D is for Donato Giancola

No personal sketch tonight- as much as I would love to do a sketch imitating Donato's work- I don't have the time to even come close to getting it right.  SO I'm just going to share my admiration for this artist.  Perhaps sometime this summer I can attempt to imitate his way of drawing (or even painting).

SO on to the bit I have to say.  Donato Giancola is one of my top 5 art heroes.  I'm quite obsessed with the way he draws and paints and hope to some day come close to his level of expertise.

I discovered his art in part because of another obsession of mine.  The Lord of the Rings (the books of course; I read them when I was 10 and have been in love with JRR Tolkien's work ever since.  Before you ask; yes I'm a Tolkien FANATIC (or snob as some have called me) and I thought the movies do a decent job of capturing Tolkien's world. I'll leave it there though- because I could rant for HOURS about all things Tolkien...) I've since discovered his repertoire of paintings is so much more encompassing than that of my favorite fantasy series.  

The things I love about Donato's work.  He uses line spectacularly.  By that I mean- he knows when and how to draw lines quickly to show movement and when to draw them slowly and deliberately to show strength.  He puts down line weights so you can see clearly what is near and far- and naturally he does all of this within each character or element of his drawings.  Below are his sketches- and you will be able to see quite clearly why I didn't want to throw an imitation of my own together in the limited time I have for this blog.

In his paintings he builds on these amazing drawings to create these living pieces that use light and texture to show so much emotion.  I cannot help but feel like there is a deeper story to each of his works.

I hope you enjoy this little post and check out more of his work!! 

~Alicia