Welcome!

My name is Dominika Smolinski. My family is from Poland and my parents immigrated to Vermont when my twin sister and I were only a few months old, so I consider myself more of a Vermonter than anything else. First and foremost though, I identify as an artist and have done so from a very young age. I was lucky enough to grow up with a mother who is herself an artist and always supported and encouraged creativity and the arts.

I studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and completed a year as an exchange student at the Rhode Island School of Design. During my time as a student I focused more on traditional art making with watercolors, pencils, and inks on paper. Over the past few years however, I have made the switch to digital illustration and I currently make all of my work in Adobe Illustrator. My art still begins with a pencil sketch on paper, then is scanned into my computer, and finished digitally.

Like many Vermonters I am deeply influenced by the nature and wildlife around me and my artwork reflects this. I also love to find a good story in a film or a book and I believe this is evident in my character studies and the dry humor I use in my art.