The High Desert region of Arizona is a long way from some of Boston’s finer ghettos, where Tony De Luz grew up. He’s long been fascinated with road culture, which forms his favorite painting subjects. He carries this love of Americana – the nation’s people and pastimes – over to his illustrative work.  He favors a warm palette, influenced by the Southwest, and employs a soft but graphic style via gouache, acrylics, and digital techniques. He creates much of his work painting and drawing digitally with Photoshop, which he loves because of the additive and subtractive properties of the medium, the “undos,” and the ease in sending art to clients.  Of course he can still be persuaded to crank up the old airbrush, rapidograph or pencil. Or a combination of traditional and digital. He’s employed these methods in creation of scenics, figures, architectural art and map projects.

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Tony’s diverse artistic background encompasses over 30 years’ experience. In the commercial art world, he’s done just about everything. He is recognized as an accomplished watercolor artist, commercial illustrator, graphic designer, business owner and teacher. He has worked in advertising on very successful campaigns for clients such as John Hancock and Hyatt Hotels. In the realm of illustration, Tony has created artwork for the legendary Absolut Vodka campaign and a First-Class postage stamp for the United States Postal Service, among many other highly visible pieces. Advertising agency staff experience and a strong background in print production and publishing contribute to the artist’s ability to collaborate with art directors using time-tested skills in conceptualization, drawing, storyboarding and lettering. 

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Through his eye for classic architecture and landscapes, he captures the heartbeat of the Southwest and the nostalgia embedded in vintage neon and small-town scenery. It’s as if each painting holds a memory, a reminder of where we’ve been, inviting us to pause and appreciate the history and character woven into our everyday surroundings.

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