As part of our 14th birthday celebrations, we've been sharing posts about Gumroad's journey. We also asked some of our long-time creators to share their stories.

Our next post in our Creator Spotlight series features Kyle T Webster, a digital artist whose Photoshop brushes grew from a small Gumroad shop to being acquired by Adobe. Their journey shows how sharing creative tools can lead to partnerships with major studios like Disney and Pixar, and ultimately transform a career.

How you got started on Gumroad

After numerous requests from fellow illustrators for me to share my Photoshop brushes with them, I decided I might try selling a small set on Gumroad. The response was overwhelming and within a few months, I shifted my focus from my illustration business to creating the best Photoshop brushes on the market and building a brand around these products. None of this was planned and it all happened organically. Gumroad made it incredibly easy for me to stay in touch with customers and add new products to my shop.

The highs—your biggest wins and proudest moments

After a couple of years, I had licensing deals for my brushes with studios like Disney Animation, Pixar, WETA Digital, Sony, and so on. Five years into the business of selling digital brushes, my brand was acquired by Adobe. It was a life-changing adventure.

The lows—challenges you faced and how you overcame them

As far as indie business experiences go, this was an exceptionally positive and rewarding venture. The main problem I faced was piracy. Unfortunately, there was very little I could do about it. At the peak of the popularity of my brush sets, they were being illegally downloaded over 1000 times per day on one particular website.

Where you're headed next

After leaving Adobe in 2024, I had the good fortune to be asked to join the team at Procreate and am now the brush maker for their apps. I'm proud to say that the brushes I am creating for the next version of their flagship app are the best brushes I've ever made.