studio 1482 – Despina Illustration

Walnuts, autumn, textures and squirrels

So I’ve been a busy making this fall. It’s been a while since I’ve posted or since I’ve been involved with any social media. A few weeks ago I made walnut ink with my son from wild walnuts that we scavenged and collected. I’ve wanted to do it for years but never went through with […]

Nutracker at the SOI

Girls night for the ladies of Studio 1482 included drawing and wine and French food. The theme at the Society of Illustrators sketch night was The Nutcracker. Having a former ballet dancer play the role of the little dreamer girl was a treat. Here are a few images of my drawing from the night click […]

Corpse Flower NYC 2016

The other day my son and I went to see, draw and SMELL the famous and rare Corpse Flower at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. It was a great adventure waiting on long lines in the 90 degree weather, and squirming through crowds in the humid tropics of the conservatory. I kept […]

National Hot Dog Day

The Mayflower

I joined Dalvero Academy on a trip to Mystic Seaport again and this time we had the pleasure of drawing the Mayflower. Replica of course but it’s lovely none the less. Much smaller than I would have imagined. I think that was the coolest part about it- imagining being those people in that ship. crazy. […]

Work in Progress

Whales in the Currents The first time I ever became aware of Environmental issues, I was in the 7th grade. During a special presentation in science class, I was immediately taken in and volunteered to go on a field trip to study pollution in our nearby ponds and lakes. Since then, I have found […]

Napa Cellars

Recently I was commissioned for a really fun job. I was asked to do a full illustrative exploratory based on the existing Napa Cellars brand. The idea was that the new art would be used as one of a series of special artist’s labels. The project wasn’t realized in the end, but I really enjoyed working […]

Wine Label for Nolita

A few months ago I was commissioned to work on a wine label for the Limited Edition of Nolita, an Italian wine. I was happy to spend my time drawing the bucolic scene of a hillside village in Italy with the cypress trees and terracotta rooftops of the houses that I’d so love to spend […]

Tattoos at the SOI

Great night drawing at the Society of Illustrators.

Concept illustrations

I was recently commissioned to create a series of concept drawings. Each illustration involved digital media and its interaction and impact with the real world. I love creating line drawings so this job was a real pleasure to work on.

Opposites Attract

I recently stumbled onto a way to waste time that I just couldn’t resist. I started to mix art apps and I quickly became addicted. I can’t say it’s fair to call it a waste if time, since experimenting with colors and ways to combine them has always been a welcomed exercise for me. I […]

Lady Beetle

These illustrations are part of a bigger project about beetles. Here I had fun imagining a hybrid of a woman and beetle.

59th Street Bridge

This drawing is of the beautiful Ed Koch Bridge. A.k.a- Queensboro Bridge. But it will always be he 59th Street Bridge to me. I grew up in Astoria, Queens, and this bridge always represented the passageway to an adventure. Going across that bridge, to this day, I love it. I once was stuck in traffic […]

Japanese Buddhism

I’ve been studying Japanese and Zen Buddhism on and of for some time. So, yesterday when I took a trip to the American Museum of Natural History, I found myself wanting to visit the Japanese section. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend it. What a beautiful spot. I sat down and made a few […]

Happy Easter

Here are Easter eggs illustrated with the images of orchids- a symbol of fertility.

Dinosaur bones

Hereâ€™s a drawing I made while in the main entrance at the Museum of Natural History with Dominick. While he was seeing birds in the bones, I was getting lost and confused in the them. It was fun! I think I have more I can post soon. Sometimes it’s nice to just go and draw […]

Spring

It seems close. Today was a sunny day, but it started out pretty gray. It even snowed in Long Island. Here’s a drawing of the rhododendron in my yard. Not blooming YET. but soon. SOON.

Collaborative Drawing

At the New Museum in NYC for the Pawel Althamerâ€™s â€œDraftmenâ€™s Congressâ€ exhibit with Dalvero Academy yesterday, we had a terrific time! The artist invited people to draw and paint everywhere and anywhere in the gallery space. What fun. Spontaneous drawing at itâ€™s best. Great sense of freedom, it made us feel like kids. Above […]

Mystic Town

Here is a drawing with watercolor of the Morgan, the crane and the town of Mystic behind it. The history of this town is incredible. This scene is after the heavy mast was erected onto the ship, when the crane was dropping cement weights into the hull as ballast. See my previous post for a […]

Mast Stepping

The other day in Mystic Seaport, there was a ceremony to mark the â€œsteppingâ€ of the foremast of the Morgan. That’s when the mast of a ship is erected onto the ship. The Morgan of course is the last wooden whaling ship in the US, and it has been through a massive restoration and will […]

…Palmela G

I recently worked on a color illustration for the L.A. based Swimwear designer Palmela G. It’s for the landing page of her website. She custom designs swimwear for her clients by doing careful measurements and giving consultations in order to make a very personal look for her clients. Her textiles and designs are inspired heavily […]

Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser

In response to Hurricane Sandyâ€™s devastating effects on the New York and New Jersey area, I and the other illustrators of Studio 1482 have each created a print of one of their favorite New York City images to raise money for the displaced victims of the storm, through the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. For each […]

…simple pleasures 2

As promised, a drawing of what I actually saw in Aruba. My favorite sight of all was my boy playing in the sand. He used bits of coral for knights, a shell for a princess, and a dried up coconut for a dragon in the most rudimentary, lovely sand castle those two little hands could […]

…simple pleasures

Is that all? Is that all you think youâ€™ll see in Aruba? Yes. In fact, thatâ€™s all I need to see. The horizon line. Anything more will be icing on a most lovely cake of sweet sweet relaxation!! â€“Thatâ€™s the conversation I had with myself after I made this simple simple drawing before leaving for […]

…book jacket

Here’s some book cover art that I recently made for Ohio State University Press. The subject was the suppressed rage experienced by many members of Jewish communities throughout the world. I think it’s an issue that should be addressed by many cultures of the world. I believe that some of the biggest world issues stem […]

…lovely lady

…that’s alot of snow!!

Woke up to more snow than I was prepared for! My first thought was food. What will we eat today? Then I thought of posting a drawing. I thought it would be nice to share a frame from a storyboard I made about snow and gloves.

…christmas shopping

I always think of this drawing of mine when the holiday shopping frenzy rears its ugly head every year! Oh, what I would give to take a nap like the kid in this drawing whenever I felt too tired to carry on with the lists and the bargain hunting and the out of stock debacles […]

…leaf studies

Here are some drawings of leaves that I’ve made in recent days. I enjoyed sitting at my board, turning on the light and, after randomly scattering the leaves that I gathered while raking the lawn, marking down the beautiful nuances of color and textures of the leaves with my color pastels. It was quiet drawing […]

…an experiment in animation

This morning, I was reading about this year’s Paris Motor Show , and that led me to this gallery of some of the newest and most bizarre cars that are being made today. I’ve always been so impressed by auto and motorcycle design. From the practical to the exotic, the thought that goes behind the […]