hi folks

our destination today: BRAZIL!!! home of the fabulous caipirinha and some very deluxe vector artists. i met a soopa nice guy here on dA with a pretty awesome gallery. he is called Marcus Vinicius aka =cd-marcus
i asked him for an interview, he fortunately said "yes", so here are his interesting answers:


introduce yourself in a few words

My name is Marcus Vinicius, 33 years old (1974) and I was born in Curitiba, the capital of Paraná state, south of Brazil, the city where I live until today. It is a nice place to live, but Curitiba has the worst weather of the whole world, if you ask me… mostly cold, and we can have like the four seasons during a single day.

how did you fall in love with vector art and why?

In the end of 2004 I was doodling with transparency, gradient and blend effects over some icons (the Apple icon, to be exact), to see if I could make that realistic glossy look of real Apple logo placed in some computers… and as I thought the result was pretty good, I became interested in doing more realistic vector illustrations and decided to try making a realistic portrait of my ex-girlfriend… Then I felt in love with the portraits and more complex vector renders, the vector art!

Why vectors? Well, I have already been working with CorelDraw! for a reasonable time, so I had a pretty good knowledge of the software, which let me feel more comfortable to draw than any other media. And with vectors you can illustrate with ease to undo mistakes, change colors, sizes, well… technical capabilities of the media (which is also very wide… you can do simply everything since the most simple until the most complex illustration).

since when are you vectoring?

Softwares of vector illustration are part of my life since I was 18, when I started working in an advertisement agency. The software in question was CorelDraw! 3 (long time ago, hehe.) but I only watched my co-workers using it… I was in charge of making the handmade drafts and layouts and then they made the drafts into vector illustrations, ads, etc., ready for publishing.

My first contact with CorelDraw! was with the version 5, when I was not working anymore… I remember I used to draw some circles or squares and did not know how to color them . Then I started reading help files and manage to learn how to use the software until I get a new job, working as a designer in another advertisement agency, already working with CorelDraw! 6. But illustrations were really rare… most of my tasks were related with logos and layouts.

I am into this type illustration I post here (people portraits, comic look artworks) since the end of 2004.

what software are you using for it?

The most hated in the world of vector illustration, Corel Draw! Even with all the bugs I think it is pretty good and easy to use, and could be way better if were taken out the multi paging capabilities and some other stuff that belongs to softwares like Adobe InDesign, turning it exclusively for illustration, like Adobe Illustrator. I use Illustrator also, but most for more precise and simple illustrations that are part of my daily job.

what is your favourite style/technique and why?

I love the classic, clean and why not “cartoonish” look of traditional, flat vectors… but I like the realistic style also. However, if it is too realistic like done entirely with mesh tools, I think it may looks as if a digital painting (I still like the style, do not get me wrong…

That is why, for my work (as I love illustrating real people portraits) I always try to draw with this sort of “mix” of these two styles - realistic, yes, but yet clearly noticeable that is a vector, so with some classic touches… I intend to reach an unique, distinctive style.

how long does it take you to finish a piece?

Ouch, for me this is something really difficult to answer… I know and I have experienced that I am capable to finish a piece in a week or two, like my “nightElf”… but I really like to look through several times to feel how I could improve this or that part until I get fully satisfied and then “free” to move on to another part… and this can be really tricky, because something can persist does not working well, you can get bored and stop working for a while until get a new motivation, or not. And this seems to happen to me all the time.

So I usually take at least two, three months to finish a piece… sometimes more than that. I only tell I am done with some work when everything I try to do to improve a piece seems to be unnoticeable, even for me.

what is really inspiring you?

I usually feel very inspired when I browse through amazing artists/artworks… Art books, Exhibitions, Photography, Digital Painting, Pencil drawings, and most recently Vector artworks. I used to collect Comic artworks also, which sort of have influenced me in the coloring of my pieces.

There are so many impressive artists and the Internet today lets you have easy access to their masterpieces, which can be really inspirational. Joseph Linsner, Luis Royo… my list would be enormous. DeviantArt is also a great place where you can find so much inspiration. Here are some of my favorite artists, like Cristiano Siqueira (`CrisVector – the best vector artist I know, very very creative and with so accurate technique, *edufrancisco, *J-Scott-Campbell, ~edwardjamesreed, *Dianae, ~LimKis, ~belldandies… again, long list that grows up every single day.

It is also very (if not most) important to mention the support I receive from others… constructive critiques, comments, feedback in general are truly important and sure contribute to motivate me keep going, learning and why not inspiring me to draw more and better.

what is your current vector-project?

Actually I am working in two or three portraits based in some great photography work here at deviantArt, nothing so elaborated and different from the reference like “dawn” or “nightElf” but maybe I will start another celebrity portrait (which I have not made since Adriana Lima’s portrait back in 2005 and have been really wanting to do).

what are you able to realize for a client?

Anything I am capable to do (logos and corporate identity, vector\pencil illustrations, website layouts, page design) since I am free to apply my own style (otherwise there is no reason to hire me, right?), obeying of course the client requirements. I love to receive useful inputs that help to improve the work, but nothing like “I want you to do that way because I am paying you”. And I do not want to see my work used to any offensive end.

So, simple “rules” to be respected and I am able to illustrate whatever the client needs, even if I do not like the subject (a job is a job )

what plans do you have for the future?

My main goal in life - speaking in terms of job - is to work only with Illustration (having my own studio or working for a company, or others… does not matter, but ONLY illustrating)… today it is just a small part of my job and I have to share with some other sometimes very bureaucratic things, what often makes me tired and unmotivated to go into a new vector project, for example.

And here resides my problem with commissioned works today… I would love to be accepting them, but my time has been very restricted. I can not assume the commitment, depending on the deadlines.

Anyway, if deadline is not really an issue, I am able to do commissioned pieces. And that is something I am planning to do much more in the near future.

thank you marcus! it was really nice to meet you!

some examples of marcus's amazing vector art:






please visit =cd-marcus here on dA for more!
best regards from germany, *cybaBABE