came back from Italy in August and finally had some down time to actually finish it. I couldn't resist but I really wanted to make a new case for my iPhone and so I uploaded this piece in my Society 6 Store and ordered one! You can see below how awesome it turned out in the image below, the artwork is printed on the casemate brand. They are also available in prints of all sizes in case you were interested!

Why the dragon? The dragon is a symbol for power and inner strength. I love the dragon symbolism.

Angel

I'm experimenting with a new style in photoshop these days, trying different things to get different results. This is actually an older drawing I had from months and months ago that I never did anything with. Here's the original drawing in case you were curious. I learned so much traditional oil painting techniques this summer that it has helped me improve upon my digital painting as well. We also got to visit a lot of museums this summer such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Collection at Pitti Palace in Florence. We had our own personal tour guide, Bill Maughn who is one of the directors at the Academy of Art University-- and he's been to these museums several times. I also got to see a lot of old paintings from the medieval period through the renaissance with angels being depicted in their paintings as messengers of God and also as protectors, the intermediaries between the heavens and humans. Italy is a very inspiring place to visit and study. I'm thankful that I got to study there and also have been completely inspired by the art and environment of Florence.

Lunch time sketching

Flannel wearing lumberjack hipster with boots! I sketched my coworker today because he's always so stylish and such a character! People in NYC are definitely a lot more polished and stylish here vs. the West Coast where everyone is always dressed down and wearing a t-shirt. I really appreciate New York fashion with its clean lines and polished looks. I'm not a slave to fashion but I really like it when people look put together, it shows me that they took the time to make themselves presentable and want to make a good impression on the world. After all, sometimes you only get to make one good impression-- usually that's what most people remember anyway.

Lucca watercolor sketch.

Last night's watercolor sketch on a 7 x10 watercolor sketchbook I purchased in Florence. This is a scene from Lucca I painted from one of my many pictures of Italy. I've been experimenting with different colors... I loved this view from the tower that we climbed! I can't go a day without painting a background! I'm hooked.

Dreamwalker Graphic Novel - Reprint 3rd Edition

Hello! Happy holidays! I hope you are enjoying this holiday season with your family and loved ones!

It seems like forever since I've posted any updates on Dreamwalker. I am reprinting them this month and opening up sales throughout the end of this week. Last day to order this would be Sunday, December 9th.

To pre-order Dreamwalker Graphic Novel 3rd Edtion, click here. The book is $16 USD and U.S. shipping is $3.00. I will ship internationally; $10 every where else. Make sure to get your order in; after the holidays are over I will be closing off sales again for a while.

Order Dreamwalker Graphic Novel here.

In addition to issuing the 3rd edition of Dreamwalker, I’ve been working on some unexpected commissions. I love these projects as they sometimes take me out of my comfort zone, pushing me creatively to places I haven’t brought myself to recently. If you are interested in commissioning a piece by me I’d love to create something personal for someone who has supported me for so long.

I don’t have a ton of studio time over the next few weeks so if you would like something made before the end of the year, please email me immediately hello@dianepascual.com

Thank-you so much for appreciating my work and supporting me the last few years as I am progressing onto other projects!

P.S.
If you ordered last time and would like another copy, I will ship it to you for free.

P.S.S
First 10 people to order through the site will get a free 8x10 mini print of one of my recent works below, your choice of one of the three. Or you can order them anytime on my Society6 Store here. 

-- Diane

"Jessica", "Ambition", or "Spirit Call"

Jessica

Graphite on illustration board. I recently made this available as a print, iPhone cases, and various other products on my Society6 store. As the name implies, lately I've just been inspired to draw female sensuality and really what makes us women attractive. I know this is an attractive drawing, but women are so much more than a pretty face. We have depth and dimension to our being... capable of more than just love and compassion but we are strong and independent... and the list goes on! So if you're interested in owning a print of this artwork, follow the link here -> Society6

Ambition

A little Watercolor experimentation I drew over the weekend, I've made this illustration available as prints, iPhone cases, and various other products! Society 6 has also just started making pillows!  Check out this illustration on my Society 6 Profile.

Landscape - Quick Study #2

This is what I did over the weekend. Yep. I have two other work in progress paintings... I feel like I've been a recluse all weekend! Haha. None of these quick study paintings are on location. We're actually painting from photographs still... But it helps to figure out composition, lighting, value, etc. Feeling a little more confident handling the paint but one of the things I over looked in this painting is adding some of the light from the sky into some of the tops of trees. Sometimes when you're working on something that's directly in front of you, its harder to see the bigger picture until you step back and have a look. And then that's when you realize OH DAMN! it looks like a painting! haha. We're taught to look at the shapes and all the different values . So there is a process. Dividing the canvas into its respective parts of the composition, then blocking our the darker value shape areas then working towards adding lighter values... Now 3 more paintings to go!

Week ending.

This pretty much sums up the end of my work week! So dramatic! Haha. Waiting for the L train sucked and some assole pulled the emergency break so we were stuck underground for 20 mins. Sheesh. Hauling my big clunky purse and big art bag full of blank canvases and paints from Utrecht, I have a Landscape painting class online this fall so look out for my attempts at Landscape painting! Ok maybe this is an exaggeration, but this was really my outfit on Friday! I love this burgundy skirt, my fave! Have a nice weekend ya'll!

Paranorman

I love drawing Fanart! I also took my 10 year old to go see this movie a few weeks ago when it came out, very cute movie! I've been obsessively drawing before I got to bed, its my ritual =) I've surprised myself this week, I've been drawing everyday, when it hits it hits!

Fall is here!

Fall is here! Yay! I've been experimenting with different colors lately and just really very excited that the weather is finally changing =)

Spirit Call

I literally drew this 2 days ago and already so many people liked it on my instagram feed! Someone requested a t-shirt out of this design so I've made it available on my Society 6 store as well as other various products such as iPhone cases, prints, and laptop skins. I've really just been into drawing Native American Indian inspired illustrations lately, there's a few more drawings that I'm working on, hopefully I'll have more stuff soon. I'm big on Native American spirituality and have been doing a lot of research on it. I actually scanned my original drawing done in Col-erase prisma pencils and used the gradient tool in Photoshop to make this illustration multi-colored. Hope ya dig!

The Lioness

I recently colored this sketch in Photoshop, I've included the black and white ink drawing I did in a Japanese brush pen. My friend Tom gave me some inking tips so I've been experimenting with both inking in brush pens and doing some inking in Photoshop digitally with the pen tool. You can check out my friend Tom's site here, his stuff rocks.

This is an old drawing from early January of this year that I never got a chance to color! I've made this available as a print in my Society 6 Profile as well as an iPhone case. My inspiration came from studying and doing research on Native American Indian Spirituality amongst my obsession with feathers and headresses and the zodiac signs.  As this implies the Lioness or "Leo" woman is a strong and independent type. This is what I found online: "Leo is Sun-ruled, and her warmth at times seems supernatural, like she has her own secret light source. This gives her power to create and shine powerfully, asserting her presence in the world." It just so happens that I am a Leo! LOL. Its all true... haha. <3

Sultry shaker.

A sketch I colored tonight in Photoshop, I've been experimenting with different color palettes lately. This one sort of reminds of Ariel-ish or Jessica rabbit. Although I didn't do that on purpose!

Big Booty

More Sacha North Character Explorations

Good news, I passed my Thesis Review at the Academy of Art University! I'm now approved for my project concept that I presented last week to a panel of instructors at the school. My panel included Charles Keagle, David Netherey, and Phillip Morris who've all at one point either worked for Disney, Pixar and ILM, they are a great group of instructors with a lot of knowledge and suggestions that they imparted during our discussion. It was such a great experience being able to present my ideas and getting approved to proceed with working on it. I'm so happy that I have literally 6 classes left, which means this fall, next spring, and I can finish next summer. I am excited! Here are more color explorations I did for my main thesis character.

Illustration for OS Fashion Baseball

OMG. Its been a while since I've blogged! I've been super busy doing a million other things in New York! Not to say I haven't been drawing, I've been doing a lot of Thesis drawing work which i will post very soon. Its not easy being me. My mind is off racing on the next new thing! If I could only stay focused on one thing at a time, but my mind doesn't work that way! I'm always doing 3 things at a time!

Anyway, here is an illustration I recently did for a t-shirt design for my friends at OS fashion. They're having a benefit/Baseball game for the lupus foundation. Will keep you posted on deets...

Pan background assignment

This semester has been rough! I had such a busy schedule this spring, from my 9-5 here in New York and two online classes. On top of that I was taking a 6 week novel writing workshop which ends this week as well! But I'm glad I pulled through and now I can look forward to finishing my writing and my Cali trip next week! Yay! Here is a background I did for a panning assignment. Its from an Animation Layout Design class that I had this spring. This is still in its rough version, but you get the idea, my character is running down the hill trying to chase the cable car. This is part of my thesis project which I'm still unbelievably working on in my spare time. Its supposed to pan from left to right and I haven't yet drawn where the character is positioned at in 3 different pan shots. Maybe I will repost again when I finish.

Joker

I finally got around to coloring my Joker sketch! The original pen sketch got so many likes on my instagram that I decided to color it and offer it as a print, iPhone case, and t-shirt on my Society 6 Profile. To check it out you can go to www.society6.com/dianepascual to check out the various products its offered in.

Click here to go to my Society 6 Store

Brooklyn Babe

Lately I've been getting inspired by what some women have been wearing on the trains in NYC. I love the eclectic mix of styles, from business suits to trendy styles, I really am starting to appreciate the diversity of people and cultures in New York and Brooklyn. I love that each and every person I see randomly has a way of inspiring me in even the smallest ways. I hope to post more of these drawings soon!

Lately I've been more focused on writing and going to my Novel Writing Class in Brooklyn, I'm learning so much! And the writing exercises we do in class has really been helping me with my writing. I've been learning how to think on the spot and come up with random ideas based on topics. Some of the fun ones we recently did in class was do Character Sketches in which we would imagine what kind of shoes our character would wear and you can tell a lot about a person by their shoes! And also reading other short excerpts and chapters from different novels to get a sense of learning to write in a certain way. My mind is so open right now, I feel like a sponge! I'm soaking everything up right now!

This drawing I did was inspired by a girl I saw randomly on the train and she had this really cute haircut. Although I couldn't figure out what her style was, somewhere between a futurist and someone dressing for the cold weather. I don't know, but she looked really comfy and cute at the same time that I just had to draw her!