UISDC Interview: Inside Ori Toor’s Colorful Illustrational World!
Ori Toor is an Israeli illustrator, animator and freelance graffiti artist. His illustrations are full of whimsical ideas, colorful color combinations, lines with no direction, and everything seems to be unplanned but harmonious. His works are popular on Behance, and have served Disney, Adobe, Nike, the New York times, Lush group and other top companies of British cosmetics. What’s his secret? This interview reveals the secrets.
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Behance: https://www.behance.net/oritoor
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web: https://oritoor.com/
UISDC:
How did you get into design? Can you talk about your growth experience?
Ori Toor:
I remember drawing since I was born. My mom is a retired carpet designer and she used to draw her designs using water colors while I watched and tried to come up with designs myself.
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I grew up obsessed with cartoons like Road Runner and always wanted to do animation. As an adult, I went to study illustration in college but the thing I found most fulfilling was doodling in my sketchbook. Over the years I realized my favourite thing to do is just experiment and draw without thinking about what will come out of it.
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Fortunately this is something I’m still allowed to do even with the restrictions of professional career.
UISDC:
Your illustration works are very hot on instagram. Which one is you favourite ?
Ori Toor:
It’s hard to choose a favorite piece but I think I always liked this one a lot.
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I don’t remember exactly what was my state of mind back then. but I guess I was very calm. Maybe I worked on it at night with some nice chill music. I never really think about what I’m doing. The whole process is improvised. The less I think the best accidents happen. When I do commercial work and have to think, it’s usually bad for the piece. My solution is to let myself think about it and then take some time to forget.
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A tutorial about my process would be very short and simple:
Open a new file in Photoshop — Start drawing. color. draw some more. Color some more. repeat until you feel it’s good enough.
UISDC:
Can you show us the software implementation process of any of your works?
Ori Toor:
I use Photoshop for all of my works. I like simple tools. I use the pencil tool to draw, and the paint bucket tool to color. I also use a plug in called Lazy Nezumi. It’s a line stabilizer that I like better than the default Photoshop line smoothing. I also use the selection tool a lot along with the “stroke” command to create shapes that are not easy to draw by hand.
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Another thing I like doing (but is considered totally weird) is flattening my layers during the process. I like feeling like I can’t go back. And if I want to change something — I need to work for it.
UISDC:
Your illustrations are very beautiful. Is there any good color matching experience or practice you want to share with us?
Ori Toor:
Thank you! I’m actually not very good with color at all. the process I’m using to color is incredibly sloppy. I randomly try out different colors and I keep changing them over and over. I also use a lot of adjustment layers for tweaking.
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One great tip I have is to use the paint bucket tool at low opacity (10%) and start recoloring existing colored surfaces. It’s a great way to mix colors and get results that you would never think of.
UISDC:
Your work style is very bold, they look very casual, but popular, how do you define the style and how do you find it.
Ori Toor:
I call the style “Gibberish” because I think it’s a nice and not too serious way to describe how I work. It looks casual because it is. Nothing is planned in advance and I’m just having fun experimenting.
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It took me years and years of drawing and changing things until I got to this one (and this one keeps evolving and changing as well).
UISDC:
What do you feel most creatively inspired by, both within your field and outside it?
Ori Toor:
I’m inspired by everything and everyone all the time. Even the most boring things.
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I think existence is so weird, that everything we see around us could be a subject for a piece of art.
UISDC:
Nowadays, online courses are very popular. Have you ever thought about conducting interviews or courses online?
Ori Toor:
I always think about it and I had the chance to do some live, offline workshops. At the end of the day — I’m too busy/lazy to go into it.
UISDC:
What is your typical day?
Ori Toor:
I get up late and have my coffee. I spend some time reading emails and if I’m not getting sucked into a youtube hole — I start working (I work form home). Around noon I’ll go for a walk. Lately I like going to the beach and stare at the sea for 20 minutes or so. Then I go back home and eat. If I don’t accidentally fall asleep after that — I’ll go back to work. Another coffee in the afternoon. I’ll keep working until the evening and then I’ll go see friends or watch TV with my partner until we go to sleep.
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Sometimes it’s the complete opposite of course.
UISDC:
Any suggestions for designers who are learning design, Is there any good book or efficiency tool worth recommending?
Ori Toor:
If you’re interested in animation go watch Alex Grigg’s Photoshop animation tutorial
UISDC:
We are very interested in your office environment. Can you show us your working environment with pictures.
Ori Toor:
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Thanks for the wonderful sharing, and if you like Ori Toor, you can get more works through the following links!
Behance: https://www.behance.net/oritoor
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/oritoor/
We are one of the largest design platforms in China, we have posted many excellent designers interviews on our web, I look forwards for more communications with more designers. Do you want to share your experience with Chinese fans and Medium fans? Please feel free to contact with me : kekeluo_85@hotmail.com.