Dana Martin Illustration

Wien

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:49:37 -0400

So Vienna is one elegant city. I mean, they have a ball season. They have a dancing school for horses. They hang chandeliers over the streets. They also have the world’s best lamp posts, as far as I’m concerned. Curly, intricate, and too cool for words. I started sketching some, but then it kind of turned into a festive tree sketch. The city is surrounded by beautiful woods. I imagine when they have late night forest picnics, the elegant Viennese take their elegance with them.

Here also is a Society6 link to an inverted version:

http://society6.com/DanaMartin/Viennese-Ramble_Print

fuckyeahillustrativeart: Dana Martin on Tumblr! Women’s...

Sat, 18 May 2013 19:39:02 -0400

fuckyeahillustrativeart:

Dana Martin on Tumblr!

Women’s Wiles

watercolor & ink

Psyched and honored to make it onto Fuck Yeah Illustrative Art! And a warm hello to all you wonderful new followers!

The Johnstown Flood

Wed, 01 May 2013 19:05:25 -0400

Sneak peak #2 of my upcoming chapter book! This one’s of Sarah Beth trudging through the rain to the general store.

Available September 2013 through Magic Wagon, a
division of ABDO Group (www.abdopublishing.com) or your educational
wholesaler.

Cafe Sketch

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 21:23:01 -0400

Sketch of the piece I’m working on for Owl Square Press.

The Johnstown Flood

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:57:03 -0400

Back in January I had this fabulous project — illustrating John and Lisa Mullarkey’s Choose Your Own Ending chapter book, The Johnstown Flood. My hands were grey for weeks from rubbing all that graphite into the tissue paper, but it was more than worth it. Many thanks to the wonderful Stephanie Hedlund for her awesome guidance!

Available September 2013 through Magic Wagon, a
division of ABDO Group (www.abdopublishing.com) or your educational
wholesaler.

In Color

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:23:00 -0400

http://society6.com/DanaMartin/Vintage-cDg_Print

Interview: Dana Martin

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:17:49 -0400

affinityparcels:

A few days ago I asked Dana if it was possible to interview her and I’m glad she said yes. Her work has a colorful sense of wonder, honesty and innocence to them. Read the full conversation after the jump.

“A recent graduate of Montserrat College of Art, Dana Martin works as an illustrator and watercolorist. Her art has been featured in CMYK Magazine and shown in the Boston area. Her latest project was illustrating a chapter book for ABDO Publishing. It will be released this September.”

Read More

My exclusive interview with Affinity Parcels ;)

Spellbound Spring 2013: Changeling and Doppelgangers

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 23:43:31 -0500

Final for the spring issue of Spellbound. Still deciding how I feel about that background color. Believe it or not, it was done with just one ink, a brown that bled out in mysterious ways.

To purchase an issue or learn more about the magazine, visit:

http://eggplantproductions.com/spellbound-magazine/spellbound-childrens-fantasy-e-zine-spring-2013-issue/

Red Peacock

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:49:53 -0500

Red Peacock

Feeling Vintage

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:20:12 -0500

I hate waiting for things. The deadline for Modcloth’s latest design contest was just yesterday, and I am already gnawing my nails waiting to find out whether I made it even past the first cut (news that won’t be released for like a month). Yeah. I have no patience.

So this blog has been sadly neglected of late, mainly because...

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 00:10:00 -0500

So this blog has been sadly neglected of late, mainly because I’ve been working on illustrations for a chapter book on the Johnstown Flood (from ABDO Publishing. It will be out in September. I’m so excited! But it’s all topsecret at the moment. More news about it later). Anyway, now that my part in it is a wrap, I am getting back to my life and other projects. This is a sketch for my piece in the spring issue of Spellbound Magazine. The issue focuses on changelings. Folklorists such as Katharine Briggs and H. R. Ellis Davidson have pointed out that at the time when changeling myths were current, nothing was known about disorders such as autism or Asperger’s. That elves had switched a human baby with one of their own (or perhaps even a stock of wood charmed with the look of life) served to explain a child who responded awkwardly to the world around it.

With this in mind, I wanted to show a changeling who was uncomfortable being touched and a mother who knew she still needed to feel loved. A big book of fairy tales seemed like the natural solution.

work in progress

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 00:27:00 -0500

work in progress

This is how I amuse myself during hurricanes. The Queen of Spades is one of my favorite stories, as...

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:41:00 -0400

This is how I amuse myself during hurricanes. The Queen of Spades is one of my favorite stories, as it deals with things like high-stake gambling, exiled Russian aristocrats, and a ghost with a secret card trick. How did you spend Sandy?

Camels are smug about a lot of things. How hard they are to draw is probably one of them.

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:50:00 -0400

Camels are smug about a lot of things. How hard they are to draw is probably one of them.

Also, Omni Art House’s online gallery opens today. I have a piece in their debut show,...

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:54:13 -0400

Also, Omni Art House’s online gallery opens today. I have a piece in their debut show, Monsters, which is up till the 15th.

http://www.omniarthouse.com/

Plougshares Magazine T-shirt

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 20:09:00 -0400

Plougshares Magazine T-shirt:

My design for the Ploughshares T-shirt contest is finally available for purchase!

The September Issue

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 00:21:00 -0400

So at long long last the September issue of Art*Throb is being released, with my illustrations on the cover and feature story. Come to the launch party tomorrow at Montserrat Gallery, Thursday, Sept. 6, 5:30-7:30pm to get your free copy.

Prints can be purchased here:

http://society6.com/DanaMartin/France-comes-to-Salem-cover_Print

http://society6.com/DanaMartin/France-comes-to-Salem-interior_Print

Doodle

Sat, 01 Sep 2012 00:09:00 -0400

Doodle

Seadragon http://society6.com/DanaMartin/Seadragon-H1p_Print

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 22:35:00 -0400

Seadragon

http://society6.com/DanaMartin/Seadragon-H1p_Print

Things I forgot about acrylic over the past year

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:53:00 -0400

1. If you seal all your containers of gesso and medium tightly and properly, and even leave in the little paper liners, that stuff will still dry into weird hard chunks of uselessness.

2. There are rules about what will and will not stick to gesso, since it is essentially plastic. Don’t defy these rules! But if you decide you want to, since it is late at night and your judgement has gone home for the day, keep your ox gall with you at all times. Like soap and duct tape, this substance will bend the laws of physics. In your favor.

This will be my piece for Omni Art House’s online Monster Show. They sent me a little MDF board to paint it on, which is why I dug out the acrylics in the first place. Even ox gall can’t make watercolor stick to MDF.

The Monster show won’t be up until October, but for anyone who wants to know more about Omni and maybe enter a piece, you can visit their site here:

http://omni-art-house.myshopify.com/