Behind the Shop: The Story of True Grit Texture Supply
In this new Behind the Shop series, we want to let you in on their process, ideas, and creative point of view. This time around, we sat down with Andrew Fairclough, the talented shop owner behind True Grit Texture Supply.
Transcript
Andrew Fairclough: My name is Andrew Fairclough, Iβm a freelance illustrator and designer and Iβve been selling digital products on Creative Market for about three or four years now.
Creative Market: What kind of work do you do and what tools do you use?
AF: My workβs quite known for texture and that kind of thing so that all kind of starts clean and is then destroyed at the end. I primarily work in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. I also work in Procreate a little bit for sketching on an iPad. Because Iβve been doing this for long enough and Iβm old I canβt hunch over a tiny little iPad for too long. So thatβs why I have this thing and a sit-stand desk.
Because I work with a lot of texture, I like to get in close and I like to work big. So I can focus on small details which I find is pretty hard to do on a much smaller screen. Thatβs just me. The iPad is a beautiful thing to draw on as well and Procreateβs a fantastic app. So I kind of like doing a bit of both.
CM: How did you start True Grit Texture Supply?
AF: I taught some online courses, making analog textures, scanning them, and then converting them for use in Photoshop and Illustrator. A lot of students started to ask, βdo you sell any of your textures or brushes or anything like that?β, and I was like, maybe I should do that. And then I thought I could at the very least just put that stuff on Creative Market. Once I thought about it, well, one productβs not enough. I want to come up with a suite of products. So I went through my archive of shortcuts and texture tools that Iβve made over the years and started distilling them down into a bunch of usable and sellable products.
Predominantly, Iβm selling products that are very texture-focused and mostly in brush form. And then itβs a lot of effects kits that allow people to apply different mid-century or photocopy print effects that took me years and years and years through trial and error to figure out. But you can achieve these looks, through your own experimentation you might never come to.
I guess as a rule, and one of the big driving forces behind my products, is customization. They have to work for professional designers and illustrators that are at a very high level. I try to make stuff that a novice can use but thereβs a minimum amount of experience using Photoshop or Illustrator that you need to use them.
I want to make products where the product isnβt the end result, itβs just a tool to get you to add to the creativity of your own work.
CM: Who are you making products for? Other makers?
AF: Yeah, itβs definitely makers themselves. Itβs a lot of designers and illustrators who have a screen-printed, printmaking aesthetic. A lot of our customers are working on clients in streetwear, action sports, music, film. A lot of comic makers and indie comic makers, indie game makers. Itβs been really cool to make products that theyβre as useful for a small online comic maker as much as they are for Marvel or Disney or DC.
CM: How has True Grit Texture Supply changed your role as a designer?
AF: For me, Creative Marketβs a little bit of an experiment in the sense of the cream rising to the top. If the product is good enough, people will find it. Having my products found by the right users β I think the idea of infinite growth and being all things to all people was just kind of silly. I want to make the best products I can make for a specific type of aesthetic and then connect with like-minded creatives who also want to integrate some of those aesthetics into their work in order to grow their own creative practice. I think Creative Market is perfect for that.
Itβs a perfect point of entry for somebody starting out making their own templates or brushes or whatever, because they donβt need to go through that time and expense of building their own platform and generating an independent following. Having that additional income that can stabilize your income. When I first started out, I could pay one week of my rent every month. At the end of the month it was like, βoh my god, this is so great to not to have to pay this one weekβs studio rent.β
And then as the business has grown, that just compounds it exponentially. At one point, two years ago, it gave me the flexibility to take a couple of months off to just focus on a solo art show. I could never have done that without having a store on Creative Market. You canβt really put a dollar figure on that.
FAQs
What kind of work does Andrew Fairclough do and what tools does he use?
Andrew Fairclough is a freelance illustrator and designer known for his texture-focused work. He primarily uses Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, as well as Procreate for sketching on an iPad.
How did Andrew Fairclough start True Grit Texture Supply?
Andrew started True Grit Texture Supply after teaching online courses on making analog textures. Students began asking if they could buy his textures and brushes, which led him to start selling them on Creative Market. He expanded his product range to include effects kits and tools that cater to professional designers and illustrators.
Who are the products from True Grit Texture Supply designed for?
The products from True Grit Texture Supply are designed for designers and illustrators, especially those with a screen-printed, printmaking aesthetic. They are useful for a wide range of clients in industries such as streetwear, action sports, music, film, comics, and indie games.
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Authored by: [Niamh]
This collaborative research-driven exploration required [1] day of dedication and [2 to 3] hours of meticulous crafting.
Connect with me on Twitter: [@niamh_dcreator]
Thank you for your interest.
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