Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tony De Luz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tony, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
From a very early age, around 4, it was determined that I had a bit of artistic ability. I was able to draw things and make them look like what they were supposed to be. I learned around that age, also, that my mother had artistic abilities. She wasn’t able to go on to art school as she had hoped; there weren’t a lot of opportunities for women of color in those days. But she was always encouraging of her kids’ aspirations.
I went to a Catholic school for a few years, and won some prizes in art fairs. I’ve had this weird way of holding my pencil between my index finger and middle finger (I’m also left-handed). The nuns had tried to get me to hold my pencil the proper way, but they left me alone because I stubbornly insisted on holding it the way I do, and because I could draw, From grades 7-12, I went to a school, Boston Latin School, where math, sciences and languages dominated the curriculum. Art classes were almost an afterthought. Then, a teacher named Theresa Craddock came in. She had developed an innovative program where the arts were shown to have a direct correlation to learning in those other disciplines, and the school art program thrived under her. Besides the things I learned from her about how to be an artist, through her guidance I took art classes at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and got into a ten-week live-in art program at the prestigious Phillips Andover Academy. I played football in high school also, and had to miss part of practice to take the Museum Art Classes. I missed out on some of the conditioning drills at the beginning, but I was always in good shape. Besides, I was a much better artist than a football player!
I learned things about craftsmanship and technique that served me well, from little things like working right to left so I wouldn’t smear my work with my drawing hand to bigger things, like learning how to create nice compositions. That, and I discovered a way of working on my art from the “inside out,” much like the Flemish Masters whose work I’d seen at the Museum of Fine Arts.
When time came to go to college, I chose Eastern New Mexico University, in Portales, NM. I didn’t know anything about New Mexico, but I figured New Mexico sounded more exciting than the University of Kansas (which, it turns out, has a phenomenal art program). Eastern had some very good, albeit old, professors, who worked in the Golden Age of Illustration, and the lessons I learned about craftsmanship and technique from them proved invaluable. Vernon Acker and Dale Hamlett were both very strong illustrators, but they were also well-versed in New Mexico’s strong artistic traditions. Mr. Acker was particularly tough in showing us professionalism, accuracy and detail, and Mr. Hamlett was a zen master of artistic style, particularly in watercolor.
After graduation, I worked in a Boston advertising agency, Hill, Holliday. There, I saw finished illustrations come in from amazing, world-famous illustrators. I saw the way they presented their work, and it really left an indelible impression on me. Thanks to the lessons I’ve learned along the way, I see that every portion of an artwork is important. And working from the background stuff forward, every part of the art was given proper attention.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I have been working as an illustrator, artist and designer for over 40 years. From my first job creating hand-drawn signs for a clothing store where I worked, to my first paying illustration job doing architectural drawings for a developer, to creating comps and storyboards for a large Boston advertising agency, I made my way, received some breaks that enabled me to have a career and had some success as an artist. I have been a represented illustrator for 36 years, the last 29 by Joanne Hedge in LA. I have worked on numerous assignments for advertising agencies and publications, for clients such as the US Postal Service, the Boston Globe, Inside Sports,, USA Today and Publix Supermarkets. I began having shows of my art, was in a few group exhibits and eventually I had a one-person show at Eclipse, a hair salon/art gallery on Newbury Street, location of many Boston galleries, This led to an amazing opportunity to create art for Absolut Vodka’s legendary advertising campaign. I was the Massachusetts artist for a 1992 campaign called “Absolut Statehood,” which was turned into a book and a series of lithographs, which were sold to raise money for AIDS research. More recently, I created illustrations of a Lamborghini Aventador for a group called MSCHF a Brooklyn-based art collective, to go with a collaboration with Internet influencer Mr. Beast. I’m proud of these assignments, of course.
With the advent of AI and stock art, I’ve watched the illustration assignments dwindle. I had long wanted to rekindle my fine art career, which I had mostly put on hold to work and raise four children with my wife Dana. During 2023, I set a goal for myself to get into a gallery in Santa Fe. I had visited the year before, and decided I wanted to get back in. Santa Fe or Scottsdale would be tough places for me, a relative unknown, to break in. I sent packages of my work to several galleries, and heard back from the one I was hoping would like my stuff – Blue Rain Gallery, in Santa Fe. The owner, Leroy Garcia, liked what he saw, and chose to graciously invite me to be represented by them. They also have a lovely gallery in Durango, CO. Leroy, an artist himself, is very keen on promoting the artists in his gallery, and he believed in my work. I thank God for him welcoming me and my old wrecks of cars, old signage and road culture art, what many call “Americana.” I’m creating a lot of new art, including landscapes and perhaps some figure work, to go with older pieces, so that Blue RaIn has plenty of art to show. I’m very proud of my association with Blue Rain Gallery; My art hangs along with some real heavy hitters! I realize what an opportunity I, a relative nobody in the art world, have been given, and I am very grateful.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I was on the verge of developing my fine art career in Boston. My shows had been successful, and I received favorable reviews from a Boston Globe cultural writer. There was an article in a New York area publication. I’d done the Absolut Vodka piece. But my family was growing, and I needed to stick more with commercial art, where I was already established. So, while I was still painting, I kind of put my fine art aspirations on the back burner. I worked for various companies as a designer or an illustrator as our family grew to eventually four kids. My work was in a few galleries in Sedona and Jerome, AZ, but I didn’t sell much there. I sold a lot more art through social media, to friends. The youngest of our kids is 22 years old now, nearly finished with college. I’d like to think I’m pretty resilient in getting my art into Blue Rain Gallery and re-igniting the flame under my dormant painting career.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I feel the rampant greed on display in the corporate sectors of our society has made life for us working stiffs quite untenable. The hoarding of wealth by a distinct few, uncontrolled price gouging in every sector of our economy, particularly retail, real estate, food and energy, has left the vast majority of us hanging by a thread, fighting for the crumbs that fall off the ultra-rich’s tables. Salaries for executives and profits for stockholders have risen exponentially, while pay for most of us has not kept pace. Many of us are a paycheck or two away from disaster.
Now, I don’t expect the wealthy to be willing to tighten their belts. Greed is a powerful drug. But, one way where artists and others could benefit, is with innovative use of space to benefit artists (of all kinds) and lower-wage workers. There have been examples of success in this area, such as converted factory spaces where artists get preference, but then greed kicks in and the artists get pushed out eventually. The wealthy can’t seem to get enough tax cuts. One place where I don’t think any of us would mind them getting tax breaks would be in allowing empty real estate space in malls, office buildings, etc to become artist live/work spaces. I know the liability issues would be a thing someone would have to work out, but maybe that could be part of a tax break incentive as well.
Another crazy idea I have is corporations putting artists on the payroll for a number of years, maybe five. What the artist creates and sells, the artist gets to keep. That would give the artists a five-year head start on their career. What they pay the artists could be deductible. I know these may sound fanciful, but maybe they are doable. What do I know- I’m just an artist! It could work in other sectors of society as well. If corporate investors could take a little less, CEO’s could take a few less millions and executives could take a little less, we could all share in prosperity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://deluzart.com
- Instagram: tonysedona
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonydeluzart/
Image Credits
Photo of me by Gerard De Luz.