Today we’d like to introduce you to Donald Delahunt.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
When I was a kid I started drawing animals, cartoon characters, and superheroes. In my teenage years, I started to focus on comic book style artwork, I also started to create my own cartoon characters and eventually I began working on my own comic strip. It was a slow process of working on thumbnail sketches to get my strip the way I wanted it to look. Over the next few years I worked on my project, until finally I decided that I would submit a few samples to a publisher. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out, but it didn’t stop me from continuing to pursue my own creations. I then realized I needed to focus on refining my skills. To be honest, I struggled greatly with it even though I improved in certain areas. Life went by, and I met my life partner. One day I was drawing a face in comic book style art and, out of the blue, she asked me if I had ever attempted to draw portraits. As I told her “No”, I instantly got a bit anxious, so here I am with absolutely zero training in art, endeavoring in a whole new style of art that I never envisioned .
I began pursuing realistic art, but I was determined to keep my originality as part of the process. With a lot of work of learning how to use the technique of lights and shadows I began to grasp the concept of creating realistic drawings that put my skills to the test. After some time of frustration and many hours of work I was nowhere near perfect (is there perfection in art?), but I could see my potential. As I continued to pursue this endeavor, I saw improvements with each and every piece I completed. There were numerous techniques to overcome and a lot of things that were arduous, but I persevered. Thirteen years later, I find there are still many challenges, but I still look forward to my life evolving artistically. Now I am practicing the skill of tattooing. It is a wonderful honor to have your art on someone’s skin!
Keep creating!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Many challenges have and still occur. Whether it be time to draw or frustration of something not looking exactly how I want it to. But, I think that is with every artist. We all have our own challenges to cope with and it’s up to us whether we let it get the best of us or not. The most wonderful aspect of art is that you never achieve perfection.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I mainly work with charcoal, even though when I first started out I was using graphite. I moved to charcoal because graphite looks shiny when the piece is turned to the side or under a bright light. I also am trying my hand at tattooing since a lot of people I meet like my art and ask me if I tattoo. I’ve been in a couple of art books and I’m hoping to be in another really soon! The thing that I am most proud of is that I never gave up and I keep doing what I love even though it’s not my main line of work. I am very humble about my artwork. I always feel that there is room for improvement, I treat every piece as practice!
What do you like and dislike about the city?
Likes: Movies, especially horror and the classic Universal monsters. Metal music. All styles of art. My spouse and my pets. My house in the woods.
Dislikes: Modern technology. AI. Modern mentalities. Fiats and Phil Collins
Pricing:
- $80.00 – $150.00
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ded_draws/
- Facebook: Don Delahunt
