Hello fellow traveler,
My names Tom. In 2017 I registered the cartoonmind.com domain. After years working in the graphic and web design industry I was ready for a change and just over a year ago I left a design position illustrating maps to go freelance. I formed a website called www.elisiumdesign.com where I began working for clients right away. The thing I found about freelance is it gave me more time to focus on my craft, learn techniques and advance my skills. It was around this time that I fell in love with illustration all over again! I had drawn for as long as I can remember, an obsession that started at a young age drawing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and other 80s action cartoons before moving into the realms of hyper violent anime like 'The Guyver' and 'Fist of the North Star'. I was obsessive - I'd spend all day at school drawing on everything I could find - from notebooks, bags, desks.... even on my own body with reckless abandon like some amateur tattoo artist. As time passed I began to focus more on my vector illustrations - creating abstract shapes and random vectors for fun and posting them on deviant art.
After graduating with a degree in Advertising and Design I went to work in the industry and though I spend a long time toughing it out I found that it wasn't for me. Having to start work at certain times or stop at others, the constant office dramas (especially over air-con) and the constant stream of disappointing projects on repeat left me disillusioned. This is why I left to become a freelance artist and though I had some moderate success I found the work I had the most fun doing, still to this day - was drawing and illustration. So I thought why not focus on it, build a site around what I love to do which is draw and create artwork while getting paid for it! With that in mind I created this very website - I decided to create my illustration portfolio and sell prints and T-shirts but not only that. I wanted to give back to young creatives, as I always remembered being an illustrator struggling to find the kind of tutorials and tips I needed.
So hopefully you enjoy my artwork - and my tutorials and tips in the coming months will be helpful to you. If you would like to get in touch you can find me on twitter @cartoon_mind or message me via the contact form here. If you need a commission or want to request a tutorial I'd love to hear from you.
Thanks
- Tom (Cartoon Mind)
