New Website and Blog

I have recently restructured my sites and blogs and combined them all into one url: DaniDraws.com!

As part of the transition, my sketch blog has been permanently moved to DaniDraws.com/blog. Unfortunately, this means that danijonesillustration.blogspot.com will no longer be updated. I plan to either take down or repurpose this site in the coming weeks. Please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds.

New blog address: http://DaniDraws.com/blog
New blog feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DaniDraws

At DaniDraws.com, I have combined all my various content, including my illustration portfolio and several other sites and blogs. The sketches and artwork you have seen posted here will be merged with the previous DaniDraws.com content (articles, tutorials, and videos), so now you will be able to catch it all in one feed.

Thanks for your support. This blog (my first blog ever!) has been great to me. I hope you enjoy its new home.

An Ugly Painting

This is a Photoshop sketch I made this morning that I thought turned out kinda fun. Here's the original drawing:

Daily Doodles - May 2009

Here are some of my favorite sketches that I've made in the last month or so. I am really really enjoying getting to experiment with different media and creating crazy characters. I may just have to start illustrating with traditional paint again.

You can view my complete set of doodles, which I make every day, on my daily doodles blog: http://www.danijones.com/doodles

New Home for Daily Doodles

I recently created a new site for my Daily Doodles. It will feature not only the doodles, but also other original paintings and illustrations. All art will be available for sale. I will still post an occasional doodle here, but if you want to see each and every one that I make each day, please subscribe to the new blog here:

http://www.danijones.com/doodles

And remember, I draw every weekday on Ustream. Come and chat while I work live. Mondays @ 7 PM EST (NEW night show) and Tuesdays - Fridays @ 10 AM EST. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dani-draws

Enjoy!

NESCBWI 2009

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the New England Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conference in Nashua, NH. The above image is the painting I created for the poster contest. It won SECOND PLACE in the published category. I was extremely pleased. The first place winner was friend and fellow Tugeau 2 artist Kathy Weller (see her poster here), so I was not sad to lose the top prize.

I met and re-met with lots of cool picture book people (like Robert Squier, Andy J. Smith, Kathy Weller, Anne Jewett, Kim Jacobs, and Jim Hill) and got a nice, informative portfolio critique.

Also got to meet author Cynthia Lord, the keynote speaker, who is very funny and sweet in person and was nice enough to sign a book for me. Illustrator Floyd Cooper also gave a keynote and demonstrated his cool oil liftout technique.

This year, I also attended the illustrator's intensive workshop that focused on the graphic novel. The faculty included illustrators Anne Sibley O'Brien and Gareth Hinds, and art directors Chad Beckerman from Abrams (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), and Phil Falco from Scholastic (Bone). They provided a great crash course about the creation and marketing of graphic novels.

Lots of info to absorb, and lots of inspiration to take in. Thanks to all the volunteers and organizers who make this such a great event each year.

Fan Art

Two of my favorite fictional guys.

Happy Easter!

These are some watercolor sketches I made this morning on my Ustream channel. Here's the video:



Have a great weekend, everyone!

Daily Doodles - March 2009

Here are some of my Daily Doodles from the month of March. You can view the rest of them on my website here. Originals are for sale for $20 each.

A few of these were drawn live via my Ustream channel. Drop by if you would like to chat and ask questions as I draw and paint in real time. I broadcast every morning at 10 AM EST. You can also find archived videos of past shows on my Ustream profile.

Something a Little Different

This is a gouache sketch I made this morning. I don't do landscapes very often, so this was a fun departure, and good practice.

Legendary

Here's my Illustration Friday entry for the week. This is Mr. Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss. He is one of my heroes, and certainly a legend in my book.