Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Sean for being today’s interviewee.
Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.
Hey! I’m Sean McCabe, a hand lettering artist from San Antonio, TX. Lettering is huge a passion of mine that I pursue every spare moment I have, but during the day I run Bold Perspecitve and design websites and logos full time with my partner, Brian, who is an awesome developer.
What are you working on?
Right now, the primary project I’ve been working on is "The Best Camera" letterpress poster. As far as lettering goes, I try to make sure I’m always creating. If I’m not working on a commissioned piece, I’m doing personal lettering projects to keep from getting complacent.
I’m a big fan of living simply and investing what profits I make from lettering work back into my ventures to enable future projects. Lately prints have been the focus, but sooner than later, I plan to expand the application of my lettering onto apparel and other fun things.
Choose a favorite shot of yours. Why is it a favorite?
This is probably one of my more underrated pieces, but it really is the core of what I believe is the key to success: “Do Good Work & Continue to Do Good Work”.
It seems to be popular to look for shortcuts to get exposure, or “hacks” to gain popularity, but really it’s about doing good work consistently. The rest will come naturally when your focus is right and your efforts are concentrated on producing great things rather than getting affirmation.
Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)
My weapons of choice are Micron pens. I use a regular 2B pencil to sketch a rough draft of my composition, and gradually refine it closely to what I want the final piece to look like (and of course a trusty to keep things in check!). The sketches are inked with just about every size Micron from 005 to 08. Often times, this ink sketch will be the final, but occasionally I will create a digital, textured version from it. If that’s the case, I like to dual wield Illustrator and Photoshop for vectors and texturing respectively.
I like to keep my workspace simple and clean to give myself plenty of room for sketching. I always keep my trusty Ugmonk leather journal handy as well.
Choose a favorite shot from another Player. Why do you dig it?
I’d have to pick Just an ‘S’ by Joshua Bullock. Not only is he super talented, but the guy is just a genuinely humble person on top of it. I love his style, and his similar fondness for detail at small sizes. I had the pleasure of meeting him for the first time last year at an Austin Dribbble meetup, and we had a blast discussing our shared love of lettering. He actually gave me the sketch in this shot when we met! So kind.
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