Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area

There is some art that I do for myself and for an audience, just for the sake of doing art.  There is some art I do on spec or for cost.  But sometimes there's art that I do, free of charge, in order to further my experience.

A few years ago, I created a youth booklet for Hawaii State Parks.  It was mostly a coloring book-style activity pamphlet for kids of various ages.  It was an interesting experience because I got to work under a council of elders who oversaw my drafts and made sure that everything I was doing was properly representing the Hawaiian culture and environment.

Recently I was approached by rangers at the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area, part of the State Parks system in California, to help them update their Junior Ranger program.  Personally, I perceive this as a much easier task already because I'm far more familiar with the ecosystems here than I was with those of Hawaii!  I've since sent them my first set of sketches, some of which you can see above.

It's always an interesting challenge to pick up projects like this here and there.  I think commissions like this really push your abilities...AND force you to work under constraints like time and material availability!  But all in all, it's FUN.

Untitled in Progress

Here's a canvas sketch of the mixed media piece I'm working on now.  It's never a dull moment - I actually pulled this sucker out as I was setting up for the P!ay Showcase, being well aware that this particular piece is a little too risqué to show at that family-friendly venue.

Updates to come over the next few weeks (months?  Hopefully not) that I'm working on this one.  As of yet, it's untitled but I'm pretty sure I know where I'm going with it.  Who knows?

An Old Bedtime Story

Private Product

2012

(in progress)

Concept art for a children's story...I know what you're thinking: what kind of f***ed up children's story is this?  Personally, I have this weird fascination with black widow spiders.  I am simultaneously awed and terrified of them.  Seeing one - for realsies or on the internet - literally gives me the creeps, making my skin crawl.

The children's story represented here, however, is actually kind of adorable.  I'll share more about the plot once the concept art is finished, but it's for a direct-to-video release pitch.  The goal for this piece is to portray a feeling and theme that will encompass and represent the entire production in one shot: gloom, trouble, inspiration, triumph!

We'll see what happens!

Character Concept

"Auroura"
2012

sketchbook

Concept design for a character of a fantasy comic/book series.

Contest Cuteness

"Jojo"
2012
Sketchbook

I'm in a volunteer group that was hosting a contest for their 2012 t-shirt design. The winner gets a free t-shirt!

This is my submission, using their mascot as the inspiration for the design.

UNTITLED

"Untitled"
by Dani Selvaggio
2012
(sketchbook/sold)

NERD LOVE

"Nerd Love"
by Dani Selvaggio
2012
(sketchbook)

Nerds in love. 'Nuf said.

FIREBIRD

"Firebird"
by Dani Selvaggio
2012
(sketchbook)

When I was little, my dad spent a lot of time in the formerly-known Soviet Union on business. When he came home, he'd always bring a little souvenir for me and my brother that was very Russia-esque. One of my favorite things was a book of Russian Folktales and I very quickly became obsessed with the story of Prince Ivan and the Firebird. When I started this sketch, I intended for it to be completely firebird-centric. It quickly turned into a sketch of my favorite symbols that I remember from the book.

...I have no idea what happened to that book. Hm.

KEYBOARD

"Keyboard"
by Dani Selvaggio
2012
(sold)

Happy 2012, everyone! My resolution this year is - once I've gotten through my long list of commissioned projects that I'm working on - to do more art for myself. The last few days have been especially fruitful: I got a new set of watercolors for Christmas and just played around with them all weekend. The next couple of posts will be some examples of what resulted from that...mostly just playful sketches, nothing of too much depth!

First up is KEYBOARD. I've started calling it that because everyone who has seen it starts referring to it as "that one with the keyboard." Well, why not? The sketch was outlined with ink and then I used masking fluid before applying the watercolors. I also used a technique of defining some edges with tape (just good ol' scotch tape leftover from Christmas wrapping) and did a sort of layered watercolor application.

To say that I feel like this at work a lot is an understatement. Art is life...I can't even begin to explain how suffocating it is when you're trapped in a little box without any windows in sight for the majority of your waking hours.

...not to worry, viewers! The next few posts are not so angsty-dramatic! Enjoy!

In Progress: LA DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS means "day of the dead." It's probably one of my most favorite holidays. For anyone who is planning to visit Southern California, I strongly recommend visiting Olvera Street in Los Angeles that time of year.

This is the final sketch for this image and it will be done in watercolors, ink and marker.

Has anyone noticed that I super duper like mixed media? It's the best representation of life - there is nothing uniform about the world.

I am not certain if I will be selling this one yet (I actually may be donating it for charity), but I WILL be mounting it in a very special way before it is done.

ALL DREAMS COME TO PASS

"All Dreams Come to Pass"
by Dani Selvaggio
2011
(sold)

I haven't yet decided if I want to keep this piece in my personal collection or sell it. For the time being, it's for sale...that may change in the next hour or so. Or maybe it won't. Or maybe it'll change and I'll forget to update this blog.

This piece was cathartic for me - I got to experiment with materials that I wasn't necessarily comfortable using...I ended up using color schemes that I typically don't (although you can find the "shock of red" that I like; somehow I couldn't resist that)...and I ultimately ended up producing a piece where I had no clue what it was going to look like when I started. All in all, it was tons of fun. Even my fiancee told me that it was good to see me "doing art for [myself] for a change." It's been a while.

Good to be back, though!

ALL DREAMS update

No pictures today, sorry...I opted to exclude the regular photo or scan because the piece is very close to being finished and posting it now would negate the grand reveal.

At any rate, I'm kind of excited about the way it's coming out. It hasn't been a typical piece for me...rather, it's been very exploratory, which I think is a celebration of coming back to doing art for myself rather than for business. The color scheme is nothing like what I'm used to and I have been forcibly limiting myself to the supplies I find at random rather than waiting and seeking out the supplies I feel like I "need."

The colors are very muted, very indiscernible at times. I used dried up glitter glue that I mixed with a little measure of paste and water and re-stuck (it gave it this amazing chunky texture that was incredibly organic, contrasting with the extremely inorganic feel of the material...awesome!). It was my first experiment with masking, which I only had a toothpick to use to apply. All in all, I was stretching my boundaries and learning to laugh at myself. And, surprisingly enough, the piece was not ruined! It just looks like a beautiful, all-over-the-place, colorful sketch gone awry.

I have decided to finish it up with a few oils (something else I haven't touched in a long time, acrylics being my preference) and I'll hopefully have something to grandly reveal to you in the next couple of days.

"Dreams" In Progress

Some examples of the masking and watercolor-over-the-masking so far. How this will actually work on the cheap-o paper I'm using, I really, really don't know...but that's okay!

The Art is in the Process (otherwise known as, "I destroyed my painting.")

I have this problem when it comes to making art, where I focus on the end result and how to get there. This goes against everything I believe art should be, which is completely process-driven, with the end result being a secondary happenstance. Art should always be in progress, always in flux.

With one of the current pieces I'm working on, "All Dreams Come to Pass," I slapped myself on the wrist before I made any stupid plot notes and decided to just run with it, knowing full-well that this would probably result in the complete destruction of my painting.

It has, so far, and I kind of love it anyway. The ink is bleeding all over the place, the colors really didn't turn out how I envisioned, I have no idea what I'm doing with the masking paste and everything is a complete mess. But the more it got screwed up, the more fun I was having and the less serious I took my expectations for myself. I don't recommend this approach for every aspect of life, but for yesterday it suited the moment and was really very liberating.

I love my painting. It's like a My Little Pony farted all over my paper.