Spent hours on the couch today drawing. It's, like, the only positive spin on staying home with the flu - ha! On that note, here's a 17 second video of one of the pieces I created today. I liked the idea of drawing a moon with a witch hat, but I wasn't liking how dark and spooky it was turning out. You know I'm all about bright and happy artwork, so I redrew the moon with a bigger smile and changed the color of the sky to an untraditional color - peach! Never in a thousand years had I thought about drawing a peach sky before. But that's the beauty of art. Through trial and error, a bit of experimentation and stepping out of the traditional, you will find yourself with results that will delight you! Also, I must add, I really like the way her hat turned out! I haven't yet mastered the art of adding textures and shadows to my work, so I do it sparingly. Baby steps, my friend. Baby steps. Is there anything you've been experimenting with in your creative journey lately? Please share in the comments below!
Also, if you are new to my website and would like to see more of my artwork, visit my Instagram page and say "hello" – I love making new friends. =]
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In this digital era of curated images and selective story-telling through our social media feeds, it has become more and more important to let our personal quirks show through as a means to differentiate ourselves from the rest. All of a sudden we have all gone from being just people or business owners to “being” a brand. But how do you become a successful brand? There are many things that lead to success, but one the biggest wins is to be memorable. How do you do that? Well, I’ll give you 3 quick tips to kick-start your imagination and inspire you to come up with other ways that are unique to you and your brand. 3 Ways to be More Memorable
Now tell me, do your business cards match your style? Does your design or lettering style match your personal vibe or are you imitating others? Does the work you’re putting out match the work you want to attract? Are you doing a good job interpreting the vision of the people you are doing lettering/designing commissions for while infusing it with your own creative vibe? These are topics I can dive into a little deeper in the coming weeks, but for now, I want to show you a little something I created a few days ago. It's my latest business card template (shown above), which I created for color-loving hair professionals. The hand lettered design and bright colors are attention grabbing while the tad bit of humor are sure to bring a ready to a smile and spike their interest. Of course not all hair stylists will “vibe” with this card, but for those that do and combine it with a memorable interaction you bet people will want to hold on to it as a tiny little keepsake in remembrance of said interaction. Now assuming you were a hair dresser with a creative business card and tag line along with your stylish sense of fashion, your unique vibe that makes people feel beautiful even BEFORE they sit on your chair – it’s all an expression of creativity and authenticity. And we all know creativity is a lifestyle not just hair style, right? In this same way, I invite you to look at the way you interact with your tribe and customers. What about your business cards, do they match your vibe/style? It reality, business cards are not that big of a deal anymore being that we can reach thousands more people through social media, but for those that do still use business cards I’m sure you’ll agree that there’s something magical about being at a networking event and seeing people’s face light up when they see your card and ask more questions about what you do or who designed them. Business cards have the power to keep the conversation going and when done well, they add to the “being memorable” factor which may result in new friendships, connections, referrals and hopefully more business. Thanks for spending time with me today. Now, I know this has been a one sided conversation so I’d love it if you share a bit of insight with me so that I can finetune the way I design my business card templates. If you have a minute, I’d appreciate you answering the questions below. Thanks a bunch! Till next time.
Xoxo, Dio
I never intended to jump on the "Monday hater" bandwagon. In fact, Mondays used to be my FAVORITE day of the week. I love where I live, I enjoy my commute to my office in Palm Desert where I spend all day doing what I do best – creating stuff! And marketing stuff - ha!
However, the last two seasons at work have been very intense and without proper rest time for almost 2 years, I'm feeling pretty burnt out. Waking up to an alarm clock on a Monday morning is not necessarily my favorite part of the work week. But you know what's my favorite part about Monday? When it's over, 'cause Friday, here I come!
NOTE: Artwork created on the iPad Pro in the Procreate App with the Apple Pencil.
It all started last Saturday morning. I woke up with a sore throat, but I thought it was just allergies combined with a minor cold I may have caught the night before at the Hombres G and Enanitos Verdes concert. But I was wrong.
I'm a freakin' rollercoaster of chills and sweat, hot and cold, sneezing and congestion to suddenly breathing and feeling a tad bit more normal for a short period of time. I feel better one moment, but then I get up to warm up so soup for myself aaaand then I'm exhausted. It's already Thursday morning and I have a feeling that these germs love me so much, they're gonna stick around for Weekend 2. Yay me. Stay healthy my friend. Achoo! Xo, Dio ;-) This one's for all you makeup lovers! Digital wallpaper for your phone and iPad, now available in the shop. If you see something on my Instagram feed that you like and would like to have it as digital wallpaper for your devices, send me a note! I'd be happy to set that up for you.
✍😃 Just a reminder to those who are new to LipSense. Please don’t layer it with regular lipstick and other gloss brands or you may end up with a patchy lip color that smears - ew! The LipSense color and gloss formulas were created to work with each other.
The smudge-proof color binds to your lips and the shea-based LipSense gloss permeates the color to moisturize your lips while locking-in the color. Chapstick, lip balm and regular lipstick will breakdown the long-lasting formula of LipSense, and trust me, that’s no fun. ~ Now cheers (with coffee) to a very happy hump day! ☕️😁 If you have any questions, send me an email! I'm always happy to help.
It was the fall of 2013 when I signed up to take an online course called Make Art That Sells (MATS). I paid BIG bucks for it because I have always wanted to be a licensed artist and I had no idea how to get there.
At the time my online shop at PaisleyInParis.com was bringing in a steady stream of income so I felt confident in my ability to create, well, art that sells. But $600 and several art assignments later, I realized that both myself and my artwork were just a “baby” compared to the quality of work other MATS students were producing. At that point, I started questioning my own process and comparing myself to others...
It was through MATS that I saw the true difference between practice work and professional quality illustration work. It was also through MATS that I discovered the art of hand lettering and it’s funny how that happened because it was only mentioned as part of an assignment where Lilla assigned us to create an illustrated map of where we live. She encouraged us to include our own lettering on it because if it ever became a piece we wanted to sell, we wouldn’t be violating any font copyright laws. I did as she suggested, tried incorporating my own letters and boy did I struggle with it. It was honestly, the hardest part of my assignment — and I only lettered five words total! “How do people do this — BY HAND???” I asked myself, as I began to truly appreciate the art of font making.
This is how my map assignment turned out.
I drew everything by hand, including the lettering for "Palm Desert" and "The Living Desert." It was too difficult for me at the time, so I used fonts for the city names and highways. This my friends, was the beginning of my lettering journey.
A few weeks later the course ended and I was left with:
I forgot about lettering until the spring of 2015 when I came across a few lettering accounts on in Instagram and I’ve stuck with it ever since. Despite the cringe-worthy letters I was creating at the time, I found that the more I did it, the more I fell in love with this craft. As a pen collector (oh, who am I kidding...let’s call it what it really is - I’m a pen hoarder!) I was so excited to finally put all my pretty pens and markers to use. I also found the portability of this craft to be utterly convenient, making the long waits at the doctor’s office and jury duty much more enjoyable. There’s TONS of reasons why I fell in love with hand lettering and I’m sure I’ll have the chance to elaborate on each and every single one of them as I continue to write this newsletter through the coming years. But for now, I want to leave you with the following thoughts: If you’re feeling a bit stuck or discouraged in your lettering journey at this time and you’re asking yourself the same questions I asked myself 3.5 years ago (regarding illustration), here’s what I can tell you…
One more thing.
If you’ve invested time and money in taking hand lettering courses and buying the trendiest lettering tools that alone won’t make you a better lettering artist just like buying a salad won’t make you skinny. It’s the changing of habits that makes a difference. Just like changing your habits to nourish and exercise your body daily will have a physical impact in the way you look, creating the habit of practicing your hand lettering for 15 minutes a day will have an impact in the way your letters look. And if you’re thinking “maybe lettering isn’t for me,” I don’t mean to sound discouraging but honestly, if you don’t love the process of creating more than you love the outcome, then perhaps lettering simply served a different purpose in your life. Perhaps it has or it will lead you to discover new friendships or a totally different interest, like MATS did for me. And that's okay because in life, everything we do is a stepping stone to the next experience in our journey.
Before I go, I want to let you know of an awesome lettering supplies giveaway I am hosting on Instagram. If you haven't heard about it, head on over to my Instagram feed to get all the deets. Deadline to enter is this Friday, April 28th at 11:59pm Pacific Time.
As always, I encourage you to send me a quick note with any of your lettering questions. I'll be happy to answer them by email or newsletter, because I'm sure others will have similar, if not the same, questions as well.
If you made it this far, please give yourself a pat on the back. Thanks for hanging out with me today. I truly value and appreciate your time. All the best, you lettering coach, Dio =]
Ready to explore and perfect the way you draw your letter M? Join me during the month of March with this lettering/doodle challenge as we tackle words that begin with "M".
Take it a step further and download the workbook which contains inspiration and instructions to help you push through your comfort zone and get those letters into tip-top shape. Click below to take a peek inside...
Can't wait to see all your "Magnificent" work! Please note that I will be posting my drills @PaisleyInParis, which will allow the @LetteringBootcamp feed to be your "go-to" place for the latest Lettering Bootcamp challenges.
Lettering Tips and Inspiration
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There's so many reasons why I love hand lettering, but by far my favorite of all is being able to create one of a kind gifts for the people I love.
Above is a short 30 second video showing you the wood burning process as I created a personalized hand lettered spoon for a friend. It usually takes me about a half hour to sketch and burn one side of a spoon. It's indeed a labor of love, and given the amount of time it takes, this isn't a product I'll be adding to my shop often. The Maria spoon was part of a little hand crafted gift package which included another spoon that read "God bless this home" (in Spanish as shown below). I paired them with a kitchen towel and a jar of my home made salsa - and you bet Maria was happy!
If you want to learn how to make unique gifts like these, make sure you sign up for my newsletter to receive inspiration and lettering tips directly to your inbox.
Xoxo, Dio Valentines_Day_Elephant_Doodle from dioperez on Vimeo.
I have always been curious about the way other artists experience the creative process and often wondered if I was doing it “right.” Now with a bit more experience under my belt and thanks to our ability to peek into the lives of other artists via social media, I realize, there is no right or wrong way to create art. Art is a journey as unique to each one of us as our finger prints. There is no right or wrong way to walk through the creative process. You just do. And you learn a whole lot along the way as you discover what works for you, what doesn’t and what techniques to use to achieve a certain look in your work.
So with that in mind, I share with you a short clip of my Valentine's Day bedtime doodles, so that you can peek into my sketchbook and see my creation process. This is the kind of stuff I do every day, just doodle in my sketchbook quickly, without restrictions to simply put a new image out into the world. If I like it, I take it to Phase 2 where I digitize my work, then Phase 3 where I prep the files to be used on stationery or printed on mugs. All topics I will cover through this newsletter and blog in the coming weeks. I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day and most important of all, I hope you got in little bit of drawing and lettering practice in your own sketchbook as well. Xoxo, Dio Lettering Tips and Inspiration Join the Lettering Bootcamp mailing list to receive lettering tips and design inspiration directly to your inbox. |
Hi - I'm Dio!Graphic Designer & Spanglish Lettering Artist Topics
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