'Alex och Corinthia' books have arrived!

I just received a wonderful surprise today in the mail: printed copies of Den Eviga Eldens Magi: Alex och Corinthia by Patrik Bergström!

This was a fairly extensive project for me, as I did a total of 8 interiors, 1 chapter heading, and the cover. (And then went on to work on art for the other 4 forthcoming books in this series!)

So great to be able to hold this one in my hands. The printing and design look beautiful. I just wish I could read it!

Here's the link to publisher's page for this book. 

Here is the author's (Swedish) site for the books.

Illustration Friday: Suspend

I noticed that Illustration Friday had a spiffy new look and I've been itching to get back into participating.

This week's topic was "Suspend." I was inspired to explore a series of layout concepts rather than work on a single piece. I spent about 15-30 min per sketch. Baskets/ships suspended in the air by party balloons, over fields of gold, watched by field mice. As you can see, I fell in love with a certain color-palette.

It might be fun to pick one of these and make it into a final painting. Which is your favorite?


 

Firefly Magic

I've got a brand new painting to share! I've titled this one Firefly Magic. The inspiration comes from the feeling of a balmy summer's evening and the mysterious qualities of twilight. I spent many a childhood summer's night in my backyard with a canning jar. I still grow mesmerized when these fairies of summer appear.

 

Some Details:
 

Unicorn Rush Game Released Today!

Some time ago I was commissioned by Mind Juice Media to create artwork for a fantasy side-scroller game called Unicorn Rush. I am happy to announce that this game has just released in the Apple Store!



See it in the Apple Store.

Visit the official website.


Here is a video of gameplay:

 


And here is a compilation of some of the artwork I created for it:

Golden Fish Nominated for Chesley Award

Today I found out that my Golden Fish piece was nominated for a Chesley Award for "Best Cover Illustration: Magazine."

Irene Gallo over at Tor.com was kind enough to feature the image on her related blog post.

And here's the link to the nominees for this category at ASFA!


 

The Tides of Avarice Wins Award!

I just got word from my author client John Dahlgren that his book The Tides of Avarice, which I did the cover for some time back, has come in 2nd place for the Fiction-Fantasy category of the International Book Awards! This out of 4,000+ entries. Congratulations John!

(You can learn more about the book at the official site.)

Boy Studies

Posting another series of studies. This time from randomly selected images by Jason C. Taylor. It really helps to have multiple photos of the same kid to learn from!

Otherwise, doing well and keeping busy. I can't believe May is just about over.

Creamy New Brush: Sketches

Trying to get more loose sketching into my day... Here are a number of random sketches from today that I did after falling in love with a brush on the current ImagineFX disc.

(This brush is from the "Safadi-Painting-Dream-Team" set and is simply called "as 2." It is one of the creamiest natural media feeling digital brushes I've ever used. And that is saying a lot.)

 

Study: Painting of a Smiling Girl

This is a quick digital study, 1.5 hours. It's part of my ongoing effort to get better at painting children. I'd like to shoot for 2-3 of these per week.

Note: the aim is more to capture a bit of the essence, expression, and character, rather than an exact likeness.




Study based on Another Smile! by adwriter.

Dragon Blossom

It's been a while and I have a new personal piece to share! This one's entitled "Dragon Blossom." It was inspired the beautiful flowering spring trees around my neighborhood a few weeks back and also by the Northern California Cherry Blossom festival, which I attended while on vacation in the San Francisco recently. (Note: the writing on the scroll is completely made-up -I thought it a better solution than trying to blindly cobble together Japanese characters.)

Dragon Blossom

 

Details:
 

Pinterest, Facebook, and Prints

I wanted to let everyone know that my children's illustration portfolio is up on Pinterest. Please feel free to pin away!

I also added my art portfolios to the Laura Diehl Illustration facebook page. Again, feel free to share the images with your friends.

Lastly, I finally found an awesome printer to replace my retired printer of over a decade (Kessler Color, Inc)... This means my print shop is back up and open for business!

Galaxy Nest

It's been a busy busy 2012 so-far. I'm hard at work on a ton of art that I can't show the world for a while.

I did finish a new owl personal piece recently. It's a pair of owls snuggling in a cozy little galaxy nest. This will replace the 3-year-old acrylic owl painting that was formerly over our fireplace.

Oh, and no little owlets on the way... I actually didn't quite realize the interpretations of the egg until my husband pointed it out. But, as this is going to grace our living space for years to come, I can only see us growing into it.






I painted this at a big huge size and then had it printed through Costco (Snapfish) on a nicely sized 40"x30" wrap canvas. I am quite happy with how the canvas turned out (the photos don't do it perfect justice.)

Happy New Year!

I've been taking a week-long break here between Christmas and New Years. Enjoying visiting with family, baking (below), and -um- more Skyrim.

(I've also been working on a new personal piece, which I will share here soon.)

Anyhow, hope everyone had a wonderful slew of winter holidays. Happy New Year! =)


Snowflake Gingersnaps with Lemon Glaze...