Happy new year!

This is just a temporary makeover because I got so tired of the blog's old look. I might make a real banner sometime soon. Opinions on this one?

AND this is a drawing of a cat I made yesterday with my tablet - no reference picture or anything!

Hahah, I know, it's not very good and I didn't use my usual shading technique - but I might as well share it with you.


Happy 2013!!!

Maria

Currently working on...

... my entry for SDNTGD season 3. I know I'm not allowed to show my entry before it's published (although I haven't even finished yet) but here's a little preview of the graphic:

As you can see, I still need to do the part I'm so bad at, the hair. But I really like what I've made so far!

Oops, I also need to add some highlights on the neck.


What do you think so far?

Maria/mgirl07

UPDATE: I got a tablet for christmas, so I'm using it for the hair!

New graphic..

Yep, after a looong time I finally decided to make another graphic. I used a reference pic from a post on The Voice (THIS ONE).

Some parts need work, but it's not my worst. I'm actually just a little bit proud of it :-P
I changed some of the things from the original photo like the hair shape (drawing curly/fluffy hair without a tablet is torture) and the dress fabric and shading.
Opinions?
(if anyone bothers to comment at all)

Maria/mgirl07

New drawing!

Hello readers! I want to show you something I have made a few days ago:

It looks better in real life, my scanner destroyed it. :( Here it looks as if some places there are random dark spots. But anyways, it was based off this picture:

It is from Nicki Minaj's music video for her song Freedom. I would have chosen another place from the video at first, but my mom took my computer away, and I had very little battery left on my iPod so I couldn't play games. I decided to use it to find a picture instead, but I couldn't see the video so I found this on Google Images.

So what do you think, does it look alike? (besides the terrible scanner quality)

Maria/mgirl07

P.S. Here's the song if you haven't heard it before:

Sorry...

Wow. Time really passes by quickly, doesn't it? Almost a month has passed since my last post on here!
I have got really tired of making graphics. I'm really sorry, but I am canceling all the requests I've got.
If I ever get back to making graphics, they won't be Stardoll related. I want to use all the things I've learned about graphics for my own future, maybe someday get a job that has something to do with graphics or drawings.
I am not closing this blog down, I'll use it to post my drawings and outfits instead, and maybe occasionally other stuff. If I start making graphics again, I will post them here too.

Here is one of my latest drawings:

It sort of reminds me of someone, I just don't know who! What do you think?
I tried hard with the collarbone, and I think it has come out quite good.

Opinions? Hate because I am canceling requests? :D

Maria/mgirl07

Preview of PunkBrunnette5's graphic

I'm working on it right now... it's not finished but a preview of what it's going to look like.

As you can see, I've made the legs, shorts, hands and most of the sweater. The bag, face, hair and right arm still need work.
And I know that the face is sort of blurry, but I don't know why :/

Opinions?

Maria/mgirl07

Wow.

MDM has just officially closed down 28 minutes ago as I'm writing this. It's not because it was my favorite blog or something, but it was one of the last big ones of the Stardoll blogosphere. On BFM new posts come out about every 2 months, and the last post on TTT was 8 days ago, although it was promised to be kept active. It's sort of a scary feeling, as if the end of the world (at least the virtual one) is near.
Don't you feel the same way?

My best drawing so far!!!

Okay, I've promised to post ALL my drawings so far and that was like ages ago and I'm way too lazy to do it. But I really want to show you my last (and best) drawing that I made on Wednesday.

Don't you think it has turned out quite realistic?
And if you were wondering, I wasn't drawing someone who I know (because I would fail miserably at that, I don't even want to try) so it's a character I made up.

What do you think? I'm really proud of it! :P

Maria/mgirl07

HUGE DILEMMA PLEASE HELP ME

Okay, maybe this is not as serious as it sounds, but I still need your help to decide something.

As I'm sure you already know, Stardoll is getting close to 2 million members, which means we will get 100 stardollars - but if you haven't heard of this before now, don't get too excited - they only last for one day. So you either have to spend 100sd or poof, they are gone. I think this is really annoying, because I find it hard to use a lot of money at the same time, I usually don't buy too much at a time. So, I've decided that if I want to get any good out of it I have to plan beforehand: what am I going to use them for?
I've come up with a couple of ideas, and I want you to help me choose:



I really hope you will help me, and maybe also start planning what you are going to spend your 100sd for!
-Maria/mgirl07

A few of my drawings

I finally found out how to use the scanner (but I'm still not really sure how to use it) and I can upload some of my latest drawings here. Now I'm supposed to be in bed or my mum will kill me, so here is one of my latest drawings - I will upload the rest tomorrow.

I think I should crop this! But I'll do it another time, I hope you don't mind. I have changed my drawing technique a bit, it looks much better than the last drawings I posted here. I know the proportions aren't realistic, but who said they have to be?

Anyway, I quite like it but what is your opinion?

Maria/mgirl07

Drawing on Pixlr

Yes, I made an attempt at digital art. It's pretty random. First I thought it should be my entry for the Get Creative contest or at least some practice for it, but I know I need to try a lot harder than that.
Anyway, I'm tired of random rambling and the maths lesson has just begun so here it is:

It's the most random crap I've ever done, but I decided to post it here anyway.
Whatever.

Wow, it's a long time since my last post...

The last time I posted here was, like, 14 days ago! And the weird thing is, I haven't even really missed it! Yesterday I started working on a graphic because I was bored, but I don't really enjoy making them anymore. I also don't enjoy Stardoll, I won't be so active now.

Yup, that's me^^
You can click to enlarge, but it won't look as good. I have made a small mistake with the hair layers.

What do you think?

Maria/mgirl07

A pause?

Don't panic because of the title. No, I'm not leaving and I'm not holding a month-long break. You can call it a Harry Potter break, I guess. (I'm not joking. it's the first time I'm reading Harry Potter and the goblet of fire). And if you have read/seen it too, I think you will understand why my mind is filled with other things than graphics and Stardoll. Even my favorite tv-series and cartoons (I love cartoons! :3) seemed boring! And THAT means serious stuff.
I will start making graphics again later, but right now I'm just tired of it. Please be patient.

Maria/mgirl07

depi2's graphic

I think this is my best so far! When I will add the text the banner will be ready!
What do you think?
Maria/mgirl07

What should I do with these requests?

Right now I have a problem. I should continue with the people on the to-do list, but the 3 first users are either deleted or haven't logged on for over a month! Should I ignore their requests and start working on the next or still do their graphics? But what's the point of that if they won't log on again?

Again I ask you readers for advice, what should I do? Make their graphics anyway or start working on the people who signed up after them?

Thank you for your help,
Maria/mgirl07

Little sunshine

It's been a long time since I posted here (well, 5 or 6 days is long for me). I hope you haven't given up reading this blog yet, because I have most certainly NOT given up writing it! :D

And on the way home in the bus from my trip to Berlin (I wrote about it in my previous post, didn't I?) I made a new graphic. Not a Stardoll graphic or even anything with a pose in, it's quite different to what I'm used to make. It's all about the perspective and the light.
The photo I made it from is of me holding the first dandelion I had seen this year, somewhere in spring.

At a first glance, it's cute. Me likes it. But if you look closer it's really choppy and looks badly made. The hand shading looks choppy for two reasons, 1. I don't have a tablet yet so I have to use the polygonal lasso tool and that makes it more choppy and 2. my program doesn't have a 'blur the edges' or something like that tool so it naturally has a worse quality.

But it's still okay, isn't it?

ANd if you want to see the original photo, it's here:

What do you think? :)
Maria/mgirl07

Sigh.

I'm sorry for not posting for so long, I am on a class trip to Berlin right now. There's nothing wrong with the city itself, but the teachers make us walk so much! And we had to walk for over an hour just after we had eaten! I felt sick.

Also, a class trip is not the best time to get a cold. A bad one. My throat hurts and I almost didn't sleep the whole night.

So you might have understood from the text above that I'm having a very bad morning. :(

Idk if I'll have time to make more graphics or post anything before Saturday, if I survive till then.

Maria/mgirl07

If you don't know what this post was, it's just a quick update saying I'm still alive.

A hacker?

Several days ago, I got a guestbook comment asking to do me a makeover. And she promised to give me 10 sd. I know, you shouldn't trust people who offer you money but as long as she doesn't ask for my password, why not?

So I answered her with a polite 'yes'.
Her next comment was just what I expected: the I-need-your-password-stage.

Now she suddenly also promises gifts? In her previous comment she only mentioned the 10 sd. Another proof that this person is not to be trusted. Again, I don't say 'go away u r a hacker!' but politely explain to her that I'm not giving her my pass. She can do a makeover of me in my beauty parlor without my password!

Now she's disappointed that she didn't succeed hacking me.

With my reply I test if she really is a hacker or not and wait for her answer. If she really wanted to do me a makeover, she would say 'yes'.

Nope. All she wanted was my pass.

I am going to be nice and not show her name, but remember, don't be fooled by this sort of tricks! She is not the only one who does this!

Maria/mgirl07

First attempt at background?

Yes, the title says it all. I have tried to make a graphic of a beach, just for fun. I didn't use any reference image for the beach, only for the palm leaf. It's NOT finished yet because I think the leaves need some more detail (I was in a very lazy mood that day) and obviously a beach needs seashells and pebbles and stuff like that, but how do I draw them?
Here is the unfinished beach graphic:

If I ever finish it I might use it for a graphic.

As you can see, I've used many of my program's 'childish' functions that a good graphic designer should never use... you should be able to make the sand look natural and 3D yourself without using the 'textures' tool, and although a self-made gradient takes more time it looks better than when it's made with the gradient tool!
I still like it, although it's not perfect.

Maria/mgirl07

StarMinimon?

If you check my to-do list, StarMinimon is the next person who requested a graphic, but her account and blogger account is deleted! It's not fair to just ignore her request and start working on the next, but what else can I do?
Maria/mgirl07

Graphic from drawing!

This is the one that got deleted (see last post) but I made it again! It's made out of a drawing I made of my mom (she asked me to draw her new haircut), and I decided to make a graphic out of it!
The drawing (made by me):

A photo of my mom: (I did NOT draw after the photo, it was taken when I was done drawing)

And FINALLY the graphic!

What do you think? :D

Mari/mgirl07

No, no, NO!!!!!!!!

I was working on a new graphic and it was turning out really beautiful. I had just spent 2 hours on it. From the beginning, my program reacted slowly and I had to click on some things several times to get them to work. And suddenly... it closed down! All of it! My beautiful new graphic which was almost finished, and it just closed down!!!
I am so angry right now that I want to scream! (but I can't, my little brother is sleeping)
So instead, you'll get this (very quickly sketched drawing by a person who is trying not to scream)

Why does life have to be like that? It was like my best graphic so far!

Wildgabz's graphic - banner coming soon

Now I'm done with a graphic I have been working on yesterday evening and today at school... actually, that's quite fast for me!

Here it is:

It turned out sort of okay I guess. I don't like the shading on the t-shirt, and my first attempt at floral patterns on the pants didn't turn out that good. In fact those roses look like... dog poos.

On the other hand, I really like the hair and I like the technique I used for the necklace.

It's made in black, grey and white colors, it's full body and it's sort of chic. Wildgabz, that's the sort of thing you asked for, right? If you don't like the pattern on the pants I can remove it, it takes 20 seconds. Now all I need to add is the text.

What do you think?

Maria/mgirl07

Starting school...

You might have noticed that I haven't updated this blog for some time, and there's a reason for that. No, I'm not leaving or anything, but on the 13th of August, this monday, I've started at school in 8th grade and promised myself to take it seriously. And there's a huge difference between taking school seriously and doing what I did last year.
Another reason is that this year we don't have boxes to store our books in in the classroom, but have to take them all home every day. And my back hurts very much of it because I am not used to carry this much. That's why I put half of the books in a plastic bag and carry it in my hands. And you can understand, when every little book adds extra weight a computer would be too heavy to take with. Even though it's a MacBook Air. That's why I don't have the 30 minutes on the way to school and 30 minutes back in the bus. Now I have an hour less than before.
But right now I'm sitting in a bus on the way to school and I have my computer with. That's because I need to use it for several different lessons today and I don't have so many books to take with.

And yesterday evening I've started working on a graphic for the next person on my waiting list, wildgabz. And today after school I will have weekend so I have more time to work on it. It will hopefully be finished tomorrow.

That's all from me right now, I better work on that graphic while I have 15 minutes left in the bus! :)
Maria/mgirl07

New version of face graphic

Earlier today I finished a graphic of my face, and now I changed a couple of things. What do you think about the changes? Better or worse?

BEFORE:

AFTER:

The 'before' eyes were not very nice, but these look a bit creepy. The mouth is darker and looks more natural. I have changed the mouth shading a little but to make it look like I am smiling. Also, all the shading is brighter and more defined.

My first face graphic!

Yep, I decided it was time for me to try making real faces in graphics. But then, what face should I make a graphic of? I am not obsessed with any specific singer, model, etc. And chocolate cakes don't have faces. So I decided to use a photo of myself.

This is my graphical recreation:

I am very happy about everything but the eyes. If you zoom in, they are very rough and unclear. And for some reason it looks like I have a very sad "why don't I get a cookie? :( " face expression.

This is the original photo. I have darker lips (which is annoying because I wish they were as pale as on the graphic version), unclear skin, and ugly clothes. But at least I am smiling.

What do you think is better? The graphic version or the photo?
I would put up a poll but I'm too busy. I really need to hurry!

Maria/mgirl07

Contest results...

No, I haven't forgotten about the contest that I once made... the problem is, there was only one entry!
It's really beautiful, but the person who sent it in can't get a prize because there was no other entries to compete against!
Thank you for sending in your entry, Alana/ask510.

That's all for now,

Maria/mgirl07

New banner!

As you probably have noticed by the time you are reading this post, I decided to make a new banner out of the graphic I made earlier today and another one that I made just now.

What do you think about it? In my opinion, it turned out really well!
And here's the second graphic by itself:

I love the green top and the hair on this one!

Maria/mgirl07

P.S. Tomorrow I'm going to Copenhagen with my family for two days (it takes too long time to explain why), so unless I survive a big fight with my mom or secretly take my computer with and have a fight with her later, I won't be online until the day after tomorrow. Maybe I will take my iPod Touch with, so I can answer guestbook comments and stuff, but I can't do any graphics or anything!

Mint green...

Today I was bored so I decided to make a new graphic. I don't want to work on the banner anymore, because the first half was made with my old technique and it looks really bad, and I'd rather start something new than erase half of the old stuff. Maybe I'll use this graphic for the new banner?

It's cute, right? I really like it. The hair has turned out very well.

What do you think?

Maria/mgirl07

14 steps - Graphic Tutorial of darkshadow205's graphic

Hello again readers! Today I have the promised tutorial for you, the one for the 14 party!

If there's anything you don't understand or you want me to explain something in a more detailed way, feel free to ask!
I know there is a lot of text, but it's all useful and important, so if you are using this tutorial, read all of it!
*Warning: I didn't make this in one day, and by the time I did step 2 or 3, darkshadow205 changed her skin colour! I had to change it on the graphic, so don't be confused by the unexpected colour change!

Darkshadow205's banner - tutorial coming soon

Here is darkshadow205's banner that I finally finished. It's also the graphic that I will make a graphic tutorial out of!
Here is the graphic itself:

It has turned out great, much better than I expected! I'm so proud of it!

There are 2 versions of the banner, you can choose the one you like best.

This is the cropped version. It looks better, but you can't see the full graphic.

The full version. I am not very good at layout of banners, but I think the blurry edge was a good idea. I can also blur the first one, if you want.


What do you think?

Maria/mgirl07

P.S. The tutorial for this graphic is coming soon so you can learn how to make it!

Raffle results

Hello readers/followers!
I am in a very good mood today, because I won Medoll of the Month on USD!!! Seriously, I couldn't believe it!
Anyway, back to the point of this post...

The raffle was due yesterday, and I have got 9 entries. I know that's quite much... but if there were just two more entries, the Superstar winner would get 5 stardollars more!

The prizes were:
- 30sd and a cupcake gift if you want one for the superstar/royalty winner
- You will be on the next banner of this blog together with me and a cupcake gift if you want one for the non-ss winner.

There were 6 non-ss entries, and 3 superstar/royalty entries.
And now you will find out who the winners are.

*DRUMROLL* (I know I can add a drumroll to the videos below, but my little brother is sleeping and I don't want to wake him up)


The superstar/royalty winner:

The winner is Crystallam2000! Reserve something in your StarBazaar for 30 sd, I will buy it as soon as possible so you can get the money. You will get the cupcake when I have bought the reserved item.

The non-ss winner:

The winner is ask510! You will get a cupcake now (or as soon as I have time), and the banner will be up in some days (maybe a week)!

Congratulations to the winners and thank you for participating to the others!

Maria/mgirl07

P.S. If you have a question about anything, if you can't see the video, if I have spelled one of the names wrong or anything else please let me know!

Mini-comp

Hello again readers/followers! :)

Today I have a small competition for you!
The prizes aren't that big, 10 sd for a superstar/royalty winner or if you are non-ss you will get a cupcake gift and a special trophy drawn by me with your name on - you can put it in your portfolio blog or something. I would have given something bigger, but I can't because I am not a superstar myself :(

And here's the task itself:
Design a shoe.
It should be original and creative. It HAS to be black, white, grey and/or green. You can make a shoe with one of these colours, some of them or all of them. It's your own choice.
You can make a graphic of it, draw it on paper and take a photo of it, make it as a collage of different pieces of paper put together, draw it with chalk on the sidewalk... anything is allowed! (as long as you can see that it's a shoe, of course)
Upload it to a website like Tinypic or Imgur or Photobucket, and write your name and the link in the comments.
You are NOT allowed to copy any of the other entries or copy a shoe from Stardoll, i-Dressup or any other website and claim that it's a graphic you made yourself.

If you don't really know where to begin, here's a foot you can use to draw your shoe on. I made it on Pixlr. You can copy it onto your computer and use it for a graphic or print it out and draw upon it. Remember, if you're better at drawing feet than me, you don't have to use it.

I'm looking forward to see your entries!
I know the prizes are not that big, but wouldn't it be interesting to enter anyway?

The due date is Saturday the 4th, so you have a week to enter!


Maria/mgirl07

THE BIG RAFFLE!

This is your chance of winning a prize... and all you have to do is to is to follow this blog (if you haven't already) and write your username in the comments! Oh, and write if you are a superstar/royalty or non-ss, because the prizes are different.

The prizes


Superstars: 30 sd if there will be 0 to 10 entries, 35 sd if there will be 11-20 entries and 40 sd if there will be 21 or more entries! So you are welcome to invite more people, because then you have a chance of winning a bigger prize! (you have to sell something to me through the StarBazaar to get the money)

Non-ss: As I can't send you any stardollars and the graphics I make are already free, I've come up with a creative prize - you can be on this blog's next banner for several months until the next makeover!

I will write all the usernames on pieces of paper, fold them and put them into two hats: a non-ss and a superstar one. Then I will take a random one out of each hat, and announce the winner! I know there's something called random number generator and that sort of stuff, but the other is more interesting!

Note: if only one superstar or only one non-superstar will enter, I will put the two prizes together into one hat/category, and if there will be no ss/non-ss entries I will have to remove one of the prizes.

EDIT: the non-superstar winner can also get a cupcake gift if they want one, because I am non-ss myself and can't buy any of the other gifts!

Good luck!

The raffle ends on Tuesday the 31st of July, so you have about 4 days to enter!

The 14 party is here!

(sorry for the bad layout lol)

The 14 party is here! Stay tuned for:
- A raffle
- A small contest
- A graphic tutorial
- A new look & banner!

I will publish these things one by one now, and in the 2-3 days ahead, so if you are visiting my blog now, remember to check back later if you want to win some stardollars!

Look forward to...

 As you can see, this has something to do with the visitors number... and maybe also the number of followers!
Look forward to a small party with a new look, raffles and several other things! Excited? Wait until this blog reaches 1400 pageviews!
*hint* - the main theme is shoes!

Here is the shoe graphic by itself:

Aren't they cute?

Maria/mgirl07

First drawing for my little brother's book

HERE is one of the cars on the picture, and an explanation to what this is.

On this picture, the two bad guys get sent in prison for what they did (I'll explain the whole story when the next picture is ready).
Here is they yellow one separately:

What do you think?

EDIT: I have made the iron bars more visible:

Is it better now?

Quick update

Okay, this post is just to let you know that I'm not dead yet... and that I'm still working on a graphic. I have taken a break for some days, but right now I am working on another car graphic for my little brother, and when I finish the graphics for him I will continue with the Stardoll ones. The people who have requested a graphic, please be patient. I am very slow at making them.

Do you want these sort of updates in the future so the blog wouldn't become dead and boring? Or is it annoying that there are so many small posts without any graphics/drawings in? What do you think?




Maria/mgirl07

I got eliminated from SDNTGD...

Yes, but at least I came as far as Task 1! There are people who applied and didn't even get to the competition itself!
I deserved the scores I got, and I will use the criticism for my future graphics. I am a bit sad right now, but I'm not giving anything up! By the next cycle I will improve, and get further than task 1!
Here are my entries (for some reason, only the first one was shown/judged)

I actually like the second one more, so I don't know why only the first was shown. Maybe I made a mistake when writing the link, so it was invalid!

But if the second entry was also shown, it probably wouldn't have changed anything. I am still not good enough. Yet.




P.S. I am sorry if I sound mean because I am in a bad mood right now, but I have a little rant for you, the readers of this blog.

I get around 8 visits every day, and I often get new graphic/banner requests just because they are free. It means that many people like my graphics and I should take that as a compliment, but when you visit this blog can't you leave a short comment?
The only comments I get are when I finish requested graphic and the person who it's for writes 'thank you, it's nice' or something like that. But if I post graphics or drawings for personal use, nobody cares! The visitors who have randomly come across my blog quickly leave again without a comment or even a 'reaction' (the rating at the bottom of every post) to any of my posts, and those who request a graphic only care about their own graphic!

I'm not necessarily asking for a positive comment, but if you are writing something negative it should just contain some constructive criticism. What do you mean by 'constructive criticism', you might be wondering. And I mean don't just say 'this is ugly' but explain why and what I can do better! Just be honest, and say it in a polite way.

So dear readers, if you like my graphics, please let me know that! Comment, share your opinions! It doesn't take that long!


Maria/mgirl07

Car graphic for personal use

My little brother is obsessed with a story about cars my mum has found on the internet. The only problem is, that the story is unfinished! The first chapter was published in 2008, and the author promised to published more but never did it. Now it's 3 years ago since her last comment saying that the next chapter was almost ready, and the people who read it back then have forgotten it.
But my little brother has only found it a few weeks ago, and he wants an ending to the story! So my mum has made up a short ending, and I should illustrate it!

I will draw the cars separately, and put them together into pictures afterwards. This way we can also look at the cars separately.

This is one of the bad guys, who apologizes and becomes 'good' later on in the story, in the next picture. I am terrible at drawing facial features so you can't really see that those lamps are meant to be eyes and the mouth is barely visible, but I like it anyway! Today I'll draw the other bad guy, and soon the first picture will be ready!

...

I can't wait to show you my entries for SDNTGD Task 1!!! (I'll explain why there are two)

Okay, that was quite random ^^

I'm back!

... and it's Friday evening (or should I say midnight?). It's 23:40, and I should go to bed soon, so this is just a quick update of all the drawings I made on the summer camp and the contest entry I just finished. Let's start with the drawings, then?

A pair of cute animals. Long story made short, I gave them to another girl so now I only have these photos. :-P

I think I have said goodbye to pencils for some time, because drawing with gel pens is now my all-time favorite technique! Everything looks sketchy and professionally made. Look at the drawing above, for example!

Another pen drawing.


And the ones below are the results of a funny drawing game that I played with a girl called Emma. Both players have a piece of paper, and they draw a head. Then they fold the top backwards, and change papers. The same with the body and the legs. In the end, you fold them both out. Sometimes the outcomes are quite funny:
(For some weird reason I can't add any text under the pictures, so I'll just say 'bye' here! What do you think about my drawings?)