Halbert sometimes begins his illustrations with a scratchboard rendering, where a black surface is scraped away to reveal white areas. The resulting images often resemble traditional engravings. Halbert scans the images and adds color in Adobe Photoshop.

For jobs where detail is critical, Halbert sometimes creates starts with a pencil drawing. He creates the engraving effect directly by scanning the pencil drawing and filling out the lines in Photoshop. This enables him to preserve the graphite-on-paper texture of his original drawing. "With a pencil you can get a nice flowing line that you can't get with a pen on scratchboard," he says. In Photoshop, Halbert can fine-tune the illustration by adjusting line widths, adding color, and using halftones. Halbert's traditional style is popular with art directors seeking to evoke a historical context or a feeling of traditional craftsmanship.

How did Halbert become an illustrator? After the technical school he was attending went out of business, Halbert was forced to abandon his drafting studies and take a job with Chrysler in St. Louis, installing spare tires in trunks and fitting seat belts. It was three years before encouragement from a relative convinced him to develop his portfolio and pursue illustration work. "I came from a small town and I didn't know you could make a living working as a commercial artist," he says. "I just knew 'starving artist.' "

Jobs as a comp artist and editorial illustrator in St. Louis followed before Halbert became a full-time freelancer. Since then, his client list has grown to include Anheuser-Busch, Miller Brewing Co., Oprah Winfrey's O Magazine (a Hearst publication set to debut this spring), GTE, Simon & Schuster, Reader's Digest, EFI, Winchester, Ralston-Purina, Field & Stream, and others.

Though Halbert enjoys his freelance success, he hasn't let it go to his head. He still works out of a room in his St. Louis house (which you can tour on his Web site), and remains modest. His interests include WWII-era artifacts, and he's now in the process of using Adobe Illustrator to create detailed illustrations of WWII vehicles, which he plans to sell over the Internet.

Does he ever miss his job installing spare tires on Chryslers? "No," Halbert responds. "I wish I could go back there for a week just to make me appreciate what I have now."