Hiatus

Hello everyone! I’m very sorry I haven’t been able to update my blog in a while, I’ve been pretty swamped. I likely won’t be able to post again until the New Year (Happy Holidays in advance), but I promise I’ll be back with new content as soon as I can.

I’ve had a couple people ask me about the Cinitq. The truth is, I’ve had a devil of a time trying to get it up and running. I have one more last-ditch trick to try on it, which I’ll be attempting this weekend. Wish me luck, and stay tuned for more details on what’s been going wrong for me once I post my review of the 21UX!

Tutorial: How to Prep Your Vectors

It can be tough when you’re starting out as a vector contributor on microstock sites. There are so many little things to watch out for! One tiny mistake could mean you need to submit your file all over again… Even worse, if you’re still in the application phase of becoming a contributor you may be forced to wait a set number of days before you can send in your application samples again.

We often hear from frustrated contributors who’ve overlooked a small detail in their file and received the dreaded rejection email. So I’ve decided to put together a short list of things you should always be checking… BEFORE you submit your file. Click here to read more!

iStockphoto Now Accepting Logo Designs

Yay! iStockphoto has announced that they are now accepting Logo Designs. You can read the original announcement here. If you’re interested in applying to contribute, you can start off by reading the new Logo Training Manual. Questions or comments? Feel free to pop by the new Logo Forums!

New article on iStock: Personalized Palettes

This week, author Cheryl Graham talks about how to put your own personal stamp on your vector illustrations by creating customized color palettes. Whether you’re pulling swatches from nature or history, color can make or break any illustration. Click here to read more!

New Article on iStock: Global Color

This week, author Cheryl Graham covers everything you need to know about setting up global color swatches in your vector files – and why you should be using global colors in the first place. Click here to read more!

Logos are coming to iStock!

A little while ago, iStockphoto.com announced that they would soon be selling logo designs. Why? Because under iStock’s current licensing agreement, customers can’t use anything on the site as a logo design (because the artist who uploaded the file retains full copyright of the image).

As a contributor, I’ve gotten literally hundreds of requests over the years from customers who wanted to use one of my files in a logo. Sometimes I’m able to turn the request into a work-for-hire agreement and design a logo for them on the side. The problems with this are customers are rarely willing to pay my going rate for custom work, and I’ve often found myself in a position where the number of revisions required on the logo start to exceed the price I originally quoted.

This is why I’m so excited about iStock’s new logo offering. There are so many customers out there who simply can’t afford to spend thousands on a corporate identity. Instead, they’re more than happy to let the Yellow Page designer give them a dingbat or a wingding as a logo when they purchase their ad! Click here to read more.

New toy, and, a holiday!

Hello everyone,

Apologies again, it’s going to be some time before I can post my next tutorial. I’m off to Toronto for a few days and a little mini-holiday. It’ll be nice to get out of the city and recharge my batteries!

But coming soon, I’ve got a doozy for you guys I just purchased my dream toy, the Wacom Cintiq 21UX drawing tablet. I got to play with it briefly the other day before bringing it home, and unfortunately the monster’s too big for my puny little computer desk! Once I figure out where to put it, I’ll post my initial thoughts and impressions as well as compare it to my tried and true Wacom Intuos 3 tablet. Stay tuned, this is going to be a fun review to put together!

Tutorial: Drawing People Part 2

To follow up to our recent tutorial, ‘Draw a Face Using Simple Shapes’, we’ve decided to take things a step further and show how to draw an entire body. This second tutorial will take the basics of anatomy and proportion that we learned in Drawing People Part 1 and apply them to a vector drawing of a woman. Click here to read more!

New Article on iStock: Spot Color

This week, author Cheryl Graham explains Spot Colors. This is an absolute must-read for anyone working with vectors! Spot Colors are an often overlooked element when building your files, and in this article, you’ll find out why it’s important not to use them willy nilly. Click here to read more!

Tutorial: Drawing People Part 1

To follow up to our recent tutorial, ‘Draw a Face Using Simple Shapes’, we’ve decided to take things a step further and show how to draw an entire body. But before we dive in, we need to discuss some very important considerations when drawing the human figure. Since we’ve got a lot to cover we’re splitting this tutorial into 2 parts. This first tutorial will cover the basics of proportion, anatomy, and other things to keep in mind when drawing people. The second tutorial will apply these principles to a vector illustration. Let’s get started. Click here to read more!

Tutorial: Draw a Cute Purse Using Simple Shapes

In this tutorial, we want to create a very simple, clean handbag icon. I worked in a fancy accessories store back in College so I’ve always loved purses! We’ll show you some simple tricks for creating graphic simplification of an object, as well as some tips on how to create punch contrast as you’re shading your shapes. Click here to read more!

New ‘Open Shapes Select’ Script for Windows CS4

Those of you who are working in Adobe Illustrator CS4 on a PC have been a little frustrated: Everyone’s favorite ‘open shapes‘ selection plugin only works on a Mac. Until the new plugin is released, though, you should check out this handy script from Arid Ocean. It has some additional features, too: select transparent elements, find various color types and select paths with pattern or gradient fills. Click here to check it out!

Short Hiatus

Hello all,

I’m going to be a bit busy with the upcoming iStockalypse here in Calgary this week. I won’t be able to add any new tutorials but I hope to be back within a couple of weeks with something new, and who knows, maybe I can post some pics from the Vectorlypse portion of our event!! We’ve got some amazing illustrators attending, including blamb, simonox, spotb, freetransform, jayesh, pinktag, sposnick and mrroboto. Stay tuned!

-Jenn

Tutorial: Creating Perspective with the Free Transform Tool

Have you ever needed to create an illustration with a sense of perspective, but were frustrated using Envelope Distort tool, and didn’t have time to draw each shape by hand? Then this is the tutorial for you. We’re going to use the Free Transform tool to take a flat chessboard and give it some oomph by easily adding perspective.Click here to read more!

New Article on iStock: Rich Blacks

This week, author Cheryl Graham explains Rich Blacks, why they’re so important, and how to create your own. Click here to read more!

Tutorial: Draw a snarling panther icon with simple shapes

One of the handiest features in Adobe Illustrator is it’s built in shape tools (such as squares, circles, stars, etc). However, it can take time and practice to realize their full potential! Beginner illustrators tend to rely heavily (often too heavily!) on simple geometric shapes to create their compositions, but this can appear amateurish and unpolished. We’re here to show you how to use simple shapes as the basis of a more sophisticated, less ‘circle and square’ based icon of a snarling panther. Click here to read more!

Tutorial: Do’s and Don’ts When Submitting to iStock

There’s a lot of confusion about things that microstock sites like iStockphoto.com do and don’t accept (blends? meshes? text? unclosed strokes?). Contributors who’ve been around a while have learned over the years, and iStock does have a great Illustrator Training Manual… Still, we figured it’d be a great time to put together a list of not-so-well-known do’s and don’ts to keep in mind when submitting your vector illustrations. Click here to continue reading!

New Article on iStock: Clipping Masks

In the latest edition of Points & Paths, the amazing Cheryl Graham tells us all you need to know about Clipping Masks in Adobe Illustrator. Click here to read!

AI8 EPS Files Explained

If you want to upload to microstock, you might need to submit AI8 EPS files. This can be very frustrating for illustrators who are used to working with all the bells and whistles found in current versions of Illustrator (drop shadows, transparent shapes, etc). But there are some very practical reasons to stick to AI8 files. Click here to find out what they are!

Tutorial: Create a Cello Scroll from a Reference Photo

In this tutorial, we’re going to use a reference photograph of a cello scroll to create a (mostly) realistic illustration without using any gradients. Creating a vector from a photo can be extremely handy when you need a super huge size, since vectors can scale without losing image quality. In addition, the fact we’re avoiding gradients makes this illustration printer-friendly. Click here to read more!