JOANA MIRANDA STUDIO

I’m excited to share that I recently put the finishing touches on a new illustration! I created my New York themed illustration specifically to submit to #ArtOnLink, a program which is part of LinkNYC. About a year ago the art displayed on the LinkNYC billboards caught my eye and I wanted to know more. The billboards can be seen throughout the five boroughs displaying news, weather and fun trivia in addition to art and illustrations. Upon further research I learned that LinkNYC accepts submissions from local artists.

My New York themed illustration…

Is whimsical, colorful and fun. Even though I’ve now lived in the city for nine years, the early excitement at living here is still fresh in my mind. And that’s what I drew upon for this illustration.

By the way, my new lightbox came in handy for this illustration. Instead of tracing over a pencil drawing, I placed my simple stick figure outline on the light-box and then used the outline merely as a guide. I did the drawing itself freehand with my dip pen and India ink. Why? Because I wanted to capture a look of childlike joy and innocence. Painting the illustration did take two tries, though. The first version lacked the spontaneity of this version, though I did enjoy experimenting with wildly different watercolor palettes using my Daniel Smith watercolors. For the final version, I kept the color scheme simple, and mixed my palette from only 3 primary (cool shade) colors along with Raw Umber and Phthalo Green.

And guess what? If you love this illustration you’re in luck because it’s now available in my shop at Etsy!

P.S. If my I Love NY illustration gets featured on one of the LinkNYC billboards, I’ll be sure to run out and take a picture to post here.