The Interview Series: Leslie Sturgess – Car vehicle illustrator

 

Welcome Leslie Sturgess – Car vehicle illustrator to the Interview series

Your Name: Leslie Sturgess

Website: https://www.facebook.com/SturgessDesigns

Hi there Leslie, and thank you for participating in my Interview Series with illustrators from around the world here on my blog. What year did you start working as an illustrator, creating vector art?

2012

What types of tools do you use, software and or traditional medium?

Pencil and Pen, Have used Oil Paint in the past. And CorelDRAW

Do you work as a freelancer or a staff illustrator?

It is a hobby more than anything

I´ve seen quite a lot of great vector illustrations from you illustrating car´s. How come you love doing illustrations of cars?

I guess I was born with Petrol in my blood always loved Motorcycles and Hot Rods and drag racing from an early age

What do you consider especially important when you start planning working on a car image?

Usually the angle of the car/bike, this has become more important as I have progressed with the software

Any particular car you look forward to draw but for whatever reason never have done so far?

Not really, I would like to do more motorcycles but they take so long in full colour, and spokes are very difficult I would like to find an easier way of doing them. The last two bikes I have done in full colour took around 50 hours each to complete.

Do you draw solely in the computer using CorelDRAW or do you also use more traditional mediums?

I sketch with pen and pencil sometimes to get ideas for CorelDRAW, and i recently purchased a Galaxy note but still learning how to use

I´ve seen many classic american cars, and nothing wrong with that, but do you see yourself drawing a Ford Fiesta anytime soon?

Yes sorry about that, I have a love affair with American Cars…..I have done a few English cars GT6/JAG/TR6 etc and I Have drawn a Ford Escort

 

Surface is of course very important, and I remember a picture of a blue car in which you had succeded to get an almost painterly feel to the surface, without showing brush strokes. As if you had painted realistically on a paper with a nice soft grain surface, using water color with only so slightly colour pigments. It was brilliant. How did you finish that off. After all we talk vector art?

Thanks for the kind comments, I feel most of the time it’s trial and error and making sure you look at the real world when you’re outside, I will quite often look at how the sun is reflected in chrome and paint while I am say in a car park.

The affect was created using the excellent transparency tool in CorelDraw, I now use the BMAP tool and blur and then transparency tool also, work awesome

I did learn a lot from watching tutorials on YouTube and reading the guide book

Do you do other illustration work other than cars?

I have attempted a few portraits of friends and family and I have been working on cartoon cars recently, some have been joint efforts with other artist

If you could tell Corel who create CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, and they would fulfill your wish, which tool or feature would ask them to create and add to the suite?

Airbrush affect tool would be nice, maybe there is one already? I try to get each tool to work for me and often do not venture to look at too many other tools in the software. I like to try and master a tool if I can. I use the B-Spline tool the most (Love it) and I know not many other people use this tool but it works great for me
Yes, I can only say I agree Leslie, B-Spline tool is a great tool. Love that tool as well. B-Spline and Freehand one the most often for many of my own jobs.

And lastly coffee. Everyone get this question: Coffee or Tea in the morning?

Coffee

Thank you Leslie!

 

 

Stefan Lindblad
Illustrator, graphic designer
www.canvas.nu