Random Thoughts

Throughout my life, I never really felt I belong anywhere - more like an alien from another dimension. Families, friends and acquaintances called me a ‘loner’, an ‘individualist’ or ‘eccentric' person. Of course there were also the less positive labels, ‘anti-social’, ‘snobbish’, ‘weird’ and so on. What most of them do not know is that I’m also an empath, highly sensitive (to energy/ noise/ light, etc) and suffer from generalized/ social anxiety disorder (sometimes I hide it well). I have a strong interest in metaphysical subjects. I’m spiritual but not religious and non political. I’m bad at small talks.. Tell me about angels, fairies, unicorns, the meaning of life, universe, death, meditation, chakra, energy healing, your darkest fears and dreams. I’m an old soul. I feel so much that I become easily drained emotionally. I believe we all have a bigger purpose on earth; we have so much to learn and to give during our lifetime here. I love animals. I wish everyone would treat ALL animals with respect and compassionate - not for food, entertainment, sport or for use/ testing for our products. I do so by setting a good example first. I keep things to myself because most people won’t understand me. My closest friend recently asked, ‘We’ve known each other for so long now but I wonder how much do I really know you? I replied ‘Probably around 80%? The other 10% only I know me.. and the remaining 10%, even I don’t know.’’ 😂 Perhaps the next time we judge someone, we can be a little mindful.. what we see is just one of the many facets we ‘choose' to see in them or a side he/she consciously (or subconsciously) shows. Love and light to you.

❤ Blessings, Charllotte

One-Winged Angel

Sometimes I looked through my past works and wondered what inspired me to draw that or favour a certain style during that time. Other times, I have the urge to remove the 'uglier' works from my website but thought a better way would be to leave them as they are and create another version.

Interestingly, when I asked several friends to name their favourite work(s) of mine, ALL of them gave me different answers. Some of them felt a connection to a certain piece and others simply because they like the illustration/ style/ colour. I was actually quite surprised even my least favourite made it to the top of their list! From this experience, I learnt to appreciate all my works including those I find less desirable, because somewhere, somehow, there will be someone who like it. :)

Here's another re-work on my earlier piece titled, 'One-winged angel'. I was torn between keeping it in simple black & white or giving it a full colour since both will have a very different feel. Perhaps I'll try both! Ha.

onewingedangel-dollgift.png

''We are all one-winged angels. 
Our task here on earth is to find another one-winged angel who will share his wing with us, to hold us. And together we can fly back to the most high.'' -Unknown

Art print and other merchandise available here >> Shop.

❤ Blessings, Charllotte

Believe

I finally managed to complete a piece I've been working on for weeks. It took me this long not because it's a complicated piece but ever since I took on a part-time job 3 months ago, I'm having trouble finding a balance between my part-time job, rest and Dollgift. I'd promised myself to draw something on my off days, but all I wanted to do after 3 long days at work, is nothing.. I became depressed because of this. As each week passes, my fear of picking up my 'pen' to draw again increases. I was so afraid I'd lost touch with my creative self. But still, no matter how hard it gets, I chose to keep my faith. And one line at a time, I completed this illustration. Coincidentally, this piece is about holding on to our faith - trust every process, even if it means slowing down or taking a break. :)

''Faith is not about everything turning out okay. Faith is about being okay no matter how things turn out.''~

Art print available here.

❤ Blessings, Charllotte

Sweetness Overload

I think I may suffer from overdose of love over the week for my birthday. :p

I'm not one who enjoy being the centre of attention so naturally when friends wanted to celebrate my birthday for me, I was stressed out. But knowing how much it would mean to them, I'd agreed to meet up over a simple meal. That was how I'd spent my birthday week.. simple cosy dates with my closest friends. :)

My BFF knows how much I'd missed my Nono and gave me this dachshund balloon! So cuteeee! 

And mini Nono immediately took on the role of a 'big' brother.

You've probably heard about my obsession with Angels by now. So YES, I got these for my birthday. Woohoooo~ my Angels collection is growing! :D

I'm not exaggerating when I say my heart is bursting with love. Just hours ago, I received this sweetest parcel in my mail box. 

Thank you for reminding me that I'm loved. 

My wonderful buddy, Holly from Oklahoma had sent me these sweet little ornaments. I know she made these pretty stars by herself! Her loving words of encouragement brought tears to my eyes. Thank you, buddy. :')

You know what's the most amazing part? Holly and I have never met in person. I got to know this awesome girl back in 2009 when I started Dollgift and worked on my very first blog. So we've actually 'known' each other through blogging! Over the years we'd exchanged several letters, gifts and loads of love.

Angels can appear in many forms, and I've no doubt my lovely buddy is an Earth Angel. 

Do you believe in Angels like we do? If you do, I'd love to hear your stories. :) 

Have a beautiful week ahead.

❤ Blessings, Rheea

Wedding Invites & Quote Of The Week

Lovely wedding invitation cards customised for a German couple! <3

‘We are all one-winged angels. Our task here on earth is to find another one-winged angel who will share his wing with us, to hold us. And together we can fly back to the most high.’

We can print as little as 10 cards. No minimum quantity is required. To customise yours, please get in touchMore details can be found here >> http://www.mydollgift.com/customised/#/custom-invitation-cards/

And here's the quote of the week:

That's right. When life knocks you down, you have two choices; you either get up or you roll over and look at the stars. :)

Art print available on Etsy, https://www.etsy.com/shop/dollgift

Have a wonderful week ahead~

❤ Blessings, Rheea

Hello 2015!

Happy New Year everyone!!! I hope you had a wonderful countdown.

No matter what resolutions you are setting for 2015, I hope you can add one more to your list: 

'Be an Angel to yourself'.

Please know that you are very loved! 

(Art print available on Etsy >> HERE.)

❤ Blessings, Rheea

Basic Illustration Class - Lesson 1

Hi guys, sorry for the delay of this post!

Here's a recap on my first basic illustration class at Mages as promised.

For our first lesson, we were taught to create human figures using the 8 'boxes' method. Notice how I've divided the page to 8 different portions, each serves as a guideline for the length of various body parts. I think his arms are a tad too long. Lol.  

I felt as though I was being transported back to my college days when I was a fashion design student. Even then, the fashion figures we were taught to draw weren't as detailed (and fun).

Part two of the lesson was a real challenge for me. We had to work using a tablet! (I bought a tablet few years back and gave up after a few attempts. I guess I still enjoy the feel of traditional pen strokes. Or I was too lazy to persist).

Anyway, I was really thankful I have some basic Photoshop skills prior to that so I didn't pass out from hyperventilation in the class that day. We were asked to create a monster/alien creature and this was what I came out with. Of course I'm not a fan of ugly looking monsters and thus struggled quite abit before I gave birth to this one. I hope it scares you enough? 

The methods we used to create this piece were by using 'Lasso' tool to crop out the desired shape and filling it with a dark colour. After which, we used 'Multiply' to darken some areas and 'Eraser' tool to create the shadow/3D effect. Now came my favourite part - using 'Colour Dodge' to create the lighted-up/ fire effect.

Note: the monster has to be filled with a very dark tone (close to black) in order to get the nice glowing effect with Colour Dodge tool. 

The cool thing about a tablet is that you can create different 'tones' by exerting a lighter or harder pressure with the pen. This could save you the trouble of changing the opacity multiple times while shading. 

Here's another example of how a tablet can help us create this sphere without the need to adjust the opacity of the colour/tone.

I hope these sounds interesting to you because I really had a great time!

Well, after looking at some not very appealing art pieces, I'm going to share with you some mind-blowing art pieces by my lecturer, Jimmy Ling who specialises in conceptual digital arts.

Just WOW!

Now, this has to be my favourite......................

Omg, an ANGEL!!! (Screamsssss).

Can't get enough of Jimmy's work? You can find more on DeviantArt - http://dreadjim.deviantart.com or his facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/Dreadjim.

Also, if you're free this friday, 8 Aug, the eve of our National Day, do come by to the Red Dot Design Museum at Tanjong Pagar. Because after 6 months, we're finally ready for our next MAAD (Market for Artists & Designers) event!

As usual, 10% of our sale proceeds will go to a local dog shelter we support. Please help us help our furry friends!

We'll be there from 5pm till midnight. Admission is FREE. More details about this event can be found on my Facebook page here, https://www.facebook.com/DollgiftByRheea

See you there! :D

❤ Blessings, Rheea