Dillen Le

The Squid Dilly

"Wonder, A glow in the Dark"

6" x 36" oil on board

Mural design pitch for Power of Words Project 2012

From Jan 2012 to Jan. 2013, I worked with a mural team in designing and executing a mural in Laguna Beach, CA. The theme was wonder, and my concept focused on children and the rush of wonder when  entering an amusement park for the first time. To me the design is an amalgamation of all things wondrous, from jungle gyms to planets in space to the tides of the sea. I decided to call it "a glow in the dark" because I believed it complemented "wonder" very well.  From the lightbulb going off in your head (an idea), to the countless stars twinkling in the night sky, there is something unquestionably intriguing and wondrous about a little speck of light outshining the darkness that surrounds it. 

Can you believe I only got second place? :o LOL

See pics of the completed mural and winning design on the news section of my website :) 

The Squid Dilly

Process photos from "The Apple Tree"

Original is 12" x 18" oil on panel

For Portfolio, I was being docked presentation points by my senior mentor whose name I shouldn't mention. He was telling me I had nothing to show but the finished pieces each critique. So on top of turning in two completed paintings, I did a full bleed value study for each one and printed out and mounted 4 process photos for both paintings to detail my process. The resulting presentation grade was 12/20. 

yeah...

The Squid Dilly 

"Daphne" from start to finish!

11" x 17" pen & ink on board

see more works on my site :)

So I was going to incorporate pen and ink work into my portfolio since I was taking a class concurrently. However as everything spanned out, oil painting left little time to spare for tedious full bleed inkings. But who knows, maybe I'll do more some day :)

The Squid Dilly

Close up of old painting "Deforest"

Original is 12" x 18" oil on panel

See the whole thing in my gallery!

The Squid Dilly

A poor little honey bee DIED on my painting!!! :( Keep scrolling left to see how DEAD it is!

So I just finished a fresh glaze and put this thing under my heat lamp to dry. I went to get some lunch and since it was summer I had the window open. I returned a couple hours later and apparently a bee had flown in, got attracted to the bright light, landed on my painting, GOT STUCK on the wet paint, and ROASTED TO DEATH.

The Squid Dilly

"Deforest" from sketch to finish!

11" x 17" oil on panel

More in my gallery ;)

The sketch is done in graphite and is about 7" long. It was then scanned and printed out larger for transfer. This was my second portfolio painting. I was watching some horror movie and the image of a hatchet being driven into some dude's head inspired me. So... I decided to turn the message around! The narrative in the piece is fairly obvious.  The loss and detriment a tree's spirit experiences is silent and often never heard, it is therefore up to us to ask our selves to listen.  

The Squid Dilly:

Ink wash value study

7" x  10.75" on watercolor paper

done for the painting "Dead Gardens"

See more on my website :)

The Squid Dilly 

close up of old painting "Smoggy Mourn"

original is 11" x 17" oil on panel

see the more of it on my website!

Cheers,

The Squid Dilly

Daily Squiddly! diddly squigly, squidilly deeds, squidilly doodles, daily doodles, yeah whatever....