In case you didn’t know, IllustrationFriday has a weekly topic to illustrate for fun. This week’s topic was Canned. I did this a couple of years ago in Illustrator. It’s an homage to two great masters, Andy Warhol and Chef Boyardee. OK, so maybe the Chef isn’t a master, but he did provide delicious sustenance for me as a child. That’s more than Warhol ever did. Anyway, I was never quite happy with this illustration, so critiques are welcome.

This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2008 Cory Thoman.

Since everyone loves lists. Here is a list of 10 of my favorite keyboard shortcuts in Adobe Illustrator. Your list may be different than mine, so feel free to add a comment about your favorite shortcut. Before I start, I just wanted to say that I left off copy, paste, save, open and tool changes. They just seemed too obvious.

Paste in Front (Command/Control F)
Paste in Front is a great way to make a copy of an object in the exact same place. I mostly use this in conjunction with the Pathfinder Tools for creating my shadow and highlight shapes.

Send to Back (Command/Control + Shift [)
I use Send to Back more than any of the other Arrange commands. Again, I use this in conjunction with the Pathfinder Tools. Most of the time, I’ll send a shape to the back, before I merge or divide it with another. This keeps all my shapes in the right place.

Group (Command/Control G) and Ungroup (Command/Control + Shift G)
OK, so I cheated. This is two shortcuts, but they are related. I use group and ungroup in the normal ways (to group shapes), but I also use them to move shapes around. If you group a shape that is in back to one that is in the front, the one in the back will move right underneath the one in the front. Also, grouping shapes on different layers will move them to the same layer.

Lock Selection (Command/Control 2)
I don’t really work in layers, so I’ll often Lock and Unlock shapes to make it easier to select other shapes.

Transform Again (Command/Control D)
Transform Again is a good way to repeat the last copy that you did. It’s a quick way to create evenly spaced shapes.

Copy Drag (Option + Shift while dragging a shape)
Holding Option down while you drag a shape is the simplest way to copy a shape. When you hold down the Shift key too, then the object will only move horizontally or vertically.

Smart Guides (Command/Control U)
Smart Guides are very useful for aligning shapes. I also find them really annoying to look at, so I toggle them on and off a lot.

Select All (Command/Control A)
Sometimes, I want to select everything on the page. It’s a good way to check if you have any stray shapes on the paste board, locked objects or unoutlined fonts.

Add or Subtract to a Selection (Shift Click)
Holding Shift and clicking allows you to select multiple shapes. It also allows you to deselect shapes.

Fit in Window (Command/Control 0)
If you are like me, then you are constantly zooming in and out. I’ll zoom in all the way to select a point on the line and then zoom out, so I can see the big picture. When I do this, I find that Fit in Window is a quick way to zoom out.

Well, that’s my list. feel free to add your own favorites below.

This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2008 Cory Thoman.

Well, I rarely get upset about things, especially with a company that is treating me well. So, I was surprised when I got an email today from StockXpert and saw this:

“As we move forward with more of these programs, we need to deliver the highest quality and most consistent product to customers and business partners. This means that as of July 30 we will no longer offer opt-in/out, and as of August 4 all SXP images will be included in our PPD, partner and licensing, extended licensing, and subscription efforts.”

I reread it twice. Was StockXpert telling me that I had to sell extended licenses and subscriptions? That can’t be right. Let me send them an email and post on the forum. About a half hour later, I got a polite response confirming it.

I’m sure lots of people are OK with this. After all, it’s good that they’re branching out, but I’m not selling EL’s on any of the sites. I’m not really sure why I should be required to on one. Oh well, my rant is over. I guess I’ll just have to decide whether or not to keep my portfolio there.

This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2008 Cory Thoman.

As an artist, I’m always drawing. Sometimes, it is for a freelance job, and other times, it is just to experiment. There is no shortcut to getting better. You just have to get your pencil, paint brush or mouse out and create. I’m not sure if it matters what you draw. Just as long as you are practicing. That being said, I’ve compiled a list of fun places to go and put your artistic talent to work.

Illustration Friday is a great place to go for a weekly illustration theme. Your idea for the theme can be as bizarre as you want. Just post a link to your image.

Speaking of bizarre, The Big Beautiful Wonder Woman Blog showcases art of DC comic’s favorite Amazonian in a plus size form. Why? I’m not sure, but head over there and add your rendition.

Finally, Throwback Thursdays takes their obsession with Saturday morning cartoons to new heights by reenvisioning the characters in fun and imaginative ways.

So, get your pencil out there and start drawing. Feel free to share your favorite place on the web to unleash your creative juices.

In case you didn’t know, IllustrationFriday.com has a weekly topic to illustrate for fun. This week’s topic was Enough. I’m not sure if this is enough or too much. Anyway, I drew my buddy, the fat cat business man. Hopefully, he’ll commission some illustration work. This week I decided just to color my pencil sketch in Photoshop. Enjoy!

This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2008 Cory Thoman.

I thought it would be a good idea to review some of the different services I use. This review is for Cafepress, a print on demand shop.

Cafepress allows you to upload your designs and illustrations on a variety of products (t-shirts, mugs, buttons, etc.). Once your masterpiece is uploaded, you can purchase the products for yourself or set up a shop to sell to others.

I’ve used Cafepress on and off for a number of years with little success. A few months ago, I decided I would open a premium store and try make a stable income with it. I filled my store with 50 or so designs and started promoting. Well, I still couldn’t get any sales and ended up closing the store because I really didn’t think it was worth the minimal price.

Overall, I wouldn’t discourage anyone from trying out a free store at Cafepress, but I can’t really recommend the premium store based on my experience. I wasn’t expecting huge riches from it, but I was at least hoping to match the minimal income I was having with my Zazzle store.

This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2008 Cory Thoman.

Below is a tutorial I’ve written to create an Art Brush in Adobe Illustrator. Feel free to check out my other tutorials. I start with a small circle and a larger circle that are center aligned. The two circles are about 10 inches apart.

Next, I’m going to use a Blend to create shapes in between the two circles. First, I need to set the number of steps in my blend. To do this go to Object > Blend > Blend Options.

A dialogue box will pop up. I choose Specified Steps from the drop down menu and decide 20 steps is a good number.

Now, I run the blend. Select the two circles, and go to Object > Blend > Make.

My blend looks like this.

Notice that the blend is a line and not editable shapes. To make it into shapes, go to Object > Flatten Transparency.

A dialogue box appears. Set the Raster/Vector Balance to 100 and click OK.

Now your blend is individual circles.

With your new shapes selected, open up the Brushes palette (Window > Brushes). Select New Brush from the menu.

A dialogue box pops up. Select New Art Brush and click OK.

Another dialogue box pops up with the blended shape pattern in the viewing window. Check the Proportional check box and give your brush a name, then click OK. This will create a new brush swatch in the Brushes palette

Next, draw a stroked line that you want your dot pattern to follow.

Finally, fill the stroked line with the brush swatch you just created. When you get your shape right, you can flatten the transparency to make it editable shapes again.

This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2008 Cory Thoman.

In case you didn’t know, IllustrationFriday.com has a weekly topic to illustrate for fun. This week’s topic was Foggy. Things get a little foggy when you get older… uh… or… um… at least that is what I’ve heard. Anyway, here is a little illustration I did in Adobe Illustrator.

This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2008 Cory Thoman.

In case you didn’t know, IllustrationFriday.com has a weekly topic to illustrate for fun. This week’s topic was Sour which means I drew a superhero. Why? I don’t know, but here’s Captain Lemonhead. I think he may be Captain Morgan’s sidekick. Anyway, I was feeling kind of lazy this week, so I just colored the sketch I did in Photoshop instead of redrawing it in Illustrator.

This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2008 Cory Thoman.

I thought I would continue with what I did last month and post the other sources of revenue in addition to the microstock earnings. While microstock still makes up the bulk of my passive income, other sources are doing well for me. Anyway, here is the breakdown:

iStockphoto – 31%

Shutterstock – 28%

Dreamstime – 16%

StockXpert – 7%

Fotolia – 6%

Combined Affiliate Earnings – 5%

123RF – 2%

Big Stock Photo – 2%

Adsense – 1%

Crestock – 1%

Zazzle – 0.2%

SnapVillage – 0%*

Cafepress – 0%

*I earned a whopping 30 cents this month at SnapVillage. While it was my first download there, it wasn’t really enough to list as a percentage.

This post was written on IllustrationInfo.com. Content copyright 2008 Cory Thoman.