Uses This

A collection of nerdy interviews asking people from all walks of life what they use to get the job done.

A picture of Tyler Feder

Tyler Feder

Illustrator

Posted in illustrator, mac

Who are you, and what do you do?

I'm Tyler Feder, an illustrator and soon-to-be-author living and working in Chicago. I just finished illustrating Cristen Conger and Caroline Ervin's Unladylike: A Field Guide to Smashing the Patriarchy and Claiming Your Space, and now I'm working on my first solo book, a graphic memoir about losing my mom to cancer when I was a teenager. I also run an Etsy shop called Roaring Softly where I sell prints of my artwork (and offer portrait commissions whenever I have a free moment).

What hardware do you use?

Right now, I do the majority of my illustrations with an Apple Pencil on my 10.5" iPad Pro (which is rose gold because I will take any opportunity to add pink to my life). When I'm not illustrating digitally, I'm pretty low-maintenance and use whatever art supplies I can get my hands on (Micron pen with cheap watercolor is my favorite combo). I prep my artwork for printing on my trusty 21.5" 2013 iMac and print everything with a Canon iX6820 printer.

And what software?

I am an absolute convert to Procreate on iOS. It's the most intuitive digital art program I've used, and the process videos it automatically generates are so fascinating to watch! On my desktop, I occasionally use Photoshop (reluctantly) and Acorn (my preference) to edit illustrations.

What would be your dream setup?

I'd love to take everything from my current setup and plunk it into a larger dedicated studio space. I work out of my itty bitty studio apartment, and lately I've been drooling over 2 bedroom apartments on Craigslist. A separate room just for art sounds like heaven!