| Favorite Animal | All cats, big and small. |
Constantly on the move, young Dorelys Smits, also known as Adoris, finds herself going through Flemish, Belgium, the Netherlands, and all about the European continent. Multi-faceted, Dorelys considers herself a graphic, brand, and user-interface designer; web designer; illustrator; and photographer. Born in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, known as the melting pot of Europe, Dorelys currently resides in Dilsen, Belgium. As a self-taught, front-end web-developer, Dorelys enjoys working in multiple creative fields including illustration, drawing, digital art, design, web development, and even photography.
Dorelys has been creating ever since she was able to hold a pencil. Starting with creative squiggles and later developing into drawings of equines, her childhood obsession, Dorelys would draw continuously. “It had to be on paper; on walls was not permitted, bummer,” she jokes. “I literally drew for days without taking a break and now to think of it, I’ve never stopped drawing since.” After having her creative talents recognized, Dorelys was enrolled on scholarship in an academic creative study that ultimately influenced her to pursue an artistic course in her secondary education. “Thanks to the many drawings I made, I developed a great interest and passion in the world of arts.”
Upon graduating in 2012, Dorelys had experienced knowledge in branding, graphic design, and illustration work and began working as a freelancer. Taking commissions from copious companies, she found herself busy with various artistic projects creating websites, corporate identities, logos, and posters for events. Always yearning to discover more, however, Dorelys learned to successfully program in HTML and CSS and enrolled in a web-development class in 2016 to further her experimentation with web design and coding. “This class showed me all aspects of web-developing and was a real eye-opener to what could be done with websites,” she remembers. Now, Dorelys works in front-end development while furthering her career in digital arts. “My interest heavily shifted towards making illustrations and planning about making my own children’s book in the future,” she reflects.
Dorelys has found many successes in her current career. In 2015, she was the user interface and game designer for the mobile game, “One Way Up,” a game that featured a toony balloon avoiding the obstacles within a city. Dorelys created the fun, colorful game assets while designing a clean and functional interface, all within a charming, primary-colored aesthetic. Later, in 2017, Dorelys developed a UI design for the desktop application, “FTS Tracker,” an entertainment-based library application made for “movie freaks”. Dorelys was tasked with creating an easy-to-use and simple user interface. Most recently, Dorelys developed a new desktop application, “On Track,” a school synchronization tool. Designed for students, On Track kept school files updated and sent notifications to keep users organized. As the UI, graphic, and web designer, Dorelys created a user-friendly and modern interface, all with simplicity in mind. “Sleek, simple, and elegant designs are always of paramount importance to me,” she declares. Dorelys has also utilized her drawing skills, recently, and created illustrations for a children’s book titled, “The Good Witch.”
When illustrating, Dorelys works both traditionally and digitally and utilizes several different media. “I do not really have a favorite medium or techniques,” she explains. “I try to specialize a little bit in everything, exploring all sort of mediums and materials/techniques.” When working digitally, she favors Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign from the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. Traditionally, Dorelys paints with watercolors and sketches with pencils and inks. Her works tend to radiate with vibrant colors within a stylized, simplistic style. “I tend to make my illustrations in a cartoonish or tattoo style but I always like to experiment with other styles when I feel like it,” she states.
In order to create her illustrations, Dorelys spends as much time as possible studying her subject matters, usually sketching and drawing cartoons and animals. Wildlife has always played a part in her life, beginning with her love of horses as a child and fostering as a general appreciation for nature. “When I was young, I used to watch National Geographic or other animal documentaries on television,” she recollects. Amazed by the curious lives animals lead, Dorelys enjoyed learning more about where animals lived and how they behaved. Fueled with inspiration, these glimpses of nature would lead to more sketching and drawing. “That ultimately really boosted my creativity,” she realizes. “Still, to this day, I love to watch or listen to animal documentaries when I feel uninspired or have a lack of focus on a project.”
Nature also influences another of Dorelys’ passions, photography. She enjoys venturing outdoors to take photographs with her Nikon D5500, usually focusing on macro shots that highlight the beauty of the Earth. Her portfolio is unified with soft, pastel colors and shallow depths of field. Backgrounds blur out of focus allowing the foreground to remain the sole focus of the photograph. Dorelys captures all of nature’s essence within her photographs, from animals and insects to trees and flowers.
Dorelys has been an active member of FaunaFocus since its launch in May 2017. Participating in several Free-For-All competitions, Adoris often shares her colorful digital work with the rest of the FaunaFocus community. In September 2017, she joined the group and offered her creative and streaming abilities to partake in the FaunaFocus Charity Host Train. This 24-hour event hosted 11 different artists and broadcasters in order to raise funds for the World Wildlife Fund’s endeavor to help the endangered tiger species by doubling the diminishing population by the year 2020. During this event, Dorelys illustrated a tiger portrait with complimentary shades of blues and oranges and filled with life with various leaves scattered within the background. At the end of 2017, Doreyls participated in the Holiday Art Trade and submitted a vibrant crystal owl, also depicted in hues of blue and orange.
Overall, Dorelys lives to create. With such a diverse range of creative talents, she allows herself to find the perfect medium or technique to express herself. “The most favorite thing about my line of work is creating whatever I want, being myself, and time to relax!” she exclaims. “Every time when I make a new artwork or creation, it becomes my favorite until I make the next one.”
When offering advice for those looking to pursue their own creative endeavors, Dorelys is optimistic. “Always follow your dreams, even when people say that you’re not good enough.” She encourages anyone interested in a job in the creative field to join an artist community and connect with other artists. Ask for constructive criticism and learn from the advice of others. Don’t compare yourself to others, though, as that will impede your personal growth. Use your own progress as inspiration to fuel improvement. Together, we can help each other along this artistic journey.
