› › KELBYONE COMMUNITY> KELBY ONE.COM
[ 15 ]Who’s Who in the KelbyOne Community
George Peters is a Minneapolis-based digital artist. He worked many years as an advertising art director
and has illustrated thousands of images for iStock, Getty Images, Society 6, and many other clients.I purchased a camera to capture textures and simple images,
and of course, I got hooked on the camera.
I’m not great at any one skill, but when I combined my illus-
tration, Photoshop, concepting, and design skills with photog-
raphy, suddenly the whole became greater than the sum of its
parts. At that point, my engraving style developed quickly and it
all came together for me.
Microstock suddenly appeared on the scene and I became
a buyer, than I started submitting to iStock and quickly
became an exclusive vector and photo contributor. I’ve been
doing that full time ever since, along with freelance illustra-
tion work. I began attending iStock events around the world,
hanging with the most talented, fun, and interesting group of
people I’ve ever been associated with. Eventually, I was hired
as a Vector Inspector.Do you shoot with the illustration side in mind, or do
the images inspire you when you’re editing them?
I shoot for both, which is a real advantage. In southern Utah,
I can shoot outside all day. I’ll shoot for photographs in the
early and late light, and I’ll shoot for illustrations in the harshest
midday light. I absolutely love the way those hard shadows fall
across people’s faces and on their bodies. It really adds drama
and brings out texture detail in trees and rock formations. You
can see some great illustration examples of people with hard
shadows in my website’s Mezzotint Gallery, especially the
Panama street scenes.When creating images for stock, how do you decide
what to submit, and as a Vector Inspector what
types of images get selected?
I choose subjects that everybody deals with: The economy, fam-
ily, finances, work, travel, relationships, health, exercising, sports,
etc. Pick a few subjects and go for it!
For artists interested in submitting stock, there’s an excellent
section on the iStock website called Work with Us. You’ll find
FAQs and videos. It will answer questions much better than I can.What advice would you give to anyone looking to
improve his or her skills?
Learn to use adversity to your advantage. For example, if you’re
planning a day shooting the streets of Paris and it starts raining—
use it. Get down on your knees and shoot the buildings in the
puddle reflections. Shoot through the rain-drenched windows.
I’ll learn more from a day of adversity than I will in a week of
smooth sailing. nAs a longtime graphic designer, illustrator, and
photographer, what still excites and inspires you?
Light and shadow inspire me, especially chiaroscuro, back light-
ing, and atmospheric perspective. I’ve been playing with color
grading and also turning day photos into night images. It’s all very
exciting. You can see examples of the color grading and night
images in my website’s Conceptual Gallery.You were once an advertising art director in
Manhattan. How did that career path come about?
I studied Illustration with a minor in graphic design and worked
part time at a type shop where I developed strong typography
skills. Once I finished school, I moved to Manhattan and inter-
viewed with an award-winning advertising creative director.
He loved great type but didn’t like the tedious work that good
type requires, so he hired me to be his hands. I was promoted
to art director and worked with some wonderfully talented
photographers, illustrators, and retouchers.
As an art director, I worked with photos and illustrations every
day. I learned to concept them, evaluate, and crop them. I also
art-directed photo shoots, so by the time I bought my first cam-
era many years later, I was already comfortable with the entire
process of creating imagery.What is your history with KelbyOne?
In the late 1980s, Minneapolis was one of the most creative
advertising and design cities in the country. I moved there and
made the transition to graphic design, which I really enjoyed.
Photoshop and Illustrator hit the scene, so I took classes at a
community college and read everything I could get my hands
on. That’s when I discovered Photoshop User magazine and
joined the National Association of Photoshop Professionals
(NAPP). I attended my first Photoshop World Conference in
South Beach—an incredible experience! I attended every NAPP
seminar that came to Minneapolis and purchased their great
training materials. In fact, I still see some of the same faces
working the booth. (Especially the friendly woman with the
long black hair. I don’t remember her name, but we always
say hello.)You create striking and unique images of people
combined with illustration techniques. When did
you first discover your style?
It evolved over time. I went on my own as a freelance graphic
designer and started winning clients based on the Photoshop
montages I was creating. Buying photos was expensive, so