iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Putting in some serious studio time on my new Empathetic Robot painting. I had finished the preliminary drawing over a year ago, but commissions kept bumping the oil painting back in my schedule. Got a fire beneath to get this finished before IlluxCon Disruptor - in progress 36" x 24" Oil on Panel

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

One last Remarque for the Open Studio give-aways tomorrow in Brooklyn. Frodo and the Ring

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Open Studio is still ON for Saturday the 26th! 11am to 6pm Donato Arts 397 Pacific Street Brooklyn, NY 11217 If you can make it here, the 'Odds will be in your favor' for the prizes. Stay safe, and I understand it if people need to not travel.

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Two days left to enter the Open Studio OnLine Lottery. A remarqued first edition book of Middle-earth:Visions of a Modern Myth has been added. To enter send an email with your name and mailing address (in case you win!)to: openstudio@donatoarts.com or visit donatoarts.com/news for all the details.

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Opening up the flat files and finding some nice gems for the Open Studio Discounts. Check out this LucasFilm Canvas Giclee of Obi-Wan Kenobi! Honored that this painting and the companion portrait of Senator Leia Organa are in the Lucas private collection.

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Open Studio Preparation. Visitors this Saturday can grab a free signed Magic:The Gathering proof while supplies last (150 cards in a ceramic bowl created by my daughter Cecilia!) One card per visitor. Donato Arts 397 Pacific Street Brooklyn, NY 11217 Sat. Sept 26th 11am-6pm donatoarts.com/news

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Over the past ten years I have had the pleasure to work on numerous projects for Shawn Speakman & Jeff Larson of Grim Oak Press. This year's Open Studio has a wall of art I've created for their publications, all from books by author Tad Williams-Otherland,To Green Angel Tower, and Stone of Farewell

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Preparing the studio and home for visitors, and hanging some large oil paintings. A sneak peek of just a few of the works to be seen at the Open Studio next Saturday September 26th. Working on a wall of Grim Oak Press commissioned art today! More to come...

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Three original Micro-Painted Magic:The Gathering Artist Proofs will be going home with lucky new owners at my Open Studio Saturday September 26th. If you cannot make it on Saturday, I have set aside another two proofs for online winners from a drawing, details to enter: donatoarts.com/news

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Heading up to Rochester, NY next weekend September 18-20th as a Guest Artist for Just Game's Commander Sealed event! I'll be present and signing all three days, with a selection of Magic paintings to share and a portfolio stocked with scores of original sketches and artworks.

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

We've selected artworks as Lottery prizes for the Open Studio next month! Realizing not everyone can travel to Brooklyn, we have an online version, allowing for anyone around the world to enter &win! Which of these oil paintings would you choose to take home? Details to enter: donatoarts.com/news

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Sorting through considerations for what to place on exhibit for the Open Studio next month. Here's a favorite astronaut painting: Lifeseeker 48" x 36" Oil on Panel 2019

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

We've set the date! DONATO ARTS OPEN STUDIO 2026 Saturday September 26th 11am-6pm Another year to the tradition! The house and studio will be filled with art & music. A Lottery for give-a-ways with both Online & In-Person options to win. Details in the News section of my website: donatoarts.com/news

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

After nearly 25 years, time for this to find a new home. Auction for this milestone piece is live at the MtG Art Market Facebook Group and ends tonight,Monday August 3, 10pm ET Helm of Kaldra by Donato Giancola 8.5" X 12" prerelease promotional card from Fifth Dawn www.facebook.com/groups/mtgar...

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Started work on a new painting for the Two Trees of Valinor. I cannot share anything visually yet, but since landscape is the theme, here is a recent visit to the Wizard's Vale and Orthanc the home of Saruman. Inspiration for this painting.. Orthanc 36" x 36" Oil on Panel 2024 private collection

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

New York City Signing! Saturday July 25th, 11am-5pm I will be set up at the Sacred Torch Magic:The Gathering Pre-Modern Event signing cards & books and offering proofs & playmats at the game store. Access to my signing is open to the public. Hex&Co Union Square 801 Broadway New York, NY 10003

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

One of my favorite Astronaut paintings, commissioned by a pair of collectors back in 2014 from a rough concept drawing they saw in my sketchbook. My daughter Cecilia modeled for the young listener, mesmerized by the stories of far off places. Whispers 24" x30" Oil on Panel 2015 private collection

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

One from the Astronaut series examining the elevation of our historical space programs to mythological levels. Angle of Deflection 11" x 14" Oil on Panel 2017 private collection

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

This painting helped start my series of Empathetic Robots seventeen years ago. Awarded a Silver Medal by the jury of Spectrum. Mind Machine 24" x 18" Oil on Panel 2009 "To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me." -Sir Isaac Newton

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Finishing a new dragon painting today (cannot yet share!) but here is a place holder, one of my favorites from the past years. Thank you to my daughter Naomi for modeling as the musician! The Dragon, Violist, and Empathetic Robot 30" x 24" Oil on Panel 2021 private collection

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Make it a Science Fiction & Fantasy night at the Society of Illustrators June 18th! The Society of Illustrators is hosting a 'Summer Mixer', an opening and free museum entrance celebrating their 125th Anniversary, June 18, 5-9pm I will be there for the event! societyillustrators.org/event/museum...

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Over 20 years ago I provided this painting as cover art to David Drake's 'Master of the Cauldron'. It remained in the studio, surfacing every few years to see if inspiration for a repaint/retouch had taken hold. 20+ years late, I now present to you.. Medusa's Garden 27" x 48" Oil on Panel 2005-2026

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Realized I had not shared this awesome commission executed and released last year for the special edition of Adrian Tchaikovsky's acclaimed 'Children of Time' from Orbit Books! I had kept the news under wraps as Orbit did their PR thing.. Children of Time 24" x 36" Oil on Panel 2025

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

There is no way a teenage Donato in 1983 would have believed you if you told him he would be illustrating the book he just finished reading - Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! Here is the copy I still have handed to me by my friend Randy Jacobson. www.kickstarter.com/projects/wra...

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Hands of Middle-earth. New painting to be exhibited at the 'Lore' show opening this Friday June 5th at The Compass Gallery in Provo, Utah alongside dozens of other wonderful paintings celebrating narrative and fantastic arts. Saruman - Many Rings 14" x 11" Oil on Panel 2026 private collection

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Third novel in Sharon Shinn's 'Twelve Houses' series, Dark Moon Defender. Art direction called for the character to bear the resemblance of a popular actor. I captured the actor's likeness TOO well. A digital fix was needed! Faramir - Artifacts from Osgiliath 30" x 20" Oil on Panel 2005

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Fifth book in Sharon Shinn's 'Twelve Houses' novel series. Kristina Carroll models here, making for a wonderfully dynamic, moody, and strong character in Wren. I love how the sword flares in the light! Fortune and Fate 20" x 24" Oil on Panel 2007 private collection

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Continuing with this series of covers for Sharon Shinn's 'Twelve House' series of novels, here is my favorite, a portrait of the cornered shapeshifter Kirra, with representations of her altered states in the tiled wall behind her. Thirteenth House 22" x 30" Oil on Panel private collection

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Reader and Raelynx 22" x 30" Oil on panel 2008 private collection Created for the fourth book in Sharon Shinn's series "Twelve Houses". A young Scott Murphy makes a guest appearance as the model for this character!

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Unbroken. We are now into the last week of the Kickstarter for this anthology complied by Peter Orullian and Shawn Speakman. My thanks to Peter Paul Rubens and Vincent Desiderio for helping me to understand and unlock chroma in the shadows. www.kickstarter.com/projects/unb...

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Scythians 35" x 56" Oil on Panel 2003 Placed a few small touch ups on this piece I had been wanting to tackle after 20 plus years! And with a new varnish to refresh all those colors. An very challenging, but rewarding, project for National Geographic Magazine.

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Fourth and fifth in the NYC Lands series, The Bronx and Brooklyn. Including the preliminaries and abstracts for those interested in the process development in these oil paintings. Forest - New York Botanical Gardens Swamp - Pier 1 each 16" x 20" Oil on Panel 2026

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

LobsterCon commissioned new set of landscapes related to New York City. I poured my love of NYC into this project,a city where we have lived for 34 years and raised our 2 daughters. Thank you Brad, Andy, Simon and all at LobsterCon for making this possible. Island-Liberty 16" x 20" Oil on Panel 2026

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!!!!! I can't express how cool, humbled, and honored I am to be a part of this new special edition of Douglas Adams' series from Wraithmarked Creative. Restaurant at the End of the Universe 24" x 36" Oil on Panel 2026 Don't Panic! www.kickstarter.com/projects/wra...

Epic, atmospheric crowd scene with hundreds of dining tables and the universe outside the windows at Milliway's Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Catching up on art posts, very honored and proud to share this oil painting created for Elliot Lang's 'Character In Context' show at the A.R. Mitchell Museum. Precipice 20" x 16" Oil on Panel, framed 2026 A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art 150 E. Main St. Trinidad, CO 81082 June 5 - July 31, 2026

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

And Now For Something Completely Different... A higher resolution scan of the the charity raffle drawing from this past weekend's event in Boston, LobsterCon, in benefit of the non-profit 'Room to Grow'. Rabbit of Caerbannog (killer rabbit) 14" x 11" Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

This Friday and Saturday May 1-2, you can find me at the North American Premodern Champs Tournament for Magic: The Gathering - LobsterCon! I'll be there signing with two tables packed of original drawings, oil paintings, playmats, proofs, prints, and books. sentineloldschoolmtg.com/2025/11/09/p...

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Just shipped this preliminary drawing (and final oil version) off to the A.R. Mitchell Museum for the Character in Context Exhibition opening May 1. The show is an extensive survey of final paintings and the preliminaries. Precipice Watercolor Pencil & Chalk on Toned Paper 8.5" x 11", 2026

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

The new anthology 'Unbroken' is going live on Kickstarter next week with an incredible cast of authors providing stories for this collection! A YouTube video provides great close ups of the final art which features the hands of my daughter Naomi. www.kickstarter.com/projects/unb...

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

I will be at MoCCA Fest this weekend in New York City! Artist Proofs, Original Drawings, Paintings, Prints, Books and Signing cards! Or just stop by and talk art! This is my eighth year exhibiting at the convention. www.moccafest.org MoCCA Fest Metropolitan Pavilion 125 W 18th St New York, NY 10011

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Spacesuits! Images of futuristic astronauts, created for commercial projects & personal works. It's nice to be able to bring my design aesthetic into author's worlds as a collaboration. Thanks to Chris on the updated scan of the GCC portrait, executed as a demonstration while at GenCon decades ago!

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Spacesuits! The red from my demonstration video on oil painting (thanks for modeling Kristina!), the other my first 'spacescape' just a year into my career as an illustrator, a cover for a Ben Bova novel. The Mechanic 22" x 34" Oil on Panel 2009 . Orion Among the Stars 27" x 18" Oil on panel 1994

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

The SF magazine Locus is running it's annual fund raiser, I've donated a signed, embossed, and remarqued first edition of Middle-earth:Visions of a Modern Myth. Scores of great pledges to consider in support of this periodical,building community for nearly 60 years! www.indiegogo.com/en/projects/...

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Landing closer to Earth for this space scene. One of my best metal suits, for a Ray Bradbury short story 'Cities on the Moon'. HIGHRISES: CITIES ON THE MOON 17" x 26" Oil on Panel 2000 Collection of Edie Stern and Joe Siclari

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Created around the same time as the spacescapes I have been sharing, but with a bit of science fiction added in, an illustration for a children's book I was working upon. Saturn Mining 18" x 32" Oil on Panel 2001 private collection

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Abstract shape design... Permanent Sunset on Europa, Moon of Jupiter 27" x 48" Oil on Panel 2001 private collection

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

A favorite of my space landscapes, part of the series on Europa. So excited for the Europa Clipper probe launched two years ago...hoping it blows our minds with new discoveries when it gets to Jupiter! Ice Sheet Fracturing on Europa, Moon of Jupiter 26" x 65" Oil on Panel 2000 private collection

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

On the theme of space artworks: Comet Impacting Europa, Moon of Jupiter 30" x 40" Oil on Panel 2000 Created as part of a series of works celebrating the gas giants and their moons.

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Time to get off this planet, the Vogons are coming! Don't Panic. And don't forget your copy of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy before you go! A great honor and pleasure to create two wonderfully complex bookend images for this collection from Wraithmarked.. www.kickstarter.com/projects/wra...

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Donato @donatoarts.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Comics in Chelsea! Philippe Labaune Gallery 534 West 24th Street, Ground Floor New York, NY 10001 The exceptionally talented comic artist Klaus Janson is now showing an expansive survey of his work at the Philippe Labaune Gallery in Chelsea, NYC.

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