LDiehl.com Site Re-Designed!

It had been a good solid year at least (two if you don't count the slight refresh I did last spring)... I fought the valiant fight -but, finally, I bowed to the pressures of re-design.

I wanted a site design that felt cleaner and lighter. I wanted to pare back the old bloated portfolio and divide it into more relevant categories. I also wanted to make a site/blog combination that felt like the same design. And, yes, I finally got rid of the splash page! =P

I'm happy with what I've arrived with, though I am sure there are still a few rough edges to refine. I'm especially happy with the snappiness of lightbox clone "lighterbox2" which I went with for portfolio image display.

Anyhow, do let me know what you think (and if you spot any errors!) =)

Dandelion Sky

Done with this one! =)



I've also provided a high-res wallpaper (2560x1600) for download here: Dandelion Sky Wallpaper

Enjoy!

Dandelion Sky

Just started a new summer promo/personal piece. I'm calling it 'Dandelion Sky' ...inspired a bit by Miyazaki movies, a bit by Ray Bradbury's book Dandelion Wine, and a whole lot by the feel of summer!

Much more to go: but I like the way it's shaping up!

(As you can see I also decided, after coloring the initial sketch, that this would make a really nice wide-format wallpaper.)

Alexander Character Portrait

Sharing a quick character concept/portrait I did of Lilly's little brother Alexander... for my ongoing River of Dreams graphic novel project. I actually finished this on Friday, but, as blogger was having hiccups then, I waited until now to post.

I also have a neat joint project coming down the pipe... which I will share further details about next post. =)

Moss Dragon - Final =)

After many many many hours more of work and re-envisioning... Two months "late" but who's counting? (I had my wedding in-between start and finish!)...I've arrived at a final painting of the Moss Dragon piece.

I love how closely it matches my original vision: warm morning sunlight, a cute little Irish gal, and dragon that looks so happy I can hear it purring. =) =) =)

Huge 'thank-yous' to my critique buddy illustrators, especially Mike Sass for his awesome paint-over toward the end!

Eternal Fire Map Final

And here we have the final map for Patrik's Magic of the Eternal Fire series. This was quite fun to work on and I am pleased with the way it turned out! Patrik was great to work with and I know his series will go far.

Now onward to my graphic novel! =)

Eternal Fire Map

Why are words always cooler in another language? Especially words on maps...these in particular are Swedish. To me they sound fantasy already ;) As you may have guessed, I'm now working on the map for Patrik Bergström's Magic of the Eternal Fire series. Shading and more refinement to come...