Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Brian for being today’s interviewee.
Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.
My name is Brian Edward Miller and I’m the owner and illustrator behind Orlin Culture Shop. I was born and raised in Colorado and ventured off to California to attend Biola University, where I majored in graphic design and minored in Biblical studies.
After a 10+ year career in graphic and interactive design, my wife and I returned to Colorado and eventually launched Orlin Culture Shop, a venture I’d been itching to start for years. I now provide custom illustration services and on any given day can be found in my office drawing robots, magicians, mountain landscapes, sea monsters, and much more!
What are you working on?
I just finished up a number of Christmas illustrations for Adobe Inspire Magazine and GQ Magazine Germany, and am illustrating my first picture book for Penguin Publishing (due out in Summer 2014). I’m also writing and drawing my own book which I hope to have published next year.
Choose a favorite shot of yours. Why is it a favorite?
Choosing a favorite shot is difficult because I appreciate different aspects of every piece and they are each my answer to tough visual challenges. If I had to choose, I’d say either one of my Auto Shot illustrations.
These were the illustrations where I really found my voice as an illustrator and I’ve been amazed at the opportunities that have come through them. It really showed me the value of creating work I love and the power of sharing with online communities like Dribbble.
Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch)?
While a blowtorch would certainly feel more cathartic than my typical array of tools, my setup is much more mundane.
I typically start with rough sketches on paper using pencils and an assortment of inking tools (brushes, markers, basically anything that I have to mark black). From there I head to Photoshop where I’ll create the piece from start to finish using a Wacom Cintiq. For the Auto Shots illustrations, I worked 100 percent in Photoshop start to finish without preliminary paper sketches. I started with small color compositions and then moved to producing the final illustrations.
Choose a favorite shot from another Player. Why do you dig it?
For my favorite shot, I’ve chosen Josh Emrich’s Grimm Brothers Farmer’s Daughter Oktoberfest.
I am a huge fan of Josh’s work because he pours so much love, knowledge, and attention to detail into every aspect of his pieces. He’s a true craftsman and I find that level of artistic care and concern inspiring. He’s also the reason I began appreciating craft brews. I ended up buying a bunch of the beers he worked on and came to appreciate the brews as much as the labels.
Find Brian on Dribbble, on Twitter, and at Orlin Culture Shop.
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