Spotlight - Meet Gillon and Crumbut

By Jumbles

Gillon(Dawn Simon) and Crumbut(Chad Rumbut) are just two of my favourite skinners.
Both have skinned many programs, noteably WindowBlinds and ICQPlus.

The simplicity of Gillon's "Sorbet" Series(shown below) appeals to my "No clutter"
sense, whilst Crumbut's "Heavy Equipment"skin(shown below)is a masterpiece of 
artistic adaptation from a "corporate" image. Both skin zip files can be downloaded
from deviantart.com

Gillon is part of  "The Collective" group of skinners, whilst Crumbut is the inspiration
and founder behind "Community Skin", a project where many skinners collaborate/d
together, producing over 70 skins for different programs.


Gillon(Dawn Simon)

Where to you currently reside?

Toronto,Ontario,Canada.

Where does your history in art begin? Were you a "scribbler" as a child?

I suddenly discovered I could draw when I moved into high school (secondary school). Drawing portraits of the Beatles was my hobby at that time. I did spend a year at Art College, but never finished or persued a career in art.

What is your system like (hardware, memory, monitor, etc.)? 

I have a HP Pentium II, 256 Ram, 20 Gig hard drive, Creative Banshee and a 19 monitor. I run in 1280 x 1024 resolution.

Do you have a favorite program(s) you use to create skins? 

For graphics I pretty much use Paint Shop Pro 7 exclusively.

What is your skinning process like (do you create sketches, and develop them, as in suites, etc.)

Often I get inspired by other themes....usually a small section and will develop my ideas from that. For example. I was playing around with the menu skinning on Turbo Deluxe window blinds and out of that grew the graphics for my next theme...Sorbet.

Is skinning/digital art your full time career?

No, I actually do not work in the technical field at all. I am in child welfare...working with Foster Families. However, I do take on informal computer support in the office.

Do you have a family (kids/husband/dogs, cats)? 

I am an "old maid" <g> living with my two cats, Sam and Mookie.
Talk about stereotyping. lol.

Can you tell us what you are working on right now?

I am currently between inspirations, however I am struggling with a Windowblind skin that was requested by other skinners for a theme they developed.

How did "The Collective" with Robohead/D'mer/Yourself Start?

Well, my Turbo Deluxe Windowblind skin actually grew out of Robohead's Turbo skin.
I liked it so much that I altered it for my own use, got carried away and ended up with Turbo Deluxe.
I showed it to Robohead who gave me permission to post it. We then got talking and decided to collaborate and expand this theme. This is how D'mer got assimilated.

Do you have any any advice for us skinners?

Have fun. I think we all have our own styles and methods of skinning and there is no wrong or right way. 

Please answer Fnads's Five 

What skin do you wish you'd designed/written?

It is hard to pin this down. I will have to say that I love all the work that Essorant puts out. Currently I am using his Nascent theme.

What would you like to have on your laptop if you were stranded on an island, 

e.g., skins, music, proggies, peripherals, games, etc?

A replicator? Internet access.

Have there been any skins that have made you laugh? Cry? orgasm?

Doreen's TV...lol

Boxers or briefs? (or, which do you prefer on your man?)

Never mind my man....I am thinking of switching to boxers myself.

List some sites you visit daily, weekly, hourly... 

Used to be Skinz.org (sniff, sniff). Wincustomize, Deviant, Deskmod and Tucows. These are a must.

Where do you currently reside?

I live near the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennesee, USA

Where does your history in art begin? 

Highschool, I took as many Art classes as I could. Were you a "scribbler" as a 
child? yeah... then a scetcher.. I always loved drawing Hot Rod Cars!!

What is your system like (hardware, memory, monitor, etc.)?

533 Celeron processor, 256MB of Ram, 8GB HD (Need a new one) 17" Monitor.
I run my desktop size at 1024x768

Do you have a favorite program(s) you use to create skins?

Paint Shop Pro and Skin Studio

What is your skinning process like (do you create sketches, and develop 
them, as in suites, etc.) 

Well till recently I had not tried a suite on my own (refering to CommunitySkin) But I hve been working on a few. I dont have alot of time so I dont make huge suites.

Is skinning/digital art your full time career? 

No. I am a Purchasing Agent/Mainenance Support for the United States Postal Service.
I basically buy all supplies and equipment for our region.

Do you have a family (kids/wife/dogs, cats)? 

Yes I do :) My wife is Heather, Nephew that has lived with me since age 4 (now 9) a fat cat and a skinny dog (Greyhound).

Can you tell us what you are working on right now? 

I recently re-opened some graphics that I put in the skinz.org "dump" and have started a small suite with them. Also I am working for 545 Studios doing graphics. ( I love that cause I get to skin some programs before you guys ever hear about them :). Im working part-time for wincustomize.com as a "Wizop" (moderator) and I'm now working at lotsofskins.com doing some site design (its skinnable!!) suggestions news, moderation, advise Chaz who is relatively new to the community, AND I am creating a website for The Greyhound Rescue Foundation of Tennesee (My wife and I are members) www.greyhoundrescue.org but I'm running into server problems since dmusic is cutting us all off of their free hosting

How did view the future of skinning? 

I think it will continue to grow. I'm not sure yet what the fall of advertising on the net will do. 

Do you have any any advice for us skinners? 

Yeah! Go check out http://www.lotsofskins.com It gives me that old skinz.org feel. I personally think that some skin sites are a bit to cluttered with code. It makes them complicated to navigate.

Please answer Fnads's Five 

What skin do you wish you'd designed/written? 
Anything from Renato and Alex!! They make a great team.

What would you like to have on your laptop if you were stranded on an 
island,
e.g., skins, music, proggies, peripherals, games, etc? Paint Shop Pro, skinnable software and a satalite data link to the net so I can upload more skins :) and some mp3 files with a good mp3 player.

Have there been any skins that have made you laugh? Cry? orgasm? No :)

Boxers or briefs? (or, which do you prefer ?)
 ummmm... They are those ones that are long briefs :P

List some sites you visit daily, weekly, hourly
... skinz.org (habit Im trying to break) 545studios.com ,Lotsofskins.com , Wincustomize.com, deviantart.com and deskmod.com 

Teknidermy readers  
Have a favourite skinner/digital artist/programmer
you would like to see featured in "Spotlight"?
Please send details i.e. THEIR name,email details,screenshot/s 
of their work HERE
Include in your email the reason/s why you admire them/their work.