Meet Tattoo Challenge Winner Medusa Dollmaker

Hi Medusa. Tell us a little about yourself, your background and your work.

I am Medusa Dollmaker, self-taught CG and traditional illustrator, designer, art mess, mercenary and part-time gorgon. I’m from Spain. A simple, crazy girl with an absurd life. My work is my way to express myself in colors and shapes.

Do you have any tattoos? What are they and why did you choose those designs?

Yup! Two on my left arm. They mean a lot to me. The first, a snake coiling up my wrist, symbolises for me the long way to achieving wisdom and femininity. The second is an ornamented compass; I’ve lost my north so many times that now I wear it. Destiny is something we build.

What was the inspiration for your winning design?

I was just listening to my belly! Haha. No. I had an idea a while ago about working on something with a couple of period cupcakes in a vintage environment: Mr and Mrs Cupcake. This challenge gave me the opportunity to delve into that idea.

What does your mom think about the design and about your tattoos?

Well, we are both very busy at the moment, so I didn’t show it to my mom yet. But I can swear she love my tattoos. She always wanted to wear some ink on her skin!

What is your creative weapon of choice?

Pencil and paper. Add some music, some tea and release the hours!

What is your usual process for creating a design?

I start sketching some very rough ideas in a notebook or on a sheet of paper. When I finally choose a design I copy it on clean, quality paper, finish it in ink, scan it and fix it up in Photoshop. I have a rule for my work: I want to create things I would wear on clothing, skin or walls.

Did this differ given your were designing for two canvases – a tattoo and a tee?

No. I was looking for a curly design that gives the feel of “closed”, increasing the impact in the chest area. All the composition, all the design items, follow an ornamented axis that is a sort of spiral (the tea). I love “closed” designs.

Apart from submitting your awesome design to this challenge, what else are you doing to creatively take over the world?

Getting more involved in the T-shirt world, that’s my evil plan. Actually I’m working my next art book, Miracle – it has been delayed far too long. Simultaneously I work on stuff for commissions, some other artsy things to fill my online shops and … from time to time, contests <3

What does winning this challenge mean to you?

It means a lot. It means evolution. It means some kind of relief in the hard times we are living. My personal situation isn’t better than any other persons, so you can guess how happy and moved I am. It means that I’m getting closer to what I want to be as a professional, even though there are still many things left to improve and learn. It means some results for years of effort.

Any plans for your $1000 booty?

Spending booty on cute boys and wine! Just kidding. I just want to buy some essential stuff for working and living. I’ll be saving a big part of the bucks. I want to create a cool giveaway for my followers on my FB page and buy a new chair for work. Mine crashed ridiculously, dragging my ass to the floor with a lot of pain, the same day the winners were announced. That is karma, I suppose.

If you could see your winning design as a tattoo on anyone who would it be and why?

“Please Mr Hiddleston, can I ink some cupcakes on you?” Hahaha.

I believe this is your first RB challenge win, any advice to other artists and designers out there?

Let’s play! Create and enjoy the process.

A big thanks to Medusa for letting us pick her brains, and congrats again on the win! If you’d like to see more from Medusa Dollmaker, you can find her all over the interwebs. Check out her Redbubble Profile, Website, Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter for more.