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Roughs made by Thomas Stefflbauer for a British clothing brand.

Here's our fifth CREATIVE CAPSULE. This month, we invite you to meet Thomas Stefflbauer, american roughman living in Germany. Enjoy it!

Describe your creative lab in a few words?
It’s a small table in a corner of our big apartment. But I also love to go into coffee houses in the neighborhood and work there.

In two sentences, how would you describe your work technique?
I either start by doodling with rough brushes in Photoshop or a loose arrangement of reference material. Then I work in many layers in order to be able to change things later on. For vector art I prefer Flash over illustrator because of its intuitive drawing process. But for more conceptual art such as logos or type-art I use only illustrator.

What is the project of which you are most proud of?
A graphic novel which hasn’t been published yet. It’s the story of my wife’s experiences from growing up in Brooklyn to traveling the middle East.

What are your favourite colors to create?
Deep, dark reds and blues with highlights sprinkled in.

Why did you become an artist?
Because I didn’t want to stop drawing ever.

In four words, how would you describe your style of illustration?
My style is that I never settled on a style. But I love to draw in whimsical flowing style with elongated, dynamic lines. I did many editorial illustrations that way in my early years.

What is the project of your dreams?
I’m doing it. It’s called "Dreamworlds". Digital paintings based on “art trouvé”-style photos. I literally aim to re-create the images I see in my dreams.

What does a typical day in the life of Thomas looks like?
I get up with my kids, prepare breakfast and work on a personal project. I’m writing stories, work on my "Dreamworlds" project or I finish my other projects. The afternoons are either for office tasks, helping my son with his homework or going to the grocery. Evenings are booked for family when I don’t have a new job coming in.

What inspires you?
Literally everything around me. I try to spend time away from the computer when I don’t work in order to be around people and nature. To me the city is nature as well.

What is your favourite blog or website?
I have to confess that it’s pinterest and speed drawing tutorials on Youtube.

Here's our fifth CREATIVE CAPSULE. This month, we invite you to meet Thomas Stefflbauer, american roughman living in Germany. Enjoy it!

Describe your creative lab in a few words?
It’s a small table in a corner of our big apartment. But I also love to go into coffee houses in the neighborhood and work there.

In two sentences, how would you describe your work technique?
I either start by doodling with rough brushes in Photoshop or a loose arrangement of reference material. Then I work in many layers in order to be able to change things later on. For vector art I prefer Flash over illustrator because of its intuitive drawing process. But for more conceptual art such as logos or type-art I use only illustrator.

What is the project of which you are most proud of?
A graphic novel which hasn’t been published yet. It’s the story of my wife’s experiences from growing up in Brooklyn to traveling the middle East.

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Storyboard illustrated by Thomas Stefflbauer for an advertising pitch created for this Fall campaign of l'Aubainerie Quebec clothing company for the Tuxedo agency.

In order to cool down the heat, here are illustrated advertising comps by Thomas Stefflbauer for the global event of extreme ice skating race, the Red Bull Crashed Ice.

Swiss agency has chosen Thomas Stefflbauer to do roughs for Skoda spot to accompany advertising concepts presentations.

Black and white illustrated frames from a storyboard created by Thomas Stefflbauer for a client presentation to Adidas of a TV spot concept for '"Those who dare" women campaign.

Storyboard presentation for Century 21.

Roughs for GMC

Thomas’ storyboard illustrations merge the whimsical, humorous, and authentic. His storytelling style fuses smart and realistic imagery with a bit of fantasy. Digital rendering allows him to quickly visualize a range of distinct scenarios in the media, design, and commercial/technology spheres.