art blog – Art of Angela DeRiso

colored pencil drawing sketch turtle reptile

01/17/2018

Happy New Year! Here’s to hoping everyone meet their goals for this year!

Among the gifts I got this Xmas, were giftcards for certain chain stores, or ones that I have free reign to spend where I like. Books are one of my favorite things to buy, and I can’t do this too often or I go broke. Those costs add up. However, through Barnes & Nobles, you have the option of buying used books for very reasonable prices. As low as $1. It was this method I used to buy some science fiction classics I have yet to read. There are two books relating to the subject of biology; One on Coyotes in America, and the other on the cognitive abilities and otherwise fascinating info on octopuses.

Here is the stack of them.

I will be posting reviews of these books over on my writing blog here – https://lynnderiso.wordpress.com/

I have been continuing my videos on YouTube now focusing on each artwork I work through. I show timelapses of the stages of drawings, highlighting, shading, and coloration of a subject.

I’ve not done as many tutorials lately, but will be doing some when I can incorporate them as I work on each piece.

Here are the latest videos! Check them out, and if you’d be so kind, like the videos and subscribe to my channel. I thank you for watching.

Here is the new work!

“Blue Nova”

Buy prints and other products of this artwork at the links below:

Society6 – https://society6.com/product/blue-nova-turtle-colored-pencil-drawing_print?sku=s6-8530426p4a1v45

RedBubble – https://www.redbubble.com/people/angeladeriso/works/29897931-blue-nova-turtle-colored-pencil-drawing?asc=u&grid_pos=13&p=art-print&rbs=15b84546-6a7f-4567-976e-c7bc0b48b4e4&ref=artist_shop_grid

Fine Art America – https://fineartamerica.com/featured/blue-nova-angela-de-riso.html

I have more art to work on, so keep a lookout for more videos and artwork shortly!

~Angela

January 17, 2018January 17, 2018 by Angela DeRiso Categories: art, artist, colored pencils, Uncategorized, wildlifeTags: art blog, art sketch, art timelapse, artist blog, chinese box turtle, colored pencil, drawing, drawing timelapse, drawing tutorial, fantasy, fantasy art, fine art, pencil art, pencil drawings, reptile, turtle Leave a comment

Blank Canvases Painted

I posted some time back about a bunch of new canvases I had drawn designs on, and now they have been finished. I had another festival event last night, but no sales. However, I am learner to improve my table set up and preparing to get a tent and lights for other events.

In the meantime, here are all the new pieces.

Manatee Pair #2 11 — Manatee Pair #2
11″ x 14″

Leopard Dolphins 11 — Leopard Dolphins
11″ x 14″
(Interesting pattern lends itself to the name.)

Hammerhead Shark #4 11 — Hammerhead Shark #4
11″ x 14″

Seahorse Duet 12 — Seahorse Duet
12″ x 16″
(My Mom’s favorite piece so far)

Manta Ray & Remora Fish 12 — Manta Ray & Remora Fish
12″ x 16″

I have yet to paint the dragons I have on two other canvases, and I have some more realistic paintings I’m working on for a rabbit rescue organization in my area. I had several people ask me about painting their dogs, so that may be another avenue I will be working with as I get more canvases.

I will post again soon. Thanks for reading!

October 17, 2015October 17, 2015 by Angela DeRiso Categories: art, artist, wildlifeTags: 3rd friday, acrylic painting, animals, art, art blog, artist, canvases, sealife Leave a comment

New work & Instagram

Sorry for the long wait between posts. I had to deal with the death of my Grandmother a few weeks back, and a lot has been going on after that. I will dedicate a post to her soon. I’m just not ready yet. Have to get everything written down for it.

In the meantime, I did get myself an Instagram account to spread my work out in the world. You can find me at the screen name “angela_deriso“. If you want updated art on the go, that’s where I’ll be posting it.

I’ve been working on some new pieces on canvases ranging from 11″ x 14″ to 12″ x 16”, and larger. Here are a few unpainted but drawn designs I have going at the moment.

Manta Ray. Remora fish were added later.

And since I had extra canvases… Dragons. 😀 I’m excited to see how they’ll turn out.

I also ended up making a gift of one of my paintings to my brother. He has loved my previous octopi paintings, so I sent him one in secret! He loved it, and called me just to say so. Definitely going to be trying this color scheme with a few other octopi.

I have been working on all of these in the last week, and my wrist has been twinging. Went and got a wrist wrap-thing to help. Only problem is that I can’t wear it to do the work. It restricts mobility somewhat.

More finished paintings will be posted soon.

PS:

I forgot this one was done.

Seaturtle with Jellies 16" x 20" — Seaturtle with Jellies
16″ x 20″

September 10, 2015September 10, 2015 by Angela DeRiso Categories: art, artist, wildlifeTags: acrylic painting, animals, art, art blog, artist, artist blog, canvas, canvas paintings, florida, sea turtle, wildlife Leave a comment

Keel Billed Toucan Painting

Tried something new in my painting. Instead of doing my usual tribal style, I decided to attempt something that would help sharpen my realism skill level. Here are the process photos.

Early stage. I had laid down flat base colors and was working on the foliage in the background.

Starting to add more definition to foliage. Some highlights to the toucan as well.

More work on the foliage highlights, and work on the toucan's beak. Adjusting some shades of the bird's yellow chest. — More work on the foliage highlights, and work on the toucan’s beak. Adjusting some shades of the bird’s yellow chest.

Nearly done. More work on foliage highlights and shadows. More overall highlighting on the toucan's body. — Nearly done. More work on foliage highlights and shadows. More overall highlighting on the toucan’s body.

Finally done, after adding some dark blue for shadows in the foliage, and finishing final toucan colors.

I’m pretty happy with how this 12″ x 16″ turned out. Nice and colorful while still reflecting accurate colors/shades of the toucan. The background was done from scratch with no reference.

August 10, 2015 by Angela DeRiso Categories: UncategorizedTags: acrylic painting, animals, art, art blog, birds, toucan Leave a comment

Last Week’s Event & More Site Updates

Last week’s 3rd Friday went well again, though the turnout was a bit less on account of rainy weather. Sold about half my stuff, and still made decent cash. Instead of going nuts with the small canvases each month, I’m planning to have other products with artwork printed on them for each event, and to expand my overall base of sales. Going to try small quantities at first to see how each product type does.

In the meantime, here are photos from that evening. They are a bit low quality due to glare and my phone.

I have also done some updating to the pages on the site. The Pricing & Shipping page now has information for the canvas paintings, commissions, shipping, etc. The Portfolio page has been edited to reflect my best paintings, and a new page (Color Pencil) has been added for information and examples of my color pencil work.

I have to get busy painting, and figuring out the other products, costs, etc.

I’ll post again soon. Thanks,

July 21, 2015 by Angela DeRiso Categories: UncategorizedTags: 3rd friday, acrylic painting, art, art blog, artist blog, beach, canvas paintings Leave a comment

Safety Harbor Arts & Crafts Show, Dec 14, 2014

Here is the much delayed post of the last art festival I attended. Holidays and other activities got in the way of making more posts.

As usual, the festivals held in Safety Harbor stretched down the length of Main St with many tents and booths offering food, apparel, local charities, and various types of artwork. I went walking with phone in hand to capture some of the spots I found the most interesting. I collected cards with info on each artist or vendor, and asked permission before photographing the work.

I had the pleasure of tasting a few samples of beef jerky from a local vendor. Very good stuff, and jerky is one of my favorite things. I recommend it! –

Redneck Steak – rednecksteak.com

One tent had small mosaics of different sea creatures and other animals. I have read about the making mosaics, and it takes a lot of hard work to do even small pieces, let alone large walls or murals. I really like the brightness and style of these pieces.

Jean & Rick Summers

Phone – 941-493-7667

kylieandfriends2@verizon.net

Karrin Lubisco Melo is an artist who offers beautiful handpainted murals, and “stoneimals” which are lovely. She has a shop over on Etsy. Many of the stone animals are listed there. Note: Images were taken from Etsy page, I didn’t take them. I’m just posting them as examples of the artist’s work.

– https://www.etsy.com/shop/MeloArtGallery?ref=l2-shopheader-name

Allen & Kelly DeMichele have created gorgeous sculptures from sand, often depicting sea animals and scenes from the beach. Rich in texture and detail, it’s very hard not to be mesmerized by this kind of work.

– www.islandsandsculptures.com

Jimel Arts – Sierra Studios creates both sea bean jewelry and oil paintings. I talked with the artist about the different paintings and the places they depict, and about traveling there. They definitely look like places you want to be. The paintings are gorgeous and vivid with color and depth. I could stop looking at them.

Email: hd2d3d4d@aol.com

Unfortunately, at this leg in my walk, my phone died on me. So the last few places I couldn’t get any photos. I ask that any readers please visit the artist’s site to view their respective works. It is well worth the clicks!

Mungo Key Designs has an amazing array of artwork. Wall art, cutting boards and coasters are offered in bold colorful wildlife artwork. They are mixed media paintings by artists John Rymer & Kevin Ritter.

– http://shop.mungokeydesigns.com/main.sc

Some metal pelican sculptures on my way out.

Interesting Desert Rose Tree. Very pretty.

That’s all for now.

December 29, 2014 by Angela DeRiso Categories: UncategorizedTags: art, art blog, beach, festival, florida Leave a comment

Using Colored Paper

One of the nicest things to have as an artist, is a variety of canvases and colors. With most of my color pencil work, I have used white paper (bristol board), but a few years back I discovered quality colored paper that others were using. I was immediately intrigued, and ordered a pad for myself. The colors will really pop off the paper with these sheets. These papers can be used as canvas for color pencil, charcoal, graphite, and pastels.

Canson has a a few different pads under the name Mi-Tienes, with various tones to choose from in each pad. You can see and purchase them here http://www.dickblick.com/products/canson-mi-teintes-pads/

One of the interesting things about working on one of the darker toned papers is that you already have some shadow built into your canvas. You can start your work with a simple outline, and add highlights first, and then minimal shadows later on. With most paper media, I start shadows first, then mid-tones, and lastly highlights. Another added benefit to colored paper is that you don’t necessarily have to fill in every corner, since the canvas is already rich with tone.

Here are a few in process photos of work done on colored paper. Having your highlights done ahead of time can really put things in perspective while you are working with the rest of the colors in the palette.

And here are just a few finished pieces done on the Mi-Tienes paper.

The paper also has a different texture on each side; one smooth, and one waffle-y. “Bella” was done on the rougher textured side. Not what I initially wanted for the piece, but it worked out.

I’m currently working on a few pieces using this paper. My pad will need replacing soon, and I’m curious to try the other color tones in the Mi-Tienes series. I recommend them to anyone using color pencil. I also have a few large poster sized sheet of paper I have yet to use. I haven’t tackled a piece that big yet, but I have them on hand for the challenge eventually.

Sorry my post this week was a bit late. I just have a few things on my plate that have been hectic. I’ll be back on schedule for next week!

October 30, 2014 by Angela DeRiso Categories: art, colored pencils, mediumTags: art, art blog, art supplies, artist, artist blog, canson paper, canvas Leave a comment

Sea Turtle Set Framed, New Finished Piece

The sea turtle set has been framed, and is ready to go for a buyer. Price is $200 for the matching pieces.

Also completed a new piece outside my usual subject. This one is more science fiction/ fantasy themed. I’m not entirely happy with how it turned out, but at least it was good for practice.

Some close ups, before the background and final touches were put in.

And here are some sketches I did in the last few days.

I have had an artist’s block for a while, but things are starting to flow again. So, stay tuned. Thanks.

~ Angela

April 15, 2014October 21, 2014 by Angela DeRiso Categories: art, colored pencils, wildlifeTags: art, art blog, colored pencils, framing, sea turtles Leave a comment