Dottie Makes Magic

Just for fun

dottiemakesmagic — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:27:45 +0000

It’s been almost 2 years since I started the now non-existent Dottie Makes Magic domain and started vectoring again. 2 years ago I got the idea to go back to school and got accepted at the Art Institute. My how time flies! I really miss my old domain.

Anywho! Old me (2/2/2010) made in Paint Shop Pro:

New me (1/26/2012)

I’ve always loved a black outline (I think it adds to the whole cartooniness of the vector) but created this image without one. At the end I just couldn’t resist and outlined everything! The result was unintentional and I hope no one thinks I’m trying to steal KR/Paperfashion’s signature cheeks…but I do like how the image turned out. Go check out one of my favorite fashion illustrators at Paperfashion to see what I mean. She’s really talented…love her work.

I was reading something the other day about some artist (I think it was a musician) reviewing some of their older work/mistakes. I think it’s a good idea. I mean, clearly I’ve developed my skill and it makes me happy to see some kind of progress. 2 years ago I wouldn’t even open Illustrator and now I’m using it all the time!

Inspiration

dottiemakesmagic — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:34:33 +0000

I love this! Most people who know me know I’m obsessed with this sort of thing! I love dollhouses. I also love cardboard! When I was little, I had a beautiful 3 story wooden dollhouse. I loved all the delicate little furnishings. Sadly, I didn’t take the best care of it (loved it a little too much) so a lot of the furniture is broken. If ever I have a little girl, hopefully we can fix it up!

Aside for the wooden dollhouse I also had a Barbie house. Oh, how I loved that hunk of plastic! Now, as an adult and realizing the wonderful world of VINTAGE Barbie, I’ve become obsessed with cardboard barbie houses. I love how this image marries the wooden with the cardboard! I’m thinking next time I’m at home visiting my mother, I should snag a few non-broken pieces of dollhouse furniture and create my own diorama!

Also, I’m intrigued by this because I really want Dottie Makes Magic to become my own fantastic little world of anthropomorphic dolls. My little barbie/felt people need a place to live don’t they! I’m filing this idea away..it’s a keeper.

(visit Rue Mag for more lovely dollhouse images starting on page 42)

Parisian Ms. Bearly

dottiemakesmagic — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:04:11 +0000

Ms. Bearly took her saucy self to Paris! I don’t know why pastels and stripes make me think Paris. I’ve never even been! But I can picture it! Ms. Bearly lives in Paris and shops at the finest boutiques. She snacks on macarons with her girl friends at cute little cafes and throws chic uber femme parties!

I don’t know if I’m skilled enough, but I want to animate this. Leg pops, arm raises, confetti flies. Wouldn’t that be so cute!

(Card in shop!)

Blast from the past

dottiemakesmagic — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:31:15 +0000

Recreating Saucy Ms. Bearly in Illustrator started off great but I had issues for hours trying to draw shoes. LAME… so I’ll finish her later. I don’t know that I want to put her on the blue patterned background. She needs a change of scenery.

Look what I found. I was so emo at 17. Paper heart? Oh those All American Rejects. I like looking back at old vectors to see how far I’ve come. I have to admit…I really like the minimal color palette and the choppiness of the lines. Now with Illustrator I’m trying to smooth everything out! I don’t know if that’s good or bad…

Here’s what Ms. Bearly is looking like…

In case you forgot…this is her drawn in Paint Shop Pro last year.

I just had my 2nd week of an Illustration class. I’m really hoping I end up with some sort of drawing skill when the class is over. I have a hard time executing my ideas and would like to get more use out of my tablet. Teach me stuff Art Institute! If I could draw my creatures on paper, scan them in and THEN use the computer…well I’d be so happy.

Opportunity!

dottiemakesmagic — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:21:58 +0000

This lovely, super encouraging woman I work with has offered me a great opportunity! She is putting together a book of invitations for weddings, bridal showers, and baby showers to send to stores and has asked me if I’d like to put my work in the book! It feels really amazing to have someone in the industry believe in me. It’s one thing to have your mom/family/bf tell you your work is cute but it’s another to be given a chance to make some moolah and get your name out there.

SO! by end of February I have to come up with 6 card designs. My head’s been spinning ever since she asked me to participate. I’ve emailed my favorite teacher for pricing advice (no clue!) and have been scouring the net for a printer upgrade. And I ordered a cheap paper kit full of card stock options so I can choose legit professional grade card stock. Yippee! There’s even a 100% recycled paper option which hopefully prints my stuff nicely.

So…here’s hoping something great happens! If it turns out my designs aren’t what she was looking for…hopefully I can sell them on etsy. A win all around?

(I don’t think anyone reads this besides my counterpart, D, but on the off chance…this is the printer I’ve chosen. Good? Bad?)

Rework

dottiemakesmagic — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 04:08:09 +0000

I’m thinking I want to take all my vexel images (EVERY CARD I’VE MADE THUS FAR except for the new Valentine card) and rework them in Illustrator to create true vectors. And reprint everything. This could prove a fruitless endeavor seeing as how hard it is to get me to sit down and actually make this stuff. BUT I think it’d be worth it! I also need to back up all my work. I have nothing saved in a safe place! Everything is on my dying laptop.

So…there’s that idea. I have so many ideas and what seems like so little time to execute!

Valentine’s Day Card

dottiemakesmagic — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:27:41 +0000

yay! So, the more I stared at my fox the less interested I was in finishing her arms. I started my valentine’s day card and completed it in one day! Haven’t done that since the beginning of this project! I ended up keeping the card clean and simple–much like my older cards (and what I think I’d like to stick with! Less is more).

All my images are of white people. Hipster Kitty is dark skinned…I need to work on adding more skin varieties to my work!

Check the shop for the new vday card. yay!

Look, there’s glitter!

I wonder if I should mention this was made entirely in Illustrator. It’s true vector art! The fox in the entry below was done entirely in Jasc Paint Shop Pro (you know, the outdated program from 10 years ago). I’m surprised at how quickly I was able to make tonight’s image…perhaps Illustrator will become my go to for print work! Creating an image that can be scaled up and down without losing clarity really is important. I generally create BIG images and have to shrink them down to fit the 5 x 7 card space. A lot is lost when I do this in PSP. School must be paying off! That is great!

I’d like to finish up my fox lady and stick on her a cleaner background. I also want to take my balloon zebra and put her on a nicer background. I was thinking something hipstery…like a bike! She pedals around town selling her balloons…

2012

dottiemakesmagic — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:24:55 +0000

I do NOT want a repeat of 2011. Unhappiness, unfinished projects, lack of motivation. This will be the year I get stuff done!

A few days ago I started work on my next character, another fox. I’m really pleased with certain aspects but she’s still not card ready. Unfortunately, I’m the type of person that likes to get it done right the first time and when that doesn’t happen (and rarely does it ever) I get frustrated. It’s really frustrating in school because we revise, revise, revise. Anyhow, you see improvements which is nice.

Here is my new lady, a work in progress!

I wanted a vintage feel and I do think that comes across through her pill box hat and choice of luggage (love those round train cases). Her hands and arms are ridiculously out of proportion/poorly drawn BUT that can be fixed!!

Also, I picked up 5 thrift store Barbies so I’m set to work on felting those animal heads!

Portfolio

dottiemakesmagic — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:43:34 +0000

I created a profile on Internships.com and applied for an internship today. Yay! I don’t have a legit portfolio yet so I put some images together on the school’s webspace. I hope it is enough to showcase what I can do.

You can see it here, if interested.

Typographic Postcard: Times New Roman

dottiemakesmagic — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:17:51 +0000

I thought I’d show off the fruits of my school labor. We had to draw a typeface out of a hat, write a research paper on it and create a postcard to sell the typeface. Of course, I got stuck with the most boring typeface of all! Times New Roman.

In order to make it look sazzy, I used the glyphs (symbols) and letterforms to create an illustration of a woman. I’m quite pleased with how she turned out.

I had to do a revision for class…

I do like her with color.