Barbara Willcox DiLorenzo graduated with a BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design, but jumped into web and graphic design immediately after college. Although she continued to paint in her free time, for over a decade, client work always came first.
Moving to New York city in 2010 changed all … Read More
Barbara Willcox DiLorenzo graduated with a BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design, but jumped into web and graphic design immediately after college. Although she continued to paint in her free time, for over a decade, client work always came first.
Moving to New York city in 2010 changed all of that. Barbara decided to focus on traditional art once again, and signed up for a full-time class at the Art Students League of New York. Much like RISD, the League has a rich history of famous art students and teachers. Scrubbing paintbrushes at the sink, Barbara often wonders if Georgia O'Keefe herself stood at that very place, cleaning her brushes too. The halls of these great institutions are sacred spaces to Barbara.
After studying for over a year with Mary Beth McKenzie, Barbara felt ready to begin working from her home studio. Since Mary Beth had in essence, calibrated Barbara's sense of colors and proportion with reality, Barbara felt confident to now break those rules for illustration's sake. After many portraits in natural light against grey backgrounds in class, Barbara was now finding a way to use bright greens and pale blues in her illustrations. And unlike her former work in watercolor, Barbara found that oil paint colors can be reapplied until the color is just right.
While on her way to paint in Union Square one morning, Barbara bumped into someone from The Creative Center on the subway. She learned that The Creative Center runs programs on creative aging as well as art instruction for terminally ill patients. After some time, Barbara began teaching a watercolor class in the senior center at Confucius Plaza. Although she was hired for an eight week program, she is still teaching nine months later.
In 2012, Barbara made a vow to focus steadfastly on illustration. Although this year she has had more success in having fine art juried into shows than illustrations published, she has so much hope. It is her driving goal to bring the timeless appeal of oil painting back into the world of illustration - although she is a whiz at Photoshop, and can't resist editing out tiny specks and bumps. She has found a way to paint without adding medium to the image, which allows the oil paint to dry within a day. Since drying time can upset a deadline, this was a good discovery to make.
Barbara has become an active member of SCBWI, attending the National Conference in NY in January, and two regional conferences in Philadelphia and New Jersey. She is a member of several critique groups, and regularly haunts the local bookstores. She has her fingers crossed that maybe she will have her work accepted to the Rutgers One-on-One conference this fall.
Although Barbara has painted almost all of her life, she feels like 2012 is a new beginning for her art and illustration career. Check back in again to see if she was right! Read Less
