In memory of Jerry Nelson

Jerry Nelson passed away this week and for those of you who don't recognize the name, you may recognize the names of the characters he has played: Sgt. Floyd Pepper, Robin the Frog, Camilla the Chicken, Gobo Frazzle Mr. Snuffleupagus, Count Von Count, Sherlock Hemlock, The Amazing Mumford, Frazzle, Herry Monster, and Mr. Johnson (aka Fat Blue) and Emmet Otter. 

Jerry Nelson was not one, but several of the characters who shaped my childhood, made me laugh and made me cry. Losing Jerry Nelson is a great loss of an incredible talent. But his characters will live on forever.

One of my personal favorites that Jerry puppeteered was Robin the Frog. My first encounter to Robin was on Tales from Muppetland's Frog Prince.  I will never forget the never-ending smile I had on my face (and still to this day just recalling it) while watch Robin and Kermit sing about a frogs life and hearing Robin figure out what  "Bake the hall in the candle of her brain" means. 

An unforgettable Jerry Nelson performance is "Halfway Down the Stairs" as Robin the Frog (lyrics are from an A.Milne poem). This Muppet Show Segment is such an endearing and timeless moment that I wanted to pay tribute through this magical sequence.

Thank you Jerry for all you have done and brought to the world.
In memory of Jerry Nelson, 1934-2012.

For some more beautiful tributes celebrating Jerry's life and work, please go to the Jim Henson Legacy twitter and web pages. 

For prints of this piece or more of my artwork please go to my store website here or feel free to contact me at diana@dianaleto.com.

Don't mess with girls who wear glasses!

I love drawing independent women that have a fun twist to them, and what better way to do that than with Wonder Woman.

I was playing around with 2 different layouts with my Wonder Woman. I do prefer the top one, but tried out a fun sun ray background with text in the burst for the second pic. Hope you all enjoy!

For prints of this piece or more of my artwork please go to my store website here or feel free to contact me at diana@dianaleto.com.

Wicked through and through...

I've been obsessed the Wicked Soundtrack and thought I would create an illustration. Inspired by one of the bittersweet lyrics from the song "No Good Deed": 

"Well, look at what well-meant did: 

All right, enough - so be it

So be it, then:

Let all Oz be agreed

I'm wicked through and through"

Since all the Oz books are so enchanting, I felt it was only right that the illustration have a luminous story book quality to it. Therefore, I depicted this Wicked scene by creating some paper-cut characters and green glitter.

Nothing gets the creativity flowing, like some cut out flying monkeys.

For prints of this piece or more of my artwork please go to my store website here or feel free to contact me at diana@dianaleto.com.

Late night sketches

Did a few late night sketches tonight...
Just messing around but I thought I would post them  up for fun.

Here's Commissioner Gordon...

I did a fun flirtatious lady who likes a fast ride 

And I had to end the night with a little Harley Quinn sketch for funsies. 

Oh Snap! Crackle and Pop!

Another round of The Sketchbook themed drawing challenge. This week's challenge was recreating cereal icons/mascots to your own style. I decided to redraw up Rice Krispies "Snap, Crackle, and Pop!".

Since I had recently gone through a "My name is Earl" marathon, one character named "Joy" stuck out in my mind. She repeatedly says "Oh Snap!'. I had to combine the two and create this street slanged cereal branding that 'POP'ed into my head.

  

The Sketchbook siteis created by David Reddick and can be found here. David is an cartoonist/artist and I also highly recommend checking out his fantasy comic Legend of Bill.

For prints of this piece or more of my artwork please go to my store website here or feel free to contact me at diana@dianaleto.com.