Dani Jones Illustration

New Website and Blog

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:27:00 +0000

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

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:40:00 +0000

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

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:34:00 +0000

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

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Tue, 12 May 2009 02:50:00 +0000

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

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:18:00 +0000

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

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:50:00 +0000

Two of my favorite fictional guys.

Happy Easter!

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:16:00 +0000

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

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:40:00 +0000

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

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:03:00 +0000

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

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:49:00 +0000

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.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Hello world. It's me, Dani.

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:48:00 +0000

I rarely draw pictures of myself, but someone suggested I make a self-portrait in my cute drawing style, so I did. Sketch was done with ballpoint pen and watercolor.

The sketch was done during a live uStream session. Here's the video:

Also includes a small tour of my workspace and a sketch of a cute bunny. Note that there's no audio for the first 8 minutes because I forgot to turn the mic on. Sorry.

I draw live every weekday at 10 AM EST, if you care to join me. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dani-draws

New Zazzle Products

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:54:00 +0000

I recently revamped my Zazzle store and put in some new merchandise, including mugs, stickers, and large-format posters. I also plan to add more in the near future, so keep a look out.

I was also pleasantly surprised to be featured on Zazzle's front page last week, as one of "Today's Best" for March 6. Awesome. Thanks Zazzle folks!

My store: http://www.zazzle.com/danidraws

Intricate

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:29:00 +0000

Here's a sketch I did this morning, inspired by the Illustration Friday theme "Intricate". I first thought of an egg, and of course I had to think of something cute to put into it.

I sketched this during a uStream broadcast, so you can see the archived video here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1220986

Daily Doodles - February 2009

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:33:00 +0000

Here's a selection of my Daily Doodles for the month of February. You can see the rest of them on my website. Originals are also for sale in my store.

Enjoy!

uStream Sketches

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:08:00 +0000

These are some sketches that I painted last week. All of them were colored during live broadcasts from my new uStream channel at uStream.tv. You can view the archived videos here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dani-draws

These uStream broadcasts have been really fun to do. Viewers can interact via a chat window, and I can comment on my process as I am working. Starting next week, I am going to try to broadcast daily at 10 AM EST. Each session lasts about an hour. For more info and full schedule, please visit this page: http://danidraws.com/dani-draws-live/

As always, comments, critiques, and questions are always welcome.

Here's a small teaser, recorded from one of the broadcasts (more video snippets here):

Daily Doodles - January 2009

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:20:00 +0000

Here's a selection of some of my favorite Daily Doodles from last month. I took a break during the holidays, and then for a vacation at the end of last month. But otherwise, I've been keeping up. You can view the rest of my recent sketches here: http://www.danijones.com/dailydoodles.html

The originals are also for sale in my store. Thanks to everyone who have made purchases recently!

Mariachi in "Best Books of 2008"

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:09:00 +0000

I just found out that Criticas, a reviewer of Spanish language books, included The Best Mariachi in the World as one of their "Children’s Best Books of 2008". Cool!

Article: http://www.criticasmagazine.com/article/CA6622088.html

Original review: http://www.criticasmagazine.com/article/CA6584770.html

New Illustration

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:02:00 +0000

First post of 2009! Hope everyone is having a great new year so far. This is a small piece that was just published this month.

Daily Doodles - Week 12 Merry Christmas!

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:09:00 +0000

I hope you and your family have a happy holiday! Enjoy this time with your loved ones, and have fun! See you next year...

Daily Doodles - Week 11

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:33:00 +0000

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I love sketching during this time of year. :)

All originals are for sale here: http://www.danijones.com/dailydoodles.html

Daily Doodles - Weeks 9 & 10

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:16:00 +0000

I'm a little behind with posting my Daily Doodles, so this selection is from the past few weeks. I actually skipped one week because of the Thanksgiving holiday + a major cold. But you won't notice, right?

You can view the rest of the weeks' doodles in my store, where all the originals are for sale. As a sidenote, if you would like to commission a custom doodle for a holiday gift or something, you're welcome to contact me. Enjoy!

Christmas Season!

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:10:00 +0000

Well, Thanksgiving is over and I had a great weekend with my family. I'm sooo excited for Christmas! I painted this image weeks ago and have been waiting and waiting to post it. My sister made the patterns for me. They were fun to experiment with. Happy Christmas season!

Daily Doodles - Week 8 - The Vulcan Edition

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:52:00 +0000

This week's Daily Doodles are all inspired by Spock. For no particular reason, really. I just like drawing grumpy dudes with pointy ears. :)

Daily Doodles - Week 7

dani@danijones.com (Dani) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:56:00 +0000

Originals for sale in my store.