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Want to give a new lease of life to your frames? Treat them like unique pieces full of personality, not just a support for your pictures and objects. Give them a vintage style in this quick and easy way. In the following video, designer and framer Coy Aballay of @elpezenmarcado shares her wood-aging technique in three steps.
Tips for how to turn your passion into a business Selling prints is an excellent way to get to know your followers and explore new markets (added bonus: it also brings in extra income!). Why not give it a go? Pay attention to how your followers respond–their feedback will guide you on how to move forward. If you are an illustrator, my advice is that you experiment with different print companies and printing techniques. This way, you can evaluate which options work best for you. If you’re having any doubts about selling your illustrations, here is a quick guide that will hopefully answer any questions you have. 1. Spend money to make money If you have decided to start selling your illustrations as prints, you should be aware that it is unlikely that you will make a profit straightaway. First, you will need to spend money in order to build up your stock. Spend an amount that you can later increase. Bit by bit, you will get a clearer idea of how things work and what you need to do next. 2. Price range I recommend offering a range of products so that you have a range of prices (include more accessible items such as stickers or postcards). This way, you will be able to see which products work best so that later you can reproduce more of them. The more affordable items will sell quicker. My large format prints that are printed on high-quality paper take longer to sell because of the cost. I tend to produce stock when I have an upcoming opportunity to sell in person (such as at the Feria Domestika). Producing stock for an upcoming event will guarantee that you will at least earn back your production costs.
Marco Mazzoni on how to develop your illustration style through sketching Marco Mazzoni (@marcomazzoniart) is an Italian artist, originally from Tortona in Piedmont, who creates intricate still lifes and portraits inspired by flora, fauna, and folklore (and which often feature female herbalists from centuries past). He began drawing at the age of five, sketching on every piece of paper he could find while waiting for his father to finish work at the paper mill. Color pencils have always been his favorite medium of expression, initially because they were so affordable, and later because of the range of possibilities they offered.
Creative couple animator Willie Russell and designer Jillian Russell share how to stay active without leaving the house Finding a creative partner who complements us professionally is an interesting way to develop a career: we can always ask their opinion, sharing the process can help us see our strengths and weaknesses, and together we can take on jobs we might not be able to do alone. Designers, animators, creative couple, and founders of ADVNTR Studio Willie and Jillian Russell take us through their journey and artistic anxieties in this edition of Domestika Diary. They give us a tour of their home and studio while sharing tips on how to continue cultivating our creativity wherever we are. Learn more in the video below:
Discover the markers, pencils, and papers that will open up the world of calligraphy When starting out in lettering, it’s essential to learn the basics, like the difference between calligraphy, lettering and typography; the foundations of cursive letters; and the toolkit to practice and achieve fluency and dynamism in your script. That’s why Ximena Jiménez (@jimenezlettering)–a graphic designer specialized in drawing letters of all kinds, shapes, and formats–has shown us how to put together this toolkit so you can begin to paint and draw your own letters.
These illustrators play with words and typefaces to create unique and powerful images We know a picture can be worth more than a thousand words. It can also be made of dozens of them. Typographic portraiture is a booming genre in the world of illustration that combines the beauty of lettering with a powerful illustration to create a striking image, often loaded with meaning. These five designers have elevated typographic portraiture into an art. Each of them employs a distinct style but with equally surprising results. Sarah King (@sarahkingart) Inspired by the animal world, science, surf, and snow, Sarah King's illustrations overflow with expressiveness and motivational words. This English artist, now based in Canada, has collaborated with large publications and companies such as the Washington Post, Oprah magazine or the New York Times.
Learn about Instagram's key metrics to improve your profile and enhance your engagement Instagram is crucial to creating a community but did you know that it has a tool to review the statistics of your posts and even of the users who follow you? The analysis and interpretation of these numbers will help you understand your post engagement and how to improve it. If you ignore the stats, you lose a great deal of Instagram’s potential. That’s why digital strategist Juanmi Díez (@juanmidiez) has shared these key tips to help you understand, improve, and grow your followership.
Transform a boring notebook into a floral explosion with these simple steps Maya Hanisch (@mayahanisch) is a Chilean artist who works in editorial illustration for books. Her figurative art is strongly influenced by Latin American and European folklore. Her compositions are generated using layers of paint, which act as a solid gradient to give volume, contrast and intensity to various elements of nature.
Learn from Carol Lopes the 3 ways to save a file in Photoshop so that you can edit, print, or share it on social media Saving an image file in Photoshop may sound simple, but it requires following different steps depending on what you want to do with your image. In this tutorial, post-production expert and photographer Carol Lopes (@carol_lopes) will teach you three ways to save your images: one so that you can continue to edit later, one so that you can print, and another for sharing on social media. Watch the tutorial in the video below:
Embrace practical advice and activities that could make things better for you and your business All businesses experience high and low periods, so it’s important to know how to manage both. If you’re experiencing a drop in sales, I would like to encourage you to make the most of this period of slow activity to trial some ideas that could make things better for you and your business. Quantity doesn't mean quality. Quarantine is a good time to stop creating and spend your time working on strategic activities that could help you keep moving in the right direction. I want to share some ideas. What do you think? Shall we begin?
Check out Hilda Palafox’s step-by-step guide for creating a color gradient using India ink India ink has been used for centuries in illustration and calligraphy all over the world. According to Mexican artist Hilda Palafox (@poni), creating a color gradient is a basic and very useful exercise to practice when learning to master the brush and ink. Here, Hilda explains how to master this illustration technique and create a monochromatic color spectrum with ten hues, from gray to black.
How did Emma Hanquist start drawing? Did you know she lives on an island with her family? Discover more about her in this edition of Draw Yourself Emma Hanquist has been working as a freelance illustrator for over ten years, during which time she has worked with clients such as Airbnb and Spotify and filled magazines, like Modern Psykologi, Scandinavian Traveler, and Natur & Kultur, with her illustrations. The Swedish illustrator, armed with a pencil, opens a window to a few of the key moments of her life and the way she understands her profession. From the day she began to illustrate to how she'll look when she's old, Hanquist shows her ability to create wonderful imagery in this Draw Yourself.
Learn the watercolor basics: transparency and opacity, gradients, water use, pulse and precision with Cristina Cilloniz Despite being one of the most popular visual arts, getting the most out of watercolor requires a lot of technical skill. As we can't use the colour white to create light, we must introduce the colors gently and work with transparency, or we will never achieve the effects we're looking for in our illustrations. In this tutorial, botanical illustrator and artist Cristina Cilloniz (@cristina_cilloniz) shares her different techniques for letting go and taking advantage of watercolor's gentle layers. Get your materials ready and let's go. Watch the tutorial in the video below:
Learn about the art of origami and create paper objects with two tutorial videos
Derio Ilari tells you how to achieve stunning photos for a professional Instagram profile Many people believe, to capture a great photo, you need great equipment and editing skills. However, you can be a master of post production and not get a single good photo if you don’t pay attention to the composition. Derio Ilari (@derioi) is a product photographer who has worked with brands like Adidas, Audi, Volkswagen, Guaraná and, Stella Artois, among many more. His incredible catalog shows his talent and artistic sensibility. Photos have always been the medium he has best expressed himself with and the composition is the essence of each of his images. Here he shares what to consider when taking professional photos for Instagram.
Adriana Torres is giving away an embroidery template with the inscription ‘Stay at home’ in her signature botanical typography
Carolina Jiménez explains how animators, modelers, lighting TDs, and editors work together to create fantastic visual effects
Remembering the work of Ralph McQuarrie, the visual genius behind the look of Star Wars Star Wars has captivated audiences over four decades. Its actors as much a part of popular culture as the characters they play and its creator George Lucas is already living history. To celebrate Star Wars Day, May the Fourth, we are revisiting at an artist who may not have George Lucas' fame but certainly played his part in the look and soul of Star Wars: Illustrator Ralph Angus McQuarrie who designed the concept art for the first three films.
Whether you’ve directed a hundred films or just a humble Instagram story, this collection of short documentaries will inspire you to make your own Documentary is a big word, but short isn’t. To make one, all you need is a device with editing software–a basic free one will do–images to play with–record them, make them, or find them–and some imagination. With that, you can find a story almost anywhere. As a filmmaker, I turn to visual stories to inspire me and a feature-length films can be too long. A short is just as good, if not better: focusing on one small corner of the world can reveal universal truths and even a toilet-break is enough to watch the one that inspires your next creation. If you’re starting out, or yet to begin, smaller projects also give you the chance to try things out, sharpen your tools, and actually finish a production. A completed short is worth infinitely more than that epic saga you’ve been sitting on for the last decade. You can even make a short in quarantine: Great Big Story just made “not leaving home” the only rule to their #StayHomeFilmChallenge.
Learn how to manipulate color to evoke emotion in your audiovisual projects Color grading is a very creative process. In the same way that a video editor tells a story and shapes its narrative, a color grading artist evokes emotion through the manipulation of color. They do this by digitally modifying exposure, white balance, contrast, tones, and more, using specialized software and tools. Why do we need to color grade the footage we’ve shot? Producers and directors ask themselves the same question: if the footage is well shot, why does it need to be color corrected/graded? It’s normal to question this, especially given the extra time and costs there are to consider. The answer is very straightforward: if the footage is good to start with, once it’s color graded, it will be even better.
Graphic designer Sagi Haviv shares his opinion on some of the planet's most recognizable television logos The Israeli designer Sagi Haviv (@sagi), partner of the New York design studio Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv, has specialized in logos throughout his career. He is responsible for the visual identities of huge brands and institutions such as the US Open, Harvard University Press, Conservación Internacional, and Hitco Entertainment, and is considered a prodigy in the world of design. In the first edition of Domestika's The Expert, Sagi Haviv uses his experience and critical vision to analyze the biggest logos in Spain and Latin America, from Venezuela's Venevision, Spain's Antena 3, and Brazil's Rede Globo among others. Want to understand the strengths and weaknesses Haviv's expert eye picks out? Find out in the video below:
The moments that defined the remarkable career of matte painting artist, Peter Ellenshaw Born in London in 1913, Peter Ellenshaw went on to become one of the most inspiring matte painting artists of the 20th century and an integral member of the Walt Disney team for over 30 years. In 1965, along with Hamilton Luske and Eustace Lycett, Ellenshaw was awarded an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for his work on “Mary Poppins,” for which he painted 102 different mattes with scenes of Edwardian London. In 1993, he was named a Disney Legend. Here we take a look at his life and highlight the moments that defined his remarkable career.
The COVID-19 lockdown is hitting artists and creators especially hard. These resources can help you stay afloat during the quarantine period. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown measures are wreaking havoc on all kinds of industries and businesses, from restaurants to airlines, but it is especially troublesome for artists and creatives. Those who relied on live performances or in-person classes to survive now find themselves with no chance to continue their professional activities. Those who worked in a studio or at home, and can keep doing it during quarantine, face deteriorating market conditions. Commissions have dwindled, and fear of a recession is holding back creative projects for many companies.
We define the basic functions of Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign to find out which program to use according to your design, illustration, or digital photo retouching needs
Get to know iconic illustrator Marcos Chin through the pieces that define his art Marcos has worked for everyone from Google to Ford, Rolling Stone Magazine to The New York Times. But, he didn't grow up in such grand circumstances. Civil war forced his family to leave Mozambique, where he was born, in the mid-1970s. From a humble background, Marcos has been working since he was ten. "I've been paying most of my significant purchases on my own since I was a kid," he told The Illustration Department. "Back to school clothing, books and supplies, my undergraduate education, rent and now my mortgage." Don't miss the opportunity to knoe more about Marcos on his . Here is a collection of the works that took him from there to where he is now. The first big job: Lavalife After working for magazines for a while, his big commission came from an online dating agency, Lavalife: "Where singles click." The company blew up and gave him the platform so he could too. "This campaign lasted for about nine years and it afforded me a life that I never knew could be possible for an illustrator."
Learn to sketch a DIY furniture design freehand to make the perfect workspace with Gema Casada Olea, founder of El Tarro de Ideas A workspace that let's us work comfortably is essential to letting our talents and creativity flow. An inadequate desk or seat, bad lighting, or cramped space is sometimes unavoidable but making an effort to improve this will help us be more efficient. Gema Casado Olea, founder and director of DIY agency El Tarro de Ideas (@eltarrodeideas), is an expert in the design and creation of homemade workspaces that adapt to the necessities of each and every creative. She runs us through the sketch and configuration process for creating a personalised desk from zero in the video below:
Basic guidelines to safeguard your personal and business data online
How to improve your brainstorming and create together better Advertising executive Alex Osborn came up with brainstorming in the 1950s: get together, share as many ideas as possible (no judgment or criticism), revise ideas and build on the best. Sounds great, but that Mad Men stuff just isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Decades of studies show that these brainstorms actually lead to fewer and worse ideas than people would’ve come up with alone. Ideas fuse together into much of the same where fresher, individual ideas are what we really want. Some easy fixes have been shown to work by several studies however. We at Domestika pieced together a simple method we’ve dubbed “WAGSAD”. Just kidding, but you can call it that if you want.