It’s really fun to hear and share the many different stories how fellow creatives got where they are; how they might have stumbled into their career, or got there on purpose. I recently had the pleasure of an interview with illustrator Cory Thoman, founder of myStockVectors.com. Cory has an amazing knack for creating some of the coolest cartoons and cliparts, which are being used all over the web and in many other commercial applications. His artwork covers a wide range of subjects and topics, and all of them are available for royalty-free licensing in vector format.
Hi Cory, tell us a little about yourself.
Yay! My favorite topic, me. Well, I’m an illustrator and designer living in Austin, Texas. I have a Bachelor’s of Fine Art from the Ringling College of Art and Design. Don’t let the fine art part fool you though. I mostly spend my time drawing silly cartoons, but there was an emphasis on figure drawing and painting when I went to school. So, I guess I’m classically trained, but most of my work happens on the computer now.
As far as career, I’ve worked a few graphic design jobs. My favorite was a toy company called Jazwares. I was there for about five years and learned a lot. In 2005, I decided to leave the 9 to 5 world to pursue a freelance career. That’s where I am today. Read the rest of this entry »
I have always admired the artwork of famous artist Norman Rockwell, but for some reason, never realized that he also produced illustrations and stock art for use in advertisements and marketing materials. Here are some vintage Norman Rockwell advertisements that feature his unique, photo-realistic illustrative style. Rockwell’s masterpieces even made the cover of The Saturday Evening Post a number times. Way before there was Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or even mainstream digital photography, Norman Rockwell was a true creative.
So, you have a photo of something that looks like it would make a great vector element for your design work. What to do? Watch this easy to follow tutorial I just whipped up on how you can use both Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator in unison to convert any dark silhouette, shape, or outline into a vector .eps or .ai format image. Be sure to watch it in 720p HD full screen! Read the rest of this entry »
Norman Rockwell was such a great illustrator, that he was practically a photographer. His photo realistic images and sense of humor in his work have blown me away ever since I was a kid. My mom used to hang prints of these on the kitchen wall, that she cut out of a Norman Rockwell calendar she got as a handout from the local bank. We’ve always had beagles, growing up, so these are some of my favorites. This stuff is just timeless. Read the rest of this entry »
