The Top 10 Domestika Projects in September 2021

Take a look at the most celebrated creative projects by the Domestika community over the last month

Sharing your creative processes with your peers, colleagues, and experts can be nerve-racking, but it's also undoubtedly one of the most effective ways to make progress and become part of a creative circle in which you can learn and thrive.

Domestika provides the perfect space where you can share your projects to help feed creativity and analyze the creative processes of all kinds of disciplines. In this space, you can show your work, share what you’ve learned, and break down the different stages in the creative process. Importantly, opening yourself and your works up to others will also help kick off interesting (and educational) conversations within the community.

Through September, many creatives (teachers and students) showcased their work as part of their commitment to improve in or share creations in the disciplines they are passionate about.

From a large-scale commercial project to a powerful exploration of mental health, homages to inspirational artists and friends, and even a dream home, keep reading as we present the ten projects that got the most likes last month.

La travesía de Elena, by Ana Santos (@anasantos)

Spanish illustrator Ana Santos shares her illustrations for an interactive website, created with the support of the Spanish Society of Psychiatry and La Barandilla, seeking to voice the feelings of those suffering from depression.

Under the hashtag #deladepresiónsesale ("you can escape depression"), the site has collected more than 500 testimonials from anonymous patients that have served as a source of inspiration for the artist to build her audiovisual story. Her work tells the story of Elena, who uses the sea as a metaphor to explain how she feels.

If you are interested in learning more about Ana's art, you can sign up for her Illustrated Portrait in Watercolor and Experimental Watercolor Techniques for Beginners courses.

Underwater, by Carles Marsal (@carlesmarsal)

This project showcases graphic designer Carles Marsal’s multiple skills in graphic design, retouching, and assembly - techniques that he teaches in his courses at Domestika. In these underwater pieces, he has created fantasy worlds that look like photographs and perfectly demonstrate his talents.

Carles is currently collaborating with a large number of clients worldwide, such as Adobe, Beefeater, Desigual, Mercedes-Benz, and National Geographic, among others. He also teaches three Domestika courses: Matte Painting: Creating Photorealistic Worlds, Secrets of Photomontage and Creative Retouching, and Introduction to Adobe Photoshop. Plus, he hosts talks as an Adobe Influencer.

Andy, by Ana Ramirez (@_anagraciela_)

Photographer Ana Ramírez expresses the doting way she sees her friend Andy, "a talented, cheerful, and loving being of light," as she describes her.

The artist has chosen her muse's favorite elements and the objects she closely identifies with as a reference. The combinations of motifs have created a dreamy atmospheric portrait with a retro vibe, to which the artist added a touch of mysticism. "Nothing I show is random," she explains. The heavens, according to her, are identified with madness, the moon with femininity, and the sunset represents the light of a friend, her strength and talent.

Course project: Negative Watercolor Painting for Children's Illustration, by Alinailustra (@alinailustra)

In this project, Colombian designer and illustrator Carolina shares the final work from her Domestika course, Negative Watercolor Painting for Children's Illustration, step by step.

In her explanation accompanying the image, the artist shares that the illustration is inspired by José Manuel Marroquín’s story, The Tiger and the Rabbit, from which she has selected especially significant extracts. "With this piece, I demonstrated all the basic techniques," she says. She also included sketches and recorded material of the work in progress to share on her social media.

First try at Cinematic Digital Illustration with Photoshop course, by Célia Pavia (@celiapavia)

This project, by French artist Célia Pavia, showcases the skills she acquired in the course Cinematic Digital Illustration with Photoshop, which teaches tools that bring imaginary worlds to life.

The course, taught by English artist Izzy Burton (@izzyburtonart), shows the tools and skills necessary to turn a photographic reference into a captivating conceptual artwork using Photoshop. On her first attempt at putting the learnings into practice, Célia achieved this amazing result.

My Course Project from Design of Healthy Spaces: Wellness and Comfort, by Ana García (@anagarcialopez)

Split into two projects that ended up being among the most voted, architect and interior designer Ana García shows us the processes involved in a farmhouse renovation - the final project from her course, Design of Healthy Spaces: Wellness and Comfort.

Through her feedback, steps, and plans, she shows us how she manages to create a space that fits in with her philosophy without ever neglecting the importance of functionality and aesthetics. You'll see her freehand drawings, a working method that as she explains helps her to jot down the ideas while they are being generated, and the worksheets in which she notes down aspects related to health, well-being, and the environment.

You can learn more about the project by clicking on the red title above and on Masía, which shows the final result.

My project in Portrait Sketchbooking: Explore the Human Face course, by Gabriela Niko (@gabrielaniko)

This work by Gabriela Niko is the final project of her Portrait Sketchbooking: Explore the Human Face course and consists of three portraits from different angles: the profile, three-quarter, and frontal view.

Gabriela has ten years of experience as a designer but recently left her corporate job to dedicate herself to drawing portraits. "Since then, I have been learning by myself every day," she explains in her profile. In that same space, she claims that, although she creates both traditionally and digitally, the sketchbook remains her favorite and most important tool for everyday studies, development, and art experiments.

LOFT, by Ana García (@anagarcialopez)

The founder of NeuronaLab and director of the Master's in Interior Space Design at the LCI Barcelona School makes a second appearance in the top ten with this popular project: a detailed outline for the design process of a loft located in the vibrant Poblenou neighborhood of Barcelona.

It's the renovation of "a modern house that lacked optimization of its volume, lacked hierarchy in space, and did not account for storage." The expert explains how she reorganized the entire space by changing the position of the rooms, arranging new areas, and creating a large central wardrobe.

After reviewing the creative process, Ana reminds us of the importance of tidiness in family homes, which she believes contributes to a better coexistence in the environment and promotes cleanliness and relaxation. You can learn more about her design philosophy in her Interior Design from Start to Finish course.

In the City, by Albeniz Rodriguez (@albenizrodriguez)

This project’s creator is digital and caricature artist Albeniz Rodriguez. Born in Santo Domingo, he used an image by the great photographer Charles H. Traub - one of his favorite artists - for reference. However, he did not just copy it but gave it his unique style.

Albeniz has collaborated with brands such as Disney, Burda International, and Wacom and says that, although he started out as a traditional artist, he was soon attracted to the digital art world, and is now totally hooked. His works are characterized by their modern and humorous style, and the use of bright, vivid colors that express his outgoing personality.

Only Murders in the Building, by Laura Pérez (@lauraperezgr)

If you've watched the new, long-awaited, Disney series Only Murders in the Building starring Selena Gomez, you'll know that the actress plays a talented illustrator who pairs up with two neighbors to investigate a mysterious crime that happened in her building.

What you may not know is that the drawings made by Selena's character in the series were actually created by Spanish illustrator and comic book author Laura Pérez. Her work is seen in the pieces drawn by the protagonist throughout the series and in the credits.

Laura, who studied Fine Arts in Spain, France, and Canada, and collaborates with publications like The Washington Post, National Geographic, and Vanity Fair, shows us her creative process behind the work for the series in this project.

Laura teaches the Domestika course, Traditional Drawing Techniques with Procreate.

A big congratulations to all of the creatives and thank you for sharing your projects! Remember that you can also share your own works here and that as part of the Domestika community you can check out all kinds of creative personal projects, final course projects, news from teachers, and lots more.

If you're not sure how to publish your projects on Domestika, in our simple upload guide we tell you how to do it with tips to make sure you get the most out of this meeting space for creatives.

Tell us what you think about the community's ten favorite projects through September and if you have more to share, let us know in the comments below!

English version by @acesarato.

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