Donato Arts
OPEN STUDIO
Saturday May 13, 2023
11am – 6pm
397 Pacific Street
Brooklyn, NY 11217

This May will see the return of the annual hosting of an Open Studio here at our place in Brooklyn. Open to you, your friends, and the general public, we will showcase an abundance of new oil paintings, drawings, and projects as well as scores of classics from my 30+ year career as an illustrator.

Stop by the Green Dragon in Brooklyn (it is still growing its head and tail!) eat, drink, and commingle with fellow artists, professionals, and fans of the genre as we plow our creative paths forward in these changing times.

Works on display will include the massive Middle-earth canvas The Beacons of Gondor, anchoring the studio at 78″ x 114″. This is my largest work ever and was created for the exhibition at the Huntsville Museum of Art in Alabama this past winter.  I am excited to finally be able to share this with the New York area audience.

The Beacons of Gondor, 78″ x 114″, Oil on Linen

The Open Studio will also feature a dedicated Wall of Magic, displaying over thirty recent Magic:The Gathering oil paintings and preliminary sketches for the trading card game as well as a handful of my earliest works for Wizards of the Coast.

I realize that many of you who follow my art here will not be able to travel to Brooklyn for the Open Studio.

In consideration of that, I have a few items I will be giving away to you online!

The foremost offering is an original graphite painting, 11″ x 14″, created as an interior illustration for Naomi Novik’s limited edition novel ‘Spinning Silver’ with Grim Oak Press. And to keep it fun you will have to choose between one of two works – ‘The Other Side’ or ‘The Mountain’!

Spinning Silver graphite paintings, 11″ x 14″ each, ‘The Other Side’ (l) and ‘The Mountain’ (r)

Submitting an entry into the lottery may be made via posting ‘Enter’ in the comments on my social media feeds (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) or by emailing ‘Enter’ to:
lottery@donatoarts.com
(You may also speak ‘Friend’ and Enter if you know elvish!)
We will close entries at 11:59pm May 13th and make announcements/contacts on Sunday. International entries welcome.
More items will be announced in the coming days, but you need only reply/send once to be entered for all items.

Back to the Brooklyn Event….

New fantasy works will be on display, from the cover of Kristen Britain’s forthcoming novel The Spirit of the Wood to interior illustrations for the new novel King-Killing Queen by author Shawn Speakman of Grim Oak Press .

Spirit of the Wood, cover illustration for Kristen Britain’s forthcoming novel, 24″ x 36″ Oil on Panel.

Interior Illustrations for Shawn Speakman’s forth coming novel, The King-Killing Queen.

Extra Bonuses to those who can make it to the event:

WIN AN ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING!
Visitors to the Open Studio can enter a lottery for the chance to take home something more than memories, an original oil painting by Donato!
The lucky winner will have their selection from one of these four original works. Each oil painting was a commissioned illustration, from book cover projects to magazine illustration for Der Spiegel to a Magic:The Gathering card, and are wonderful representations of Donato’s approach to dynamic visual solutions.

Also a lottery for various free art items including these Magic:The Gathering Micro Paintings created on the backsides of Artist Proofs. Three lucky winners will take these originals home!

And the first 25 visitors to the Open Studio will receive a free signed pristine copy of my now out of print first edition art book ‘Middle-earth: Visions of a Modern Myth’. Now a collectors item, these books are hard to find. Copies will also be embossed with the Sigil of the Kings of Gondor!

I will also have free DVDs of my video, Painting Joan of Arc, while supplies last (yes I know not many DVD players are out there anymore!).  And for the online people, I will be giving away 10 copies via the Lottery of either the DVD or digital download (your choice, must be in the USA for mailings of DVD).

Science fiction works will include my most recent (and still drying) Empathetic Robot painting, Remembering.  Portfolios filled with large, preliminary drawings and studies will also be available to peruse through.

Detail of the new Empathetic Robot painting, Remembering. 20″ x 40″ Oil on Panel

For those who may be visiting New York, there are a few wonderful exhibitions to take in around the city, including Colleen Doran’s work for Neil Gaiman’s novels and Mike Mignola’s Pinocchio, both at the Society of Illustrators:

At the Met Museum a wonderful collection of Works on Paper ranging from Mary Cassatt to Käthe Kollwitz, William Blake, J.A.D. Ingres and others hangs until May 15th!
(Links to exhibition websites from the images)
Lastly, I am offering 33% off the full selection of paper and canvas giclee prints on my website through May 14th.
Use the coupon discount code 33OFF in the shopping cart checkout:

I hope to see you this weekend!

Donato

Stop by, take in some art, and kick back in the backyard while you enjoy a lemonade in a little part of the Shire in Brooklyn!

The Hand of the King – Tyrion and Shae, 30″ x 30″ Oil on Panel

 

Joan of Arc, 24″ x 40″ Oil on Panel

 

The Hobbit: Expulsion, 37″ x 68″ Oil on Panel

 

Construct of Time, 26″ x 18″ Oil on Panel