So, I stumbled across this name, mariangomez, floating around online. Kept seeing these really cool visuals, sort of dreamy, textured stuff. Not super polished, but had a real vibe, you know? Anyway, I got it in my head I wanted to try and make something similar myself.
Got some free time last weekend. Remembered my old graphics tablet was just gathering dust. Figured, why not? Fired up the computer, opened up the usual program I mess around with – nothing fancy, just basic stuff.
Getting Started
First thing, I tried to just eyeball it. Grabbed some brushes that looked kinda scratchy, started layering colors. Looked okay, but didn’t have that specific feel. It wasn’t just the texture, there was something else going on, maybe with the lighting or the way the shapes blended.
Spent a good hour just throwing digital paint around. It felt a bit like that time I tried fixing the leaky faucet myself. Watched a bunch of videos, bought the tools, ended up making it worse and flooding the kitchen floor. Yeah, one of those moments. Sometimes you just gotta know when you’re out of your depth.
Hitting a Wall
This mariangomez style was trickier than it looked. My layers were looking muddy, not dreamy. The textures felt slapped on, not integrated. I started thinking maybe it wasn’t just the brushes. Maybe it was some specific filter combo, or maybe even a different software altogether?
- Tried messing with blend modes.
- Played with noise filters.
- Even tried importing some photos to use as texture bases.
Nothing really clicked. It was frustrating. Like, you see the end result, looks simple enough, but recreating it? Whole different story. It reminds me of trying to follow those ‘easy 5-minute recipes’ that end up taking an hour and using every pot in the kitchen.
Changing Tactics
Okay, so direct imitation wasn’t working. I decided to stop trying to copy it exactly. Instead, I focused on what I liked about it. That textured feel, the soft focus in parts. I went back to basics. Simplified my color palette. Used fewer layers, but spent more time blending the edges carefully. Started using a really soft airbrush for subtle lighting effects instead of harsh filters.
Didn’t end up looking exactly like the stuff I saw tagged with mariangomez. But, you know what? It started looking like something I liked. It had some of that vibe, but it was my own take on it. Took a while, lots of trial and error, lots of undoing mistakes. But wasn’t a total waste of a weekend.
End result? Got a piece I’m pretty happy with. Learned a bit more about textures and lighting in my software. And hey, didn’t flood the digital kitchen this time.
