White Oak Stables
2.1.2010 posted by Jade
If you've never been to our store on cafepress then you should stop by! You can get White Oak Stables journals, mouse pads, stickers, t-shirts and more!

1.27.2010 posted by Jade
Send us a list of your 10 best reasons to play White Oak Stables and you'll be entered into a drawing for a prize package of White Oak Stables goodies. One entry (picked at random) wins 1 keychain, 1 calendar magnet and a hat! Please only send an entry if you can have the prize mailed to your home address or a parent's work address. Entries are due by February 10th, only one entry per person. Send your entries to Jade@design1online.com. Good luck :)

1.19.2010 posted by Jade
We've updated our site Terms and Conditions for the new year. Please take a moment to look over them and become familiar with the new changes.
1.11.2010 posted by Jade

© Dolphy, all rights reserved


Who is Dolphy? Tell us about yourself!

I'm a 25-year-old woman who lives in Hamburg, Germany. After my graduation at secondary school in Munich I participated in a 14-months course at Animation School Hamburg. Therefore I moved to the other side of Germany, because we don't have real animation schools like in the USA, for example, and I couldn't afford going to the movie schools here. So that course was the only pace where I could learn more about animation. After 7 months theory we started working in little groups, producing a short animated movie for the last 7 months. My friend Sam and me did a movie about a kiwi bird:



When the course was finished I spent almost a year with applying to animation studios here, but since there's not many productions in Germany and everyone is only looking for experienced workers I decided to become a freelance artist. To be honest, I'm glad it went that way. I have a temporary help job in a local supermarket and now and then work as clean-up artist on commercials, but most of the time I do what I like most, illustrating and doing commissions for people online. I really enjoy doing comics and horse-pictures for whiteoakstables.net and am happy everyone seems to like them as well. :)

What inspired you to start drawing?

I'm not completely sure anymore. My parents told me I started drawing as soon as I was able to hold a pencil. But I remember I was very inspired by cartoons at early age, especially "My Little Pony". I was SUCH a huge fan...and still am, despite my age, hehe. Later it were mostly Disney movies which inspired me a lot and still do.

What's your favorite thing/topic/subject to draw?

My favourite Disney movie is "Treasure Planet", so I adore drawing my favourite character Jim Hawkins and me together. Big Cats, kiwi birds, dolphins and horses come next, but in general I really enjoy drawing all kinds of animals, may it be fantasy creatures or real ones.

Rank your top 5 Disney movies.

Treasure Planet
The Lion King
Tarzan
Lilo & Stitch
Hercules

What programs do you use to make your drawings?

Photoshop 7.0. It's not the latest version, but the only one I've ever used and regarding how long it took to finally be able to use it decently, I don't even wanna get a new one because knowing myself it would take an eternity to get used to that one. *lol* I always do sketch and lineart traditionally, scan it and colour everything with Photoshop. I also have a tablet since it's easier to draw with that than with a mouse. It's a Wacom Model CTE-440.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to become an artist?

Practice. Practice. Practice.

People often ask me for advice or, like I call it, "magical tricks" to make their drawings look good. Many of them think there's just a few pointers and suddenly they can draw like they never did before. But the harsh reality is that you have to practice a LOT, not a few days or weeks but months and years to develop and improve your skills. Go to the zoo, take life-drawing classes, try out different styles and colouring methods. But still have fun while drawing.

How long does it take you to draw a picture?

It always depends on the amount of characters, how detailed they are, the background, etc. Sometimes it takes me 10 minutes to draw a sketch, sometimes I work on a single drawing for 3 hours, depending on how difficult the idea / character / pose is or in what mood I am, means if I`m motivated and energetic or in bad mood and have to force myself. It's also hard for me to say how long it takes because I don`t sit on a drawing from sketch to final colouring without a break, I watch TV next to drawing, chat with friends, or interrupt to eat something or go to the store, etc. So when a particular picture was done during 3 days, for example, it doesn`t have to mean that it`s extremely diffcult or costed a lot of time, it could have been done in one afternoon, but I was just in no good condition.

But if you really need to have an answer, then let's say one day for one picture.

If you could change one thing in the world just with your art, what would it be?

Wow, that's a difficult question to answer...it would be awesome if more people would know about the kiwi birds. They are so unknown, it's a real shame. Not many people outside of New Zealand do actually know them I noticed. They are very endangered so if my kiwi art would raise attention and maybe even a company would be willing to develop kiwi products with me, that would truly be great. There's not much stuff about kiwis, but they have potential to set a new trend. By now, you really have seen I'm obsessed with these little birds. XD

Have you had any formal training? If so would you recommend a certain class/style or study to someone whose interested in learning to draw or become an artist?

Besides the 14-months animation course...No. I mainly taught myself, by watching cartoons, going to the zoo, looking at photos, observing people and how they moved, and looking at myself ( mainly when I need to see how a special pose looks or have to draw hands ). Like I said, life-drawing classes are extremely helpful, we had it at animation school as well. I can't recommend a certain study, because it really depends on what you want to draw. If you're interested in tradtional art and oil-painting, etc., take a study which involves that. I you rather design logos or banners, graphic design would be the best option for you. However, you should start with drawing realistically and learning about anatomy, proportions, light, colouring, etc. first.

Do you have any horses?

No.

Do you ride, or have you taken any lessons before?

Eh, not really. I have sat on a horse now and then as child, but never riding lessons or doing it seriously.

If you could have a dream horse what would it be and why?

A Friesian. They are just beautiful with their black coat, the wavy mane and tail and the silky hair on the lower legs.

What's your favorite art or drawing book and why?

"The Animator's Survival Kit" by Richard Williams. It's the best book about animation, including everything you need to know about animating and drawing characters.

"Manga Pose Resource Book : Animals" by Yoshihiro Yamaguchi. It only consists of drawings of all kinds of animals in different poses and perspectives, very helpful when you need a pose and can't think of something or need inspiration.

Thank you Dolphy for taking the time to do this interview.
You can see more of Dolphy's work by visiting her DeviantArt account.


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