Louise McLennan is a young talent vector artist just starting her illustration career. Louise’s colorful and fun illustrations are inspired by Pixar, Star Trek and ‘point n’ click’ adventure games (ie Monkey Island, The Dig, Machinarium). Louise has been kind enough to provide Vectips with an interview, so read on to learn about her Illustrator experience and thoughts about  just getting into the industry.

Louise McLennan Around the Web

• Portfolio
• Twitter
• DeviantART
• Society6
• Flickr
• DesignByHumans
• Threadless
• NonStopNerds
• redBubble

Interview

Hey Louise, thanks for taking the time to provide Vectips with an Interview! To start, could you tell us about your illustrating background?

As probably every illustrator will tell you I’ve been drawing since childhood. My friends at school were all a bit arty and we pushed each other to be better – although I think we let anime influence us a bit too much! When it came time to choose a university course I somehow ended up doing computer science and maths for two years, but spent most of my time drawing. Right now I’ve changed to an IT course which will let me do multimedia development next year and that should be more relevant to my illustrating bent.

According to your website, you are represented by YCN. Is this your first experience with doing illustration professionally? How did you go about creating this relationship?

The YCN representation only happened a few weeks ago and I am very excited about it. A lot of my favorite illustrators are also represented by them (Aaron Miller, Jack Teagle and Andrew Groves to name a few.) For the past year I have been absent-mindedly e-mailing agencies, so I sent the link to my portfolio. When they accepted I took it as a sign that I’ve improved considerably in the past year.

As for a first experience of professional illustration, even though it wasn’t paid I would say it would be the cover of the Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration which I did in late 2009 before completely transitioning to vector work – the cover is a combination of traditional art and Photoshop. It was very weird being art directed for the first time on such a big project!

How have your studies in Information System Technologies affected your illustrations?

At this point I’d say that studying Information Systems Technology has only hindered me because I’d love to be drawing all the time, but I have learned quite a bit about marketing and business which I hope will be useful down the line. IST is just a stepping stone to Multimedia Development next year which should be more useful, and I’m looking forward to the 3D classes.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about your studies? At this point, do you feel it has prepared you for your career?

My least favorite thing would be going to lectures, and favorite would be doodling during lectures. As for career preparation … I guess it just adds something else to my CV.

Could you describe your typical workflow for an illustration?

First is obviously an idea, normally a vague gut reaction to a brief or something which I have been thinking about for a few days. Color is very important to me, so sometimes before opening Illustrator I’ll browse COLOURlovers to try and find a palette which matches the mood of what I’m going to be working on. Next I’ll make a very quick rough sketch in Illustrator and start building up elements from the background up to the foreground.

In all of my illustrations, even my black and white ones, color is the part which takes the longest to get right, and I’ll spend sometimes a day or even days tweaking color until I’m happy with it. Because I’m always anxious to start another picture I never spend more than a week on a personal illustration, which can make it frustrating if I’m illustrating for someone else and they keep wanting changes made – but I guess that’s something I’ll have to get used to.

You are still relatively young in your career, how did you develop your style so early on?

My style was developed simply by doing an awful lot of drawing, and recently a large number of vectors. I ditched my sketchbook last year and at the moment only draw in illustrator – from start to finish. I vector every day, and although this is quite time consuming I think it’s worth it.

Of course other vector artists have invariably influenced my style, most particularly Zutto and Chris Leavens. Zutto’s technical ability and color sense is of a level which I constantly strive for, and Leavens achieves an artistic quality in his work rare in vector illustration.

If you were magically be turned into any Illustrator tool, what tool would it be and why?

Hmm…I think the 3D extrude and bevel tool. In three dimensional reality this could prove to create four dimensional objects. Who wouldn’t want to make tesseracts?

What is your favorite Illustrator tip, trick, or technique?

At the moment my favorite thing is to take a base gradient, then layer above loads of other transparent gradients and pattern layers. It makes a very dense texture and avoids the gradient mesh which my computer can’t handle.

Another very basic thing to do is just add shadows to objects. It makes such a difference.

What aspects of your illustrations reflect parts of your personality?

My love of sci-fi, Pixar films and cartoons is a strong influence on all of my illustrations, even if it may not seem like it at first glance. I have a bit of an obsession with color and that definitely comes through in my illustrations. It might be a bit sad but looking at great lighting makes me far too excited.

Thanks again for the interview! Is there advice any that you could give for aspiring illustrators and students?

I suppose to realize the importance of contacts, possibly even over technical skill. Never be afraid to e-mail someone for advice or to show your work. Competitions are fun and a good way to experience illustrating to a brief, and can make your portfolio diverse – but never pay an entry fee.

While I might not have much knowledge of the financial side of illustrating, I see a lot of young illustrators being taken advantage of, and then being crushed when they either don’t get paid or get no recognition – so be careful!

Von Glitschka is a designer and illustrator with over 23 years experience. Von’s work has received numerous awards and has appeared in such publications as Communication Arts, Print, HOW Design, Society of Illustrators, Graphis, American Illustration, and Logo Lounge II, III, IV and V. Von has been kind enough to provide Vectips with an interview, so read on to learn about his Illustrator experience and industry insights.

Von Glitschka Around the Web

• Glitschka Studios
• Vonster Books
• Art Backwash

Interview

Hey Von, thanks for taking the time to provide Vectips with an Interview! To start, could you tell us about your illustrating background and what made you become a illustrator?

I’ve drawn since I was very young. My mom is very creative so that kind of rubbed off on me. I use to just hang out in my bedroom with a friend listen to my Star Wars talking record and draw pictures. I was always getting into trouble for drawing on my papers growing up too.

As I went into high school I remember thinking “I don’t want to go to a regular college and do math.” Mind you this was before the internet so the way we did research was to ask our guidance counselor to find information on something and they’d get it. Well I asked for information on film school, I wanted to go into the movies. The guidance counselor came back and said she couldn’t find anything?

I was stumped. A few weeks later a person from the Burnley School of Art came through our art class and the convinced me I needed to go to art school. No math at art school.

I never set out to be a full-time illustrator. I was trained as a graphic designer and illustration was always just an additional skill set I would use when a project needed it. At first I just assumed all graphic designers also illustrated. It wasn’t until around 1995 I realized I could leverage illustration as it’s own marketable talent. And from that point forward I handled it as such.

I have entertained the thought of going to film school after my kids graduate from college. I still think I could direct and or art director better than a lot of movies I see produced. This of course is more of a fantasy than a reality at this point, but not out of realm of possibility. You have to dream new dreams to stay relevant and fresh.

Von winning my first art award at 5yrs old & a recent self-portrait.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about the illustrating industry?

Favorite: Unbridled creativity and exploration. Never ceases to amaze me at the depth of unique work being done, and that inspires me of course to pursue my own approach.

Least Favorite: The illustration industry is still embedded with an old school mind set that really holds some back from flourishing with their art. Too many have the idea that a “One style fits all approach” should for some reason be an ironclad rule applied to all illustrators. This is at best a problematic understanding of illustration. That approach might have worked in general in the pre-digital world but it’s at best a flawed methodology in today’s marketplace.

I know what I just said will cause many illustrators to view my comments in the same light as me drop kicking babies. But life wouldn’t be too exciting if you didn’t stir it up at times.

Illustrators in general tend to think of themselves as existing outside of “Graphic Design” as if they are their own unique industry, when in fact they fall under the banner of “Graphic Design.” Their livelihood depends on the design industry and thus their work needs to be versatile enough to work in a range of projects in order to be the appropriate solution for the given project. I’ve always found that illustrators who first worked as designers before moving over to illustration full-time make for better illustrators because they clearly understand this, have a better comprehension of marketing, and also apply a designers eye to their work as well.

Too many non-illustrators view illustration as mere image makers. When in fact they should view us as idea formulators that can also build out what we conceptualize. Good thinking makes for great art and way too many creative directors don’t think that way when working with an illustrator. Part of the problem is most illustrators don’t do a good job of communicating this aspect of their service either, so the problem is two fold.

Digital Lifestyle

As a professional Illustrator, what are your thoughts in general when it comes to stock and low cost illustration?

Technically I refer to myself as an “Illustrative Designer.” I call upon both skill sets in nearly all my work and rarely do I do purely illustrative projects that don’t entail a design context such as editorial work. An interesting side-effect of this reality is that most non-illustrating designers call me an “Illustrator” and most non-designing illustrators tend to call me a “Designer.” They both focus on the aspects of my work they don’t do themselves and assume I’m not in their camp.

A few years ago I had my owl illustration hanging in the Society of Illustrators in NYC and got contacted by a web site that lists illustrators inviting me to participate. I said sure but didn’t hear anything back and then got an email from the site saying “Sorry but you were invited by accident. You’re not an illustrator. Frankly I’m not sure what you are?” LOL

I’m OK with stock illustration as long as it allows the illustrator/creator to control the rights and ownership of their art and they’re just granting usage rights to it and not selling it outright for cheap.

Of course not all models being pushed are good ones, such as iStockphoto.com which plays no part in creating the art, has an art Gestapo that forces the creators to adhere to antiquated digital file methods which means rounds of needless alterations and limitations in order to maximize sales to the lowest common denominator, has an automated site, and yet takes a 70% cut of the profits when it sells it for mere peanuts. And they don’t really pay you money, you get credits which are like getting paid with wooden nickels. But I digress.

A few good models for stock sites are:
Illoz
Profilestock

Owl

How did you get involved with the FreelanceSwitch podcast?

Dickie Adams reviewed my first design book “Crumble.Crackle.Burn.” When I emailed him for a mailing address it turned out he lived about a par three from my home studio here in town? I was like “No way!” We’ve been friends ever since and he invited me to be part of the Freelance Radio podcast. It’s fun being able to talk shop, horror stories and all.

I still think my voice sounds stupid when I hear myself talk.

Tape Illustration

Could you describe your typical workflow for an illustration?

My typical work flow (creative process) doesn’t alter too much from one project to the next. The style and end usage may be drastically different but the general frame work I operate under remains consistent. To fully understand it people can visit my tutorial site at http://www.illustrationclass.com

In 2008 I spoke at the Boston HOW Design Conference on the topic of “Illustrative Design” you can listen to that and view the presentation that goes over my process here: http://snipurl.com/creativeprocess

Illustrationclass.com Tutorial

How has social networking impacted your career positively and negatively?

My mind is always churning. I have funny random thoughts all the time and never bothered to document any of them before. So I look at social networking as a way to archive my random thoughts. Capture funny, clever, spur of the moment ideas and share them. Technically it’s part of my creativity and so far I’ve managed to land a few paying gigs from doing that on Twitter.

I know I enjoy other creatives who do the same such as: @etherbrian His tweets have made me laugh many times because they are drenched in creative thought.

Beautiful Vectors

If you could be magically turned into any Illustrator tool, what tool would it be and why?

I’d want the ability to select something and copy/paste it. That way I could do yard work easier. Just walk around drag selecting all the weeds, copy them, walk to the garbage can and paste. It could also serve as a 4th dimensional stash to hide stuff too. The possibilities are endless. Muhahahahaha! <—— Evil Laughter!

Tickles the Evil Clown

What is your favorite Illustrator tip, trick, or technique? Your least favorite?

I love blend modes and blending to transparency in CS4. Layering elements to create a rich depth or detail to an illustration. Least favorite is when I am done working on something and I’ve used all these great blend modes and transparency settings and the client than asks for a CS Ai format because they don’t have CS4. DOH!

It’s frustrating because Adobe Photoshop has always been pretty good about being backwards compatible. But Adobe Illustrator seems like they change the game all the time and don’t give a crAip about legacy files or even provide an easy way to migrate a file accurately to an older one short of rebuilding the art to adapt to a previous version which makes it a pAin in the Aiss for the end user.

I’m just sick of the Adobe politics hampering my work flow.

NFL Patches

What aspects of your illustrations reflect parts of your personality?

My humorous side tends to shine through in a lot of work that allows for that to happen. That said I do a lot of serious work too and at times I’ve had Creative Directors look at my portfolio and go out of their way to say “We don’t want this humorous.” as if I wouldn’t realize a funeral home logo shouldn’t be “Ha ha!”

I let the project dictate the style direction I take, this keeps the approach appropriate. My personality still shows within any stylistic context though and I think that is pretty normal. You don’t want design so neutered of intrinsic character that is just looks like a pedestrian variety of vanilla imagery.

Illustrative Patterns

In addition to doing client work, you write books, sell Vonster Brand products, and more. Of these, which has been to most finically and personally rewarding?

I get asked about the books a lot. They are a lot of fun to work on, but as I tell everyone who asks “There are no John Grisham authors in design books.” (Bill Gardner of Logo Lounge is the closest to that though) I like doing books because they are rewarding creatively, fun artistically, and enjoyable to share with others.

I haven’t made a whole lot of money from them, but that wasn’t my motive to begin with. I am just thankful to be able to have the opportunity. That said I’m working on my third book now which you can take a peek at here: http://snipurl.com/gsornament

I’ve always really liked designing t-shirts. So every so often I create one and put it up at http://www.zazzle.com/vonster/gifts and that funds my Starbucks habit.

Tribal Bear

Any new projects on the horizon that you would like to share?

I’m in the middle of a new business venture now I’ve branded “Unica Design.” It’ll be a line of designer concrete tiles I’m creating with a tile manufacture in California which we’ll market nationwide. They’ll be offered to interior designers and come with a matching textile repeat pattern that can be edited color wise to match any environment design.

Right now we are in the prototype stage having molds done via CNC and I’ll be refining them. I suspect we are still a few months out from launching a website and sending samples to the various show rooms nation wide. It’s exciting but is a lot of hard work to pull it all off.

My fingers are crossed.

Concrete tile design

Thanks again for the interview! Is there advice any that you could give for aspiring and professional illustrators?

Designers should be your best friends, since they’ll be the ones who provide you with your work. So get to understand marketing, and make your work flexible to an ever changing commercial market.

Don’t be afraid to try new things, like illustrating in a different style, fail, try others, fail, share your art online, get no response, share a funny story, get a lot of response, be nice, tell the truth, pursue your dreams, and never stop doodling.

Senior Skully

I’m sure some of have seen some of Tyler Stout’s amazing illustration work around the web. Tyler creates many intricate illustrations for movie posters, band posters, and other prominent companies . Tyler has been kind enough to provide Vectips with an interview, so read on to learn about his Illustrator experience and industry insights.

Tyler Stout Around the Web

• Tyler Stout’s Portfolio View work and purchase prints!

Interview

Hey Tyler, thanks for taking the time to provide Vectips with an Interview! To start, could you tell us about your illustrating background and what made you become a illustrator?

sure. i’ve been drawing all my life, and still have folders of drawings i did when i was 3 years old since my mom never threw anything away. so eventually when it became evident that i wasn’t going to excel at math or any sort of physical activity in high school, i began focusing on drawing and art and graphics and computers and stuff. from there i majored in something like ‘graphic media’ in community college. eventually i was doing more illustration jobs than design jobs, and they paid better as well and were less ambiguous (‘draw a tree’ is much clearer than ‘make my logo look good.’) so i decided to focus on illustration as a career.

Are most of your posters commissioned? If so, how did you originally get these commissions?

yes, most of my stuff is commissioned. occasionally i do an art-print, but those are more just like fun imagery kinda stuff, not built around existing movies etc. anything that has type on it is commissioned, anything without type, that i’ve done a screen-printed poster of, is probably an art-print.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about the illustrating industry?

hmm….well i suppose its the same thing, the work. sometimes i can really feel a project, and am happy with the process and how it turns out, and sometimes it can be a real nightmare, long hours, tons of revisions, project canceled in the middle (or the end) of the process. being a freelancer, i get to deal with a myriad of different people, and many of them are completely insane. but when i get to ‘draw something cool’, get paid for it, have time to really make something i’m happy with, then i like life.

As a professional Illustrator, what are your thoughts in general when it comes to stock and low cost illustration?

i dunno, i’m not bothered by it. i’m not competing with it i guess, the projects i do don’t really have ‘buy stock illustration’ as an option. when i think about what people use stock illustration for, its mostly stuff like magazine illustration, news illustrations….people don’t usually buy stock illustration for like a screen-printed poster, or a line of snowboards, etc. so at least right now theres still a demand for custom illustration, the world is big enough for both of us. people need such specific things, in specific styles, that it would be hard to meet all those needs with stock illustrations. plus companies like nike / burton etc, they don’t want to take the chance someone else is using that same graphic on a competing shirt, they want original art that they alone are using.

Could you describe your typical workflow for an illustration? How long does a piece take to complete, for example, your Inglourious Basterds poster?

probably a few weeks. i usually have a few projects going at the same time, i’ll work some on one, then some on another, just kinda jump around as i get inspired, as deadlines loom etc. i would say hard drawing time is probably 5 days, but the process of researching the project can take another 4 days, plus 2 or 3 days to color, do the type, tweak things. i can’t remember the last time i turned in a project on time, i usually work right up and over the deadline, just to get things right, and my clients usually are ok with that, since they want it to be right as well.

How is Illustrator and vector art incorporated into your pieces?

well, some posters and pieces are 100% vector art at the end of the project, some aren’t. if i were to look at my current work, the robocop poster i just did was never taken into illustrator, but the inglourious basterds piece was completely vector by the end. a lot of times i draw things by hand, then ink them in photoshop, then convert those into vectors via Streamline or Illustrator’s auto-trace tool. i don’t usually mix methods, with some pieces vector and some raster, its either all or nothing. for a lot of my illustration work, my clients like the ability to easily resize, so vector works the best, since it can be as small as a detail on a shirt label, or as big as a billboard. plus some of my more complicated pieces are sometimes made up of many smaller pieces, so feedback such as ‘make the type bigger, make that guy smaller, replace that guy with a different guy’, thats much easier in illustrator than if i drew it all in one piece, like that robocop poster.

If you were magically be turned into any Illustrator tool, what tool would it be and why?

i would probably be one of those filters under the filters section. in other words, i’d be completely useless. ha ha.

What is your favorite Illustrator tip, trick, or technique?

well, with the new illustrator (i went from illustrator 8 to CS3, so i kinda jump every few versions), i like the ability of double-clicking on an object and going into its specific group, makes it easy to select all of the same color and change it, or make small tweaks on it, without having to lock everything else on the artboard or work in as many layers etc.

i like adjusting the colors across the board, i believe under edit, adjust colors. that can come up with some color schemes that are a little more unique, since i usually work in just primary colors.

What aspects of your illustrations reflect parts of your personality?

hmmm…..i dunno. they are small in size and easy to email? ha ha. we are both pdf compatible? we enjoy having the option to outline our strokes? the comparisons are endless.

If you could pick any movie to create a poster for, what would it be?

a year ago i would have said the big lebowski, but i’ve done that one since. probably escape from new york is my current goal. big carpenter fan. then after than…i’m not sure. maybe something like ‘american movie’, since that’s a poster that now one is clamoring for, but would be fun to do.

What are your favorite sources of inspiration?

probably comic books, video games. lots of 70’s inspired art-books, i just picked up one called “The Fantastic Creatures of Edward Julius Detmold” that’s pretty cool. new ways of thinking about compositions, new color schemes, new drawing techniques etc.

Thanks again for the interview! Is there advice any that you could give for aspiring and professional illustrators?

as long as you enjoy doing it and can’t imagine doing anything else, i think you’ll be ok. its one of those weird careers where you take something you love doing for fun and start trying to get paid to do it, and it can kinda be heartbreaking at times, and very stressful, but overall it forces you to continue to hone your craft and not give up on it. so, yeah.

Rod Hunt is a talented illustrator that creates amazing retro-isometric styled vector landscapes and characters. He has an extensive portfolio featuring work from Maxim, Vodafone, BBC, and many more. Rod has been kind enough to provide Vectips with an interview, so read on to learn about his Illustrator experience and industry insights.

About Rod Hunt

Rod Hunt is a London based Illustrator & artist who has built a reputation for retro tinged Illustrations & detailed character filled landscapes for UK & international clients spanning publishing, design, advertising & new media, for everything from book covers to advertising campaigns, theme park maps & even the odd large scale installation too! Rod is also the illustrator behind the new Top Gear book “Where’s Stig?” published by BBC Books in September 2009.

Rod Hunt Around the Web

• Rod Hunt’s Portfolio
• Rod Hunt on Flickr
  
• Rod Hunt on Behance
• Rod Hunt on Twitter

Interview

Hey Rod, thanks for taking the time to provide Vectips with an Interview! To start, could you tell us about your design and illustrating background and what made you become a designer and illustrator?

I’m a London based Illustrator/designer who has built a reputation for retro tinged Illustrations & detailed character filled landscapes with UK & international clients in publishing, design, advertising & new media, for everything from book covers to advertising campaigns, & even the odd large scale installation too!

Some of my many clients include Barclays, BBC, Computer Arts Magazine, Dorling Kindersley, The Economist, FHM, Maxim, The Observer, Orange, Top Gear & Vodafone

I’m also currently Deputy Chairman of the UK Association of Illustrators. The AOI was established in 1973 to advance and protect illustrator’s rights and encourage professional standards

Originally I was from near the rural town of Bridport in the UK county of Dorset. For the last 12 years I’ve lived in Greenwich, London & where I also have my studio by the River Thames.

I was always a prolific drawer when growing up, but I really didn’t consider art as a career until I was 17. Originally I was planning on pursuing biochemistry & horticulture, & was studying towards that. I was studying art just for fun. But the realization grew on me that I wasn’t really enjoying studying the sciences any more & as I spent all my time drawing, art college beckoned.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about the design and illustrating industry?

My favourite thing is getting to work on challenging creative projects with great people & seeing the end results in the public domain.

My least favourite thing is dealing with unreasonable contracts & attempted copyright grabs from some clients.

You have worked for many clients ranging from Maxim, Vodafone, FHM, Computer Arts, and more. Do you have a favorite project? Any project you hated?

One of my most challenging & exciting projects was a huge interactive environmental installation for the award winning Lightbox museum & Gallery in Woking, UK. The project stretched me to the limit due to the involved design process, it’s physical size & the immense amount of detail.

It’s a graphic lightbox covering a final area of 5m (w) x 2m (h). The content is based on what Woking is doing to support environmental issues/concerns within the city. The visitor is given a selection of push buttons with facts/questions that light up specific activities within the illustration.  The illustration needed to closely represent the content and convey the identity of Woking and some of its key features.

But the project I’ve just completed ranks up there with my all time favourites. For the first seven months of this year I was working with the BBC’s hit TV show Top Gear on Where’s Stig? a 40 page book completely illustrated by me. It features the mysterious Stig, “Top Gear”’s resident racing driver and one of the most popular members of the “TG” team. But you’ll have to work hard to find him in scenes based on the show. It’s been a challenging & creatively rewarding project, & great to solely concentrate on one huge project for so long. It’s in the shops on 17th September 2009.

I tend not to dwell on the commissions I haven’t enjoyed.

Could you describe your typical workflow for an illustration? How long does it take to complete some of your complex illustrations?

All my work is produced digitally, but before I go near the computer I start doodling ideas and compositions in an A5 sketchbook with a pencil or biro. These are very quick and throwaway. Once I worked out the rough idea and composition & gathered any visual reference I might need, I work on a larger finished pencil drawing, which I then use as a guide for drawing the final artwork with a graphics tablet in Adobe Illustrator. For me it’s important to keep the hands on feel with my work, despite producing the final artwork on the computer. At the end of the day the computer should just be seen another way of making a mark on a page.

It’s also important to give myself enough thinking & doodling time at the beginning of a project before producing a finished rough drawing. That’s where the real hard work is done & is the foundation of a great piece of work. After that, it’s producing the final artwork in Illustrator & usually there’s not a great deal of change compositionally from rough to final artwork.

Some of my more complicated work can take some time to complete. For instance my illustration for the Chessington World of Adventures 2009 visitors map took around 8 weeks in total, from briefing, rough drawings to the final artwork, which took around 3 weeks to complete.

Why did you choose Illustrator and vector art as a medium?

I previously used to paint my work in acrylic paint, but around 2000 I was tired of the way I was working & wanted my work to feel more graphic, feeling I needed a new challenge. Initially I start experimenting using Photoshop, but ended up trying to paint with it & not achieving the feel I wanted. So I tried Illustrator, which was a pretty alien way of working initially, but gave me the more graphic approach I wanted. And the ability to edit, scale & redraw completely changed my working process, freeing me from the definitive marks of physical artwork.

What is your favorite Illustrator Tool and why?

The most useful tool for me is Undo. Having the ability to change my mind & go back a few steps at will is hugely powerful. Can’t imagine doing with out it & going back to painting.

What is your favorite Illustrator tip, trick, or technique?

I tend to use Illustrator almost as a straight drawing tool & use effects sparingly. The biggest thing for me is making working in Illustrator a smooth & economical process, so it’s essential to learn keyboard shortcuts. I also zoom in & out of the artwork a lot while I work on a piece, so have programmed the side key on the Wacom pen to be zoom in/out keys.

Have you upgraded to CS4? If you have upgraded, what is your favorite feature? If not, why haven’t you upgraded.

This year I upgraded to CS4 as well as to a new 24inch iMac. Previously I was working on a G5 Mac with CS1. I’ve not had the time yet to really explore the new features in CS4 yet.

What aspects of your designs and illustrations reflect parts of your personality?

Probably patience, a slightly obsessive mind & my sense of humour.

For those who haven’t heard of the Association of Illustrators (AOI), could you describe what it is about? What are your duties as the Deputy Chairman of the UK Association of Illustrators?

The AOI was established in 1973 to advance and protect illustrator’s rights and encourage professional standards. The AOI is a non-profit making trade association dedicated to its members’ professional interests and the promotion of illustration.

Members consist primarily of freelance illustrators as well as agents, clients, students and lecturers. As the only body to represent illustrators and campaign for their rights in the UK, the AOI has successfully increased the standing of illustration as a profession and improved the commercial and ethical conditions of employment for illustrators. The Association was responsible for establishing the rights of illustrators to retain ownership of their artwork & the AOI aims to expose and resist rights abuses and exploitative practices within the industry whenever they occur.

I’ve been on the Board of Directors of the AOI for about 6 years & was elected as Chairman this August. I feel greatly honoured to be elected as the new Chairman of the AOI, a hugely important role for the Association and for British illustration. The AOI Board is responsible for the strategic direction & good governance of the organisation, & ensuring the AOI’s members interests are looked after. I also chair the committee for the AOI’s prestigious Images, best of British Illustration Awards & exhibition, & only jury selected illustration awards book in the UK.

Are there any challenges in creating artwork on a large scale, such as the the installation for the Lightbox Museum and Gallery in Woking, UK?

Working at such a large scale is indeed challenging, more so as I drew the final artwork at the actual size of 2m x 5m. One of the main issues is keeping track of all the detail & I spent many hours checking over the artwork for mistakes & oversights before it went to print. Even then, a couple of minor things slipped through.

What are your favorite sources of inspiration?

I think it’s important to indulge your personal interests in your work & create your own unique voice, as that is what will set you apart from everyone else. I love old illustration from 50’s & 60’s advertising, Pulp Fiction covers, album sleeves, old posters, etc. Having a sense of history & what’s gone before is very important, as you can’t learn from just what everyone is doing today.

I also grew up with Science Fiction films like Star Wars, The Day the Earth Stood Still & Forbidden Planet, & old TV shows like Flash Gordon & Star Trek. Their design aesthetic definitely stayed with me & their visions of the future are still what I think the future should look like. And of course the robots were always cool! I also owned a few old tin robot toys as a kid, which were amongst my favorite toys.

So things that inspire me, in no particular order: Edward Hopper, comics, 2000AD/Judge Dredd, pulp fiction covers, sci-fi, Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, robot toys, retro 50’s/60’s/70’s advertising & graphics, architecture, animation, film, Mad magazine…

Thanks again for the interview! Is there advice any that you could give for aspiring and professional illustrators and designer?

Get out there and get your work seen by as many people as possible. You should never be afraid to show people your work. You maybe the best designer/illustrator in the world, but if no one sees your work, you won’t get commissioned

Perseverance. It can take quite some time to get really established.

I’d recommend joining the UK Association of Illustrators (AOI).  They’re constantly campaigning to protect all illustrator’s rights, and if you need advice on pricing commissions, contracts, promotion, etc, it really pays to get help from the experts.

Maintain control over your Copyright in your Illustrations. There are very few occasions that clients need to own the Copyright in your work. Your body of work is your livelihood, and you should be entitled to the financial benefits of your talent and hard work.

Huan Tran is an amazing illustrator. His work is rich with texture, color, and human figures. Moreover, he does it all in Illustrator 10! Huan has been kind enough to do an interview with Vectips, so read on to learn more about his Illustrator experience and industry insights.

About Huan Tran

Huan Tran is an illustrator living in Toronto, Canada. Tran started Leaking Faucet Studio in 1999, doing mostly graphic design, web design and marketing/brand consulting. But Tran’s passion lies in illustrations. Tran has worked with many clients including: AT&T, XBOX, Coca Cola, and many more.

Huan Tran Around the Web

• Huan Tran’s Portfolio
  
• Huan Tran’s Blog
• Purchase Huan Tran’s Prints
  

Interview

Hey Huan, thanks for taking the time to provide Vectips with an Interview! To start, could you tell us about your illustrating background?

I’d like to say that I started out as a big shot at some advertising agency, or perhaps an art director at a stylish anti-pop culture magazine. I would even settle for a depressed painter who got a government grant to recreate his tortured mind on canvas, winning over all the critics. But alas the truth, I just simply went to university for illustration, after having first finished another degree in computer science somewhere else. I started Leaking Faucet Studio back in 1999, doing mostly graphic design, web design and marketing/brand consulting. But my passion lies in conceiving illustrations.

Your illustrations have great depth, texture, and imagination. How did you come to develop this style?

When I was an infant, I was dropped on my head, then there was that incident where a bowling ball fell on my skull. And how can I forget the time when the ninja roundhouse kicked me in the melon to prove his sneakiness. I equate all my imagination to brain damage, and an abyss of curiosity for every field of knowledge. I love ideas, history, culture, academia, everything really. This spurs on my further fascination with contrast; the interaction between hard and soft, light and dark, colours, graphic vs. painterly, texture and clean. (Feels like I should have one more sentence to tie this paragraph off, but…meh.)

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about the illustrating industry?

My favourite thing is merely the fact that it exists, that a person can make a career by playing with ideas and crayons, not much to complain about there. My least favourite thing would be the constant flux the industry goes through, from managing rights to the ebb and flow of project budgets.

As a professional Illustrator, what are your thoughts in general when it comes to stock and low cost illustration?

Stock has its place and to simply reject that, would be to risk becoming like a senior citizen who still doesn’t know that the internet exists. It’s here to stay and it’s changing the nature of the business, so best we learn to live with it and incorporate our business with it. Cheap stock images work for clients with no budget, but for projects that want to stand out in their creativity and to be unique, buyers will still hire original art. I prefer rights managed stock, where it’s more like reselling usage rights at competitive rates. Catalogue style stock art isn’t really my thing, but if you like drawing tons of little one off images with hopes of wide appeal in usage, then here’s a business model for you. “My cat’s breath smells like cat food”.

Could you describe your typical workflow for an illustration?

Think of idea…think…think….Sketchy, sketchy, sketchy, SCAN! Email…wait….wait…wait…APPROVED! Load Illustrator, click drag point, click-a-dee-click, click, click, click, COLOUR! Export, finish, beer o’clock.

Why did you choose Illustrator and vector art as a medium?

I like vector art for its properties, being able to render clean lines easily and soft shapes as well. I like that objects can be moved, edited and coloured with ease, which also lends well to the revisions process of a project. Tying back into my statement about my fascination with contrast, Illustrator allows me to combine graphic and painterly styles with ease and play with an array of contrast techniques. Working digitally in addition provides flexibility for me to output at different sizes and to be able to simply email the finals to clients, which streamlines the process from artist to buyer. Illustrator also looks damn sexy in a bikini.

If you were magically turned into any Illustrator tool, what tool would it be and why?

Finally somebody asked! I often think about what Illustrator tool I would want to be. The pen tool gets all the glory and is like the high school jock, so I wouldn’t be it. I would be the pathfinder tool, splitting and combining shapes, confusing at first, but logical and simplistic once you get to know it.

What is your favorite Illustrator tip, trick, or technique?

Transparencies with blends is my favourite way to create vibrant colours in areas where the colour could be dead. I like layering a few layers over each other to mix the colours and bring shapes to life. I then frizzle and hair and yell like a maniac, “It’s alive!”

Have you upgraded to CS4? If you have upgraded, what is your favorite feature? If not, why haven’t you upgraded?

I actually still use Illustrator 10. Mostly due to laziness. I’m just comfortable with this version and it has all I need, to do what I want. Nobody has really shown me a new tool in CS that has made me go “Wow, holy jebus! I must upgrade now!”

What aspects of your illustrations reflect parts of your personality?

With most of my work, I try to show a little hope, even if the subject matter is dark. Usually this is in my colour palette, other times it’s in the concept. I’ve got my health and a roof over my head; I’m already ahead of a lot of the world, no complaints.

What is your dream project?

My dream project would be for NASA, to skin one of my illustrations on the space shuttle. I think it would look awesome in space against the darkness of the solar system and for way better TV footage.

What are your favorite sources of inspiration?

The news, hands down, I’m a bit of a junkie. If you could ingest news in pill form, I would overdose.

Thanks again for the interview! Is there advice any that you could give for aspiring and professional illustrators?

I recommend going out and playing a sport once a week, it’ll prevent your body from seizing up due to too many hours in the studio. That way you break a sweat after physical activity, as opposed to before, due to a panic attack instigated by the idea of having to do physical activity.

About Charlene Chua

Charlene Chua (also known as Sygnin) is a Toronto based illustrator and a digital artist. Chua has worked as a graphic designer, a web producer, and an interactive project manager before becoming full-time illustrator . Chua has worked with clients from North America, Europe, Singapore and Australia on a wide variety of illustration projects. Her work has appeared in the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles‘ Illustration West 43 and 45, and Ballistic Publishing’s Exotique 4, as well as several other art books. She illustrated the children’s picture book ‘Julie Black Belt‘ for Immedium Publishing, and the short story ‘Eidolon’ for Image comic’s Liquid City anthology.

Charlene Chua Around the Web

• Charlene’s Portfolio
• Charlene’s Blog
  
• Charlene’s Pinup Art
• Charlene on DeviantArt
• Charlene on Behance

Interview

Hey Charlene, thanks for taking the time to provide Vectips with an Interview! To start, Could you tell us about your design and illustrating background and what made you become a designer and illustrator?

Hi Ryan! Sure, well I always liked drawing and I thought about being an illustrator when I was in my teens. So I enrolled in a Visual Communications program at a college (there were no schools in my country that had a full illustration program). After about a year and a half I really felt like I didn’t like the course and I dropped out. I then got a job at a small company that did CD-ROMs and websites. I taught myself Flash and Dreamweaver, and this allowed me to get subsequently employed as a web producer and web project manager. The management thing paid well but bored me to tears, so I went back to being a designer and tried to do freelance illustration jobs on the side. Eventually I got enough jobs that I felt confident in leaving my office job and pursuing illustration as a full-time career.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about the design and illustrating industry?

The greatest part of being in the creative industry is well, you get paid to be creative, and to create stuff. Of course you can be creative at other things as well. But I guess I enjoy creating pictures and graphic designs so for me it’s great that I can make a living while doing something I enjoy.

My least favorite part… I sometimes feel like most of the creative industry’s output is superficial and it gets blanked out by society. Perhaps sometimes I feel guilty that I’m not doing more to save the world or something. So that’s one of the least favorite things. That, and indecisive clients. That’s just pure headache.

You do many client based projects, have you ever looked into doing stock illustration? As a professional Illustrator, what are your thoughts in general when it comes to stock illustration or relatively low cost illustration?

I have considered creating illustrations for stock, but I’m rather skeptical about the idea of stock in general. I love visiting low-cost stock websites; I use them myself to buy cheap photos and textures. I can see the benefit of these sites for photographers, because photos are so cheap these days. With a single setup, you could take hundreds of pictures, sell the main image to a client, then put up all the rejects onto a stock site for a little extra money. Illustration though requires the illustrator to sit down and create the artwork, which is often highly customized for the particular job. In most cases it is difficult or impossible to easily generate lots of variations the way you can with photos. Also, some sites don’t actually pay you until you’ve made a certain minimum amount of sales, so you may never see a cent of profit even if some people did buy your work. There are other issues like copyrights and usage rights tied up with it too. I get a bit frazzled when I see good illustration for sale for $5 – that’s just stupid to me, and it drags down the entire industry by suggesting that art is cheap.

That said, there are some other stock sites that I have considered. These sites sell the work the ‘old fashion’ way – by pricing according to the rights purchased. The amounts vary from the low hundreds to a few thousand depending on the rights assigned, which is fair compensation based on market rates for original commissions. I think that this is the only way to sell illustration stock at the moment whereby the illustrator actually stands to gain at the end.

Could you describe your typical workflow for an illustration?

I have a page on my website called ‘How I Work’ which goes through my typical work process. It’s nothing special really. I work digitally so I don’t have to mix up any magical concoctions to do my work!

Why did you choose Illustrator and vector art as a medium?

I started out with Freehand actually. At the time it seemed like it was a popular choice, and I found it easier to work with than Photoshop. I was, am, and probably always will be a bad painter, so traditional mediums were out of the question. I did like playing with the airbrush way back when, although it bugged me that it was terribly hard (for me) to do flat colors and smooth gradients. Freehand seemed to magically solve my airbrush problems that way. Eventually I switched over to Illustrator and carried on with it. These days though I’m mixing it up more with Photoshop, and developing another style that is non-vector based.

What is your favorite Illustrator Tool and why?

Probably the Pen tool. Why? Because I use it for 90% of my work! I hardly use brushes, sometimes I use the pencil tool for looser shapes.

What is your favorite Illustrator tip, trick, or technique?

Changing layers to Multiply so they can fade to transparent. Though I guess that’s redundant with CS4.

Have you upgraded to CS4? If you have upgraded, what is your favorite feature? If not, why haven’t you upgraded.

Uh, yes and no. I bought the CS4 upgrade and I have it running on my laptop. However, I haven’t upgraded my main workstation yet. I do want to but honestly it’s a bitch – you have to spend a few days getting used to the interface, and then stupid compatibility issues sometimes crop up. I figured that since Windows 7 is coming I might wait till that gets stabilized then I’ll soup up the rig more and upgrade while I’m at it. Yes, I use a PC (I hate the term… PC is personal computer, aren’t Macs personal computers?). While I am no fan of Microsoft, I find that one can work with ease on Windows most of the time. I’ve worked with both Macs and Windows PCs and they both have flaws and good points.

As for features, I haven’t played around with CS4 on the laptop much, so I really can’t say. I’ve heard the new gradient features are good.

What aspects of your designs and illustrations reflect parts of your personality?

Hm, that’s a new one. I’m not sure; it’s probably easier to look at someone else’s work and infer a personality trait of theirs in the work. It’s much harder with your own work. The only thing I can think of is that most of my vector pieces are possibly more complicated than they could be, although the final result doesn’t look too complex. I guess that’s somewhat like me? I think?

You do many wonderful children illustrations, provocative pinups illustrations as Sygnin, and abstract illustrations. Is there a particular style you prefer over another?

I am quite enjoying my non-vector work at the moment, to be honest. Perhaps it’s just boredom settling in after having worked with it for so many years. I like the look of the ink pieces and it seems to be getting a positive response. With vector I am currently trying to grow the style, mature it, and combine it with other elements to make it more interesting. I still enjoy drawing pinup girls and children illustrations, but I guess I’ve done quite a bit of that so it’s always nice to chase something new.

What is your dream Illustration project?

Oooo that’s hard….. ok, if I only get to choose one, then it would be to do a series of illustrations for Playboy magazine. Playboy has the perfect mix of high and low brow, crassness and culture, smut and sophistication. Many fantastic illustrators have worked with them, so yeah that ought to satiate my ego for a while if I ever get a project for the magazine!

What are your favorite sources of inspiration?

Strangely enough, I’ve been rather fond of plants of late. They make me feel happy and calmer and I come up with better stuff when I doodle plants, so I figure that qualifies them as a muse. I watch my husband play a lot of video games too so I presume those feed me with ideas for my own work too.

Thanks again for the interview! Is there advice any that you could give for aspiring and professional illustrators and designer?

Thanks, it was fun! My usual advice for aspiring illustrators is rather mundane – have cash to spare! It can take a fair bit of time for your illustration career to grow enough for you to live off. Quite a few illustrators also work as designers, and vice versa. Keep trying and produce great pictures!

Just wanted to let everyone know about an interview I did with Chad from Inspiredology. While you are over at Inspiredology, I suggest you read some of the other great interviews with artists and industry experts. Inspiredology also has many great articles and inspirational roundups to check out!

I have a couple of t-shirts designed by Glenn Jones, as I’m sure many of you do. Even if you don’t, you probably recognize one of his many t-shirt designs sold on Threadless and his Glennz shop. Utilizing pop-culture references, Glenn’s vector illustrations are fun, engaging, and compelling. Read on to learn more about Glenn’s Illustrator experience and industry insights.

About Glennz

A freelance graphic designer and illustrator based in Auckland, New Zealand. Glennz has worked in the design industry for over 15 years concentrating on packaging and corporate identity. Glennz recently decided to focus on illustration and T-shirts.

Glennz Around the Web

View Glennz art, buy t-shirts, and more.

• Glennz
• Glennz Tees
• Behance Profile
• Threadless Profile
• Twitter Glennztees
• Glennz Tees Facebook Group

Interview

Hey Glenn, thanks for taking the time to provide Vectips with an Interview! To start, could you tell us about your design and illustrating background and what made you become a designer and illustrator?

I was always interested in drawing from early on so in my later years at school had decided that I wanted to get into graphic design and illustration and took a lot of related subjects. My first job was at a newspaper where they were just switching onto macs from old school paste-up and hand drawn illustration. The first version of Illustrator was sitting there unwrapped because no one had wanted to use it, so my boss said I was free to give it a go and I just taught my self in my spare time. It was a very different program than today, back then you could only draw in wireframe mode, then had to switch over to preview to view it. the rendering took a while – and my mac II which was brand new at the time had 2 mb of ram so it was slow going.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about the design, illustrating, and clothing industry?

I guess my favourite thing is seeing my ideas come to life, it’s pretty cool when you see someone wearing your tee. I used to do a lot of packaging design so it was always pretty satisfying seeing it on a shelf somewhere. Least favourite thing would probably be unrealistic deadlines, I don’t have to worry too much about that these days but I used to work up against some tight deadlines that were often unrequired. I think a bit of pressure can bring the best out in people, but if its too restrictive it can effect the final result which isn’t good for anyone.

Could you describe your typical workflow for an illustration?

Usually before I start, I try to work out in my head how I want it to look and basically what I want the concept to be. Then in a new document I lay down a background colour on a bottom layer and lock it. On a new layer above I draw out my picture roughly using a stroke colour that contrasts with my background colour just so I can see it easily. Once I’m happy with the layout I turn that illustration to guides and use that as the base to draw my final illustration.

What is your favorite illustration? Your least favorite?

Not sure, don’t really have favourites.

You have created many illustrations for Threadless and now your Glennz Tee shop, where do all the ideas com from? What is your favorite source of inspiration?

Its usually when I’m not trying to think of an idea when I get the best ones. I can get inspiration from anywhere, I like to take pop culture and put an original spin on it.

Why did you choose Illustrator and vector art as a medium?

I think from early on I enjoyed the crispness of the result of vector art and the ability to go back and change lines and colour.

What is your favorite Illustrator Tool and why?

Pen tool – Its pretty much the only tool I use. Bézier curves give to the ability to refine easily.

What is your favorite Illustrator tip, trick, or technique?

Probably using the free transform tool to quickly add perspective. Not sure if its widely known or not, but most people who see me do it aren’t aware that if you hold the command key down just after click and dragging a corner anchor point, it allows you to easily add perspective on the go – I use that a lot.

Have you upgraded to Illustrator CS4? If you have upgraded, what is your favorite feature? If not, why haven’t you upgraded?

No I haven’t yet, I’ll probably upgrade when I upgrade my MacBook Pro. I think its always good to wait for a while just until they get any bugs ironed out.

What aspects of your designs and illustrations reflect parts of your personality?

I guess I just try to use my imagination – put a bit of a twist on things.

You used to do t-shirt design as a hobby, has designing t-shirt become less of a hobby now you are doing it full-time with GLENNZ tees? If so, what are you going to do as a hobby now?

I sort of still treat it as a hobby, I think if it became to regimented like work, Id just start pumping out illustrations and not enjoying it as much.

Do you have any crazy fans or stalkers online or offline?

Ha, I do have a few people that follow my work closely and I get a lot emails asking questions, but its all been pretty good so far.

Do you have any new project in the works?

I always have a few illustrations underway, I usually draw them and leave them for awhile – then go back to them later with fresh eyes.

Thanks again for the interview! Is there any advice that you could give for aspiring and professional illustrators and designers?

I think practice makes perfect on Illustrator, the more you use it the better you get and find ways to use a lot of the features to create short-cuts which makes it easier to get a better result.

Just wanted to let everyone know about my interview with Colorburned that was just posted, go check it out! While you are over at Colorburned I suggest you head over to the Freebie section of the site. The Freebie section has some great resources, including tons of great Illustrator brushes! There is also some other great interviews in the Interview section.

You might recognize Jared Nickerson’s work from La Fraise, Design By Humans, his huge Behance presence, his portfolio, or the numerous tweets of inspiration I post from my Twitter account. Jared is a amazing vector illustrator that has kindly provided Vectips with an interview. Read on to see some great vector art, get some tips, and insights into Jared work.

About Jared Nickerson

A freelance illustrator based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. Has been in the industry for 5+ years now and specializes in character, editorial, videogame and product design. Currently, Jared runs his own design studio also based out of Vancouver.

Jared Nickerson Around the Web

View Jared’s art, buy t-shirts, and more.

• La Fraise: Community Director
• BloodSweatVector: CoFounder
• J3 Concepts: Portfolio
• Behance Portfolio
• deviantART Portfolio
• Design By Humans Portfolio

Interview

Hey Jared, thanks for taking the time to provide Vectips with an Interview! To start, Could you tell us about your design and illustrating background and what made you become a designer and illustrator?

I never actually went to school for illustration, in fact I never went to school (after high school). I got the boot at a young age so never really had the money for school. Anyway, sob story aside, I’d had an art background from a very young age as most kids and kept with it all through high-school etc. I figured the future of art was headed in the digital direction and I decided to hop on the train. I picked up a copy of CorelDraw way back in the day and went from there. I eventually got to learn Adobe Illustrator and that to this day has remained my tool of choice.

Essentially the motivation was the money in the beginning, and at this point it still to some degree is the money, but there is a lot more to it now. I truly enjoy design and the medium I work with, I just happen to make some money at what I enjoy.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about the design and illustrating industry?

Most favorite has always been getting positive feedback from artists I respect and look up to. That’s always been a big one for me. Another thing is seeing your hard work on an actual physical product like a vinyl toy or a t-shirt etc.

Least favorite would be “discipline”. I’m not an overly disciplined person, and I find working as a freelance illustrator you have to be very organized and disciplined. So it’s something I struggle with on a daily basis.

As for the actual industry itself, I’m not a massive fan of a lot of “wannabe artists” who expect to pickup a pirated copy of Adobe Illustrator and in 10 minutes produce a polished piece of artwork. A lot of these sorts of people don’t realize that it takes months-years to develop your own style, fan-base, and reputation. These same artists are usually the artist who get frustrated and end up ripping other people’s artwork for their own gain instead of doing the work themselves. Honestly though that’s something that most “real” artists have to deal with; everyone calling themselves “designers”.

You have done work for editorial, video games, products, clothing and other industries. Which industry has been the most challenging to work in and why?

Video-games were a challenge, just because you have to go through so many different departments for approval. The process itself is very long and takes revision after revision, especially dealing with a legal department.

The thing I hate doing the most though, is logos. I’m not sure why, but they are my kryptonite. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, logos are def. my weakness. I find it hard to summarize a company into one singular image or illustration. I guess maybe I find logos too limiting.

Could you describe your typical workflow for an illustration?

Before anything, I always setup a playlist, usually consisting of music by Bloc Party, Cut Copy, Chromeo, and Empire of the Sun among others. When doing personal work I usually just come up with a random idea, usually one I’ve had for a few days, and try my best to execute that idea. Whether it be from a reference photo or from an older style I developed, the process is usually the same. Nothing overly complicated.

When it comes to actual commercial work though, it usually requires a lot of fishing on my part. Fishing for ideas from the client or in some cases just materializing an idea. I find browsing sites such as www.behance.net and www.ffffound.com are always great sources of inspiration if you’re dry for ideas.

Why did you choose Illustrator and vector art as a medium?

Versatility for the most part. Vector can really fit any sort of product. You can change colour schemes in seconds, increase the size without losing quality, no more saving in massive 300 dpi format for print etc. The advantages are huge. Essentially though it depends on what look you are going for and vector itself seemed to suit my style and approach a lot better than raster, whereas vector wouldn’t be suited to someone who primarily paints digitally for example.

What is your favorite Illustrator Tool and why?

Well the tool I use the most is the “Pen tool”. I use that to do all of my line-work, curves, shapes etc. I also love that damn handy pathfinder tool. I’m all about polishing off each shape or character and grouping them in their own usable group. I try to be very clean with all of my artwork behind the scenes but at the same time only working on one layer. I know not the typical way Illustrator is used, but I hate messing with layers.

So to answer your question, Pen tool and Pathfinder.

What is your favorite Illustrator tip, trick, or technique?

Always save your ideal workspace as opposed to rearranging and reopening all the tools/windows everytime you open up Illustrator.

As for adding a quick textured look to your vector, just throw a textured background (raster) overtop of your vector and change the opacity type to “multiply”. Simple, but it can really change the whole look of a design and takes seconds to do. This is something I always do just to test the way it looks, I don’t always end up using a texture in the final design, but I always give it a try at least. Experimenting is always an important aspect of your personal growth as an artist. If you can think of it, there is usually a tool that can make it happen, explore as much as you can. I’m learning new stuff about Illustrator everyday, no matter how small the tool, you’ll end up using all of them at one point or another.

Have you upgraded to CS4? If you have upgraded, what is your favorite feature? If not, why haven’t you upgraded.

Well I hear it handles bleeds and multiple artboards now, which is very handy. I have not made the switch yet though. I’m always slow when upgrading to new versions of Illustrator. I get into a certain comfort zone with each version and hate having to learn new features. I know it’s odd, because a lot of those new features would help the whole process, but it’s hard to find the time to mess with or learn how to use them properly. Yeah I know, it’s a weak excuse for being cheap.

What aspects, if any, of your designs and illustrations reflects parts of your personality?

All aspects. Art is great in the way that artists have this form of expressing themselves that others don’t.

We can convey a message or thought through our visuals. Something the average person can only do with words. We have a major advantage in that sense, in the world of communication.
I try to explore that as much as possible while still sticking to my personal style and minimal flare. Sometimes the name’s of my pieces are more complicated or involved than the actual piece.
Essentially though it’s what the observer takes from your artwork that seems to make the difference.

The public likes to think there is meaning or a message or story behind a specific piece. They like to think that your art represents some inner struggle etc. Really my art is purely for visual sake. It’s too look at and say “wow, that’s cool”.

Maybe my work reflects that overall outlook, what do you think?

I love the new Blood Sweat Vectors site. What inspired you and Brad Mahaffey to create the site? What is the ultimate goal of the site?

Well we sat down awhile back and figured there wasn’t a real outlet for vector artists to sit down and post their work, a vector exclusive website where the artist is in control. That’s where we came up with BloodSweatVector. The artist themselves are in control of what the public sees. And by “artists” I mean some of these guys are known world round for their artwork. Some have produced toys, video-games, clothing, you name it. These guys are on top of their game and we figured what a good place for all of these like minded artists to get together and fuck around. We really try to encourage the members to comment on each other’s work. Like I said before a huge thing for artists is getting feedback from other like-minded artists they respect and look-up to, and we really want to encourage that sort of interaction. So far it seems to be headed in the right direction and who knows maybe you’ll see a “Blood, Sweat, Vector Vol.1″ book on shelves next year

What are you favorite online sources of inspiration?

Honestly there are a lot of great sources out there. The ones I mainly use though are Behance.net and ffffound.com. Of course now though that BloodSweatVector is growing so fast, that’ll be a new stomping ground for inspiration.

Thanks again for the interview! Is there advice any that you could give for aspiring and professional illustrators and designer?

Artists are not gods, they will not save the world. I always find it funny when artists become self proclaimed celebrities. I’m sure it’s hard to avoid, but I always find it funny when people idolize someone who draws cartoon characters with a mouse or who adds lighting effects to a photo in Photoshop. Get over it, go build a house or plant a tree.

Thanks for having me on Vectips guys, was a pleasure!