Artist of science fiction and fantasy themed oil paintings and drawings - Robots, Astronauts, Narrative Art, and Middle-earth.
donatoarts.com
Donato
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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
Donato
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
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
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...
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
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!
melding a close up foreground scene of intelligent spiders (how DO you show that?) working in the organics of the world landscape, zooming off to low orbit for a starship, and lastly off into intergalactic space. All within one organized 'landscape'. Not sure how it came together, but it worked!!
..and then it slipped past me in the waves of other art commissions I've undertaken since.
The book is an excellent read, taking a novel run with evolutionary genetics and a bit of cryo-time dilations to skip-jump years for the narrative. Highly recommend this book.
The art was a great challenge..
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
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...
