ARTIST FAQs

Alice was David's eleventh book and his ninth children's book. All except Alice are out of print, but may usually be found at bookfinder.com (see our links page).

Though David died in September 2016, his work continues. He had completed illustrations for a number of book projects which his widow, Wendy Ice will write and publish in the coming years. These will include a fairy book, a mermaid book, a retrospective and more. These are David’s completed books:

1. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2016)
2. Animerotics: A Forbidden Cabaret in 26 Acts (2001)
3. Mermaids and Magic Shows: the Paintings of David Delamare (1997)
4. Midnight Farm by Carly Simon (1997)
5. The Man in the Moon and the Hot Air Balloon (1996)
6. Cinderella (1993)
7. The Christmas Secret (1991)
8. The Nutcracker (1991)
9. The Steadfast Tin Solder (1990)
10. The Hawk's Tale (1988)

The Christmas Secret and Man in the Moon and the Hot Air Balloon were written by David. Cinderella was his own adaptation. David’s work also appeared in many other books (including drummer Mickey Hart’s Drumming at the Edge of Magic) and on book and album covers.

Early in his career, David painted in gouache (an opaque water-based medium) but he switched to acrylics when he discovered they offered more luminosity, resulting in higher quality reproductions.

In later years, David gradually transitioned into oil painting, which provided more texture and depth. Oils also slowed him down, keeping him more aware of the painting process.

The only time David ever used digital methods for art was when he and Wendy used Adobe Photoshop to tint his original pencil drawings for the Alice book. In fact, this was the first time David had used a desktop computer. In his entire life he sent only one or two emails and never sent a text message, though he did use an iPad to surf the web and compose music.

Models were essential to David's work as he preferred artificial light for its dramatic theatrical properties, and often required unusual poses. He and Wendy scouted for models when walking in their neighborhood. The model for his Cinderella book was a waitress from the local Cup and Saucer Cafe. His Alice model, Cameron, responded to a Craig's List ad.

This was always a difficult question to answer. His best ideas usually came from sources unknown. But certainly his milieu and interests played a part. David was an avid film and theater-goer. (His favorite contemporary playwrights were Tom Stoppard and Harold Pinter.) He also loved Shakespeare and attended the Oregon Shakespeare Festival every year.

David listened to music while he painted (from Mozart to Gershwin to Randy Newman) and was an avid reader (favorite authors included Samuel Beckett, John Cheever, Edith Wharton, and Alan Bennett.)

These influences often found their way into his paintings. Occasionally, he heard a phrase in a play or a passage of music and felt compelled to translate the idea into a visual form. But, his creative process was very organic and often his finished paintings were quite different from his original conceptions. At the time of his death, David had just completed music for his first (not yet produced) record album. You may find a few of his songs on CD Baby, the iTunes store, or Amazon.

David admired some artists for technique and others for imagery. He liked the technique of Parrish and Sargeant, for example, and the imagery of De Chirico and Seurat. (He liked Edward Hopper for both reasons.) He was particularly fond of the Medieval school of painting for its tableaus and stylization.

This is the most common question David was asked at signings. The answer depends upon when one decides a painting begins. Is it when the idea begins to take shape or when the brush first meets the canvas? Some ideas arrived suddenly while others percolated for weeks, months, or even years. When they finally arrived fully formed, the actual painting was achieved remarkably quickly. While a typical 18"x24" painting might have been completed in a week, some of his finest paintings were finished in less than a day. Drawings, incidentally, often took as long to produce as paintings of similar narrative complexity.

David was born in Leicester, UK and moved to Oregon (in the U.S.) at the age of three. He lived in the same vibrant neighborhood (the Hawthorne District) for the remainder of his life and had a close relationship with his mother who lived just a few blocks away. (She outlived him but died in April 2017.)

For the last twenty-two years of his life, David was involved with Wendy Ice (his agent and publisher). Wendy and David met when he asked her to model for him. They finally married nineteen and a half years later on New Year's Eve, 2013 (during the Alice Kickstarter campaign.)

David and Wendy shared their 1908 Portland, Oregon home with two rabbit muses who lived in David’s art studio (Rupert Quincy and Chloe) and their company mascot (Pip), a giant tortoise. Rupert Quincy and Chloe were true muses for David. You may see photos of them by visiting Facebook and searching by "Rupert Quincy." This was Rupert.:

After David's death, his widow Wendy Ice decided to make most of her original art collection available to collectors. You may still find an original painting or drawing on David’s official website. You can sign up for the studio newsletter there which will keep you informed about new projects.

To see David’s full range of work, we highly recommend following his Facebook page.

Wendy Ice posts a different image every day from the archives. Many of the images have never been seen before by the public. Facebook is also a great place to stay informed about new books and projects.

If you happen to be in Lincoln City, Oregon, drop into Bob’s Beach Books to see a large collection of original Delamare paintings. There are also paintings at the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature in Abilene, Texas.

Yes, but not many. We're very choosy about the licensing opportunities we accept. We work only with reputable companies and quality materials. You'll find some beautiful porcelain lights in Gallery #6. Just for fun, we’ve also begun making a few items available on Society6.

If you’d like to see a particular product, please feel free to write and suggest it. Sometimes, we’re able to accommodate a request very quickly.

Children's book illustrations made up a relatively small portion of David's work. His most common subject was the human figure and he was probably best known for his mermaids and fairies. To see a quick cross-section of subjects (all converted to sepia for this presentation) view this carnival slideshow. (For best view on a cell phone, turn your device horizontally. To view in full-screen mode, tap on the broken square symbol in the lower right corner of the video.)

The best way to see the entire range of David’s work is to visit his official website or his Facebook page. Thank you so much for your support!