By David Doub Please introduce yourself and describe your chosen Creative Medium. Hi, I’m Dianita, a fantasy artist from Veracruz, Mexico. My art is usually known for its cheerful or contemplative nature. I love to combine personal symbolism with fantasy imagery to shape scenes that celebrate our connection with others and with nature, real or fantastic. To create my artwork I prefer traditional mediums like graphite, colored pencils, acrylics and oil paints. What got you into your Creative Medium? Since I was little I loved to draw, I guess that’s why I find drawing with graphite pencils so comforting. I got curious about painting after watching other artists working in different fields like Matt Busch, Audrey Kawasaki, Mia Araujo, Amy Sol, etc. In 2008-9 I discovered the work of Julie Bell and curiosity sparked but my ability/technique still wasn’t there. After arriving to the USA, I discovered of Donato Giancola’s oil paintings and other traditional artists in the Fantasy/Sci-fi field and my heart just raced with motivation to finally take the leap and embrace first: my love for traditional mediums and second: my curiosity about fantasy. What schooling and experiences help lead you there? Art-wise I was self-taught until 2019. I only took a 2 year workshop in my hometown at the State university back in 2006-8 but other than that it was just me trying to understand books and tutorials online. I remember I won a giveaway from Matt Busch and I received a copy of his “How to Draw Star Wars” video series and that way I started working with acrylics a bit more. I’ve also had subscriptions to Schoolism and in 2019 I was finally able to enroll in SmArt School and had Donato Giancola as my teacher! About experiences, I believe that conventions have taught me a lot. I used to be very scared to talk to people but as I started going to these events I’ve met a lot of artists who had shared incredible advice and experiences with me. I’m also part of a little group of local artists and we try to gather every week to talk about art, business and hobbies. It gives me a wonderful reason to go out and spend time talking with and learning from talented local artists who are really incredible friends. What do you do to continue to learn and improve? I’m very critical of my work and I’m always reminding myself this is not a sprint. I want to improve my understanding of anatomy and how to read and interpret my visual references properly so I can make progress in how I structure my scenes. To keep learning I try to turn to books, to instructional videos online in places like Youtube or through Schoolism and I often go through my favorite artbooks from artists I admire in order to understand their choices. Enrolling for SmArt School was one of the best decisions I’ve made for myself as I finished the last class with a much better understanding of my process and technique and with lots of motivation to keep improving. I’m also enrolled for a presencial workshop in the Summer and I’m extremely excited because I get to learn from my art heroes. Education is always a great investment, time-wise, money-wise or both but it’s so worth the effort! What are some of your favorite works? My own favorite works are “My Dear Friend” which happens to be a favorite in conventions, it’s my cat Kitty befriending a big big dragon. “Fill your world with magic” a piece I made to gather a few of my personal symbols into a magical scene. “Eternity” that features a white horse and it’s a small exploration of hope. “Moonlight Bloom” and “A flower for a friend” were pieces I finished in 2019 are close to my heart because I used myself as model and I’ve never thought of myself as special enough to belong to my own fantasy world. And “Nest” (tentative title) is a piece I’m finishing after my 2nd semester with Donato Giancola and it makes me feel very proud of what I achieved and of what I learned. My favorite pieces by other artists (I love all their works, but this are the ones I can look at forever): “Pegasus befriends the muses” and “Behind the veil” by Julie Bell. “Elegy for Darkness - The Sundering”, “Huor and Hurin approaching Gondolin” , “Joan of Arc” by Donato Giancola “La Valiente”, “La Campana”, “La Cantarita” by John Picacio. From his Loteria series. “Alice and the Tiger” “We’re all mad here” by Mia Araujo from her “Alice in Wonderland” personal project. “Memento Mori”, “The bear’s Queen”, “Freya’s dance” by Alessandra Pisano. What do enjoy about creating? What are some pet peeves? I believe that what I love about creating is being able to bring moments in life from worlds that exist inside my mind. The incredible feeling of grabbing the brush, applying paint on the surface and slowly witnessing the bits of progress I’ve achieved with every piece. The idea that we can improve if we dedicate time and effort to do what we love, and seeing that it’s true after feeling that I reached a milestone with every piece I finish. It’s just incredible! Of course, it feels incredible when people find something unique in my art like a connection with the memory of a loved one, or an experience in their lives. Who are some local creators who you enjoy their work or are just generally awesome people? Please explain why. Jefferson Muncy, he’s a local illustrator and fine artist who’s incredibly passionate about art. He is designing labels for local breweries, but he also has a passion for the horror genre and folklore and he is an impressive oil painter! https://www.instagram.com/jeffersonmuncy/ Maysa Sem, she’s a nature artist who works with inks to create miniature illustrations with animals or flowers. https://www.instagram.com/maysasem/ Hannah Isabelle: She’s an illustrator who works with many themes, from pet portraits, to little comics to fantasy/nature illustrations. https://www.instagram.com/hannah_isabelle_art/ Emmanuel Garza, a talented artist who uses ink pens to make his art. He created a Tarot deck based on his illustrations and will be using Kickstarter to bring this project to life. https://www.instagram.com/manny.garza.art/ Martha E. Roberts, she’s an Illustrator, Printmaker and Fine artist who uses mainly watercolor and other mixed media to create her delicate, highly detailed illustrations mostly featuring animals. (https://www.instagram.com/mer.artist/) Amanda Ramsey, she makes beautiful, delicate paintings based in mythology, fantasy and folklore. https://www.instagram.com/ajramseyart/ Bethany Moffit, she’s a wonderful character artist who’s working on the first pages of her own comic when she has some free time. https://www.instagram.com/be_mo_art/ Joey Torrescano, who uses watercolors to create really cute and colorful pet portraits. https://www.instagram.com/captain_joey_art/ Cait Pratt, another amazing character artist with one of the funniest, cutest sketchbooks I’ve ever met https://www.instagram.com/cait_also_caitpratt/ Alex Burdette (Alleiya), a passionate artist creating character portraits with colorful markers and pens. https://www.instagram.com/alleiya/ What are some of your favorite local conventions? Can you share any particular fun memories? I’m still new to the convention scene here in Dallas, I’ve just attended to ConDFW, Fencon, Fan Expo Dallas, Texas Latino Comic Con and Women of Wonder Con and all of them as a vendor. Fan Expo was the only one I attended years ago and it was really big! Fun memories? Well, I believe that all conventions have had fun moments mostly because I like to talk with my neighbors and to people stopping by. The weirdest thing that has happened to me was in Fan Expo Dallas where Christopher lloyd stopped with his crew right in front of my table waiting for something but of course I didn’t recognize him because I was too distracted watching for them not to knock over my stuff. It was until I saw people who were waiting in line for something getting so excited and looking in our direction. Then I realized I had a famous actor right in front of me. And no, I didn’t say hi to him, he was long gone when I realized who he was. What do you look forward to for Women of Wonder Con? What do you hope people can take away from Women of Wonder Convention? Meeting new artists, hanging out with the artists I’ve been lucky to meet in previous events and getting to talk with people who attend the convention. I believe that WoWCon is a wonderful opportunity for people of Dallas to come, meet and support women artists from their community. It’s a convention not only for women but for the community to see some amazing art, listen to some panels, get some wonderful products and have a fun day with your friends and family. And maybe get inspired, no matter who you are, to keep creating. https://twitter.com/dianita_art https://www.instagram.com/dianita_art/ https://www.facebook.com/dianitaart The Dallas Public Library hosts the 3rd annual Women of Wonder Con on Saturday, March 7th at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library from 10am to 5pm!
Press coverage about WOW Con 2019: http://kabooooom.com/2019/03/women-of-wonder-con-2019-report/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjXshtdnTEY https://dallaslibrary.librarymarket.com/events/women-wonder-con-2019 More information about Women of Wonder Convention can be found at: http://www.womenofwondercon.com https://www.facebook.com/WomenOfWonderCon |
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