How did you become an artist?

Oh, that's a long story. I grew up in artistic family, my father is a Painter, and even my grandfather did some painting too, while being a School Teacher and later, Carpenter. My father was a great source of inspiration during my childhood and I was always surrounded with painters, art books, museum, exhibitions, etc. But, oddly enough, when the time came for my college, I took a different path. Not being able to study Architecture which I initially wanted, (and that was totally not because of my poor math skills 🙈 ) I studied languages, which was something I was very good at. After I graduated with high grades, there was no job at the time in my profession, so I took a job in Marketing Department in a Bookstore chain. That's where I first encountered with Graphic Design, which is what I've been working on for the next ten years. Even after changing several companies and promotion in the hierarchy, I couldn't stay chained to the corporate life, so I started freelancing. I always liked to draw and I was always very creative so there was a lot of phases in my career which ultimately lead to career in Visual Development and Character Design. I believe that every step I took before has lead me to this moment in life and that every job and experience has had an impact to the work I do now. Nothing was in vain, even when it seemed like that.

Where do you get inspiration?

It might be strange to say that I think inspiration comes from the inside. There are days when I just pick up my pen and start drawing something and after couple of hours I have a finished piece of something I've never imagined before (there are the other days when I can't seem to draw anything, of course, that happens too). I guess inspiration is gathering everything around us, all experiences, education, friendships, movies we see and books we read, etc. That, mixed with what we initially have inside - produces the artworks that we artists create. I would say the initial inspiration was my father and his work on one side and Disney and magical world of 2D animation on the other. I think I watched all Disney movies so many times that I know every scene by heart and these characters and the way they were drawn have carved in my mind so much that they became endless inspiration for my own work.

What’s your hardware setup?

I use MacBook Pro 13" with Wacom Cintiq 16 for now. I also have iPad Pro 12.9" and use the Clip Studio app when I don't have access to my computer and Cintiq.

What do you like best about Clip Studio Paint?

Hmm... It would be easier and shorter to answer the opposite :-) but, let's see - my absolute favorite is the C shortcut - which turns any current brush I am using into an eraser with that same brush, back and forth. Then, the Enclose and Fill option is such a time saver for coloring the flats! Even though I am not using vectors or even clean lineart, it still works very well! And now, importing Photoshop brushes in CSP is an absolute heaven - I have a few Photoshop brushes that I love and now I can use them in CSP, that was a true happiness! I like the added Time-lapse feature as well, because my Patrons get a few Time-lapse videos every month and I always had to switch to Procreate for those, and now I can use Clip Studio Paint for everything! I think if you guys could add Liquify it would be officially the only program I would ever use :-)

How long does it take you to make a single illustration?

Well, that depends.. Sometimes the whole piece comes out in just 5 hours and sometimes it takes several days to finish even some simple piece. I'd say it depends on the sketch, as it takes the most of the time, coloring is easy once you set everything up in lineart.

Would you consider Clip Studio Paint an industry tool?

It definitely is an industry tool! I do all my client and personal work in it and I wouldn't change it for any other program, although I use and have an active Adobe subscription as well as Procreate. It takes me far less time to finish work in Clip Studio Paint and the default sketch brushes are absolutely the best! That is actually the only program where I use mostly the default brushes and prefer them over the paid ones (and I tried a lot of those...)!

Would you like to promote some recent project?

I have dedicated my time and knowledge into my Patreon page, where I have tutorials, step by step processes and other content for my patrons who prefer digital goods, and for people who just like my work and would like to have some physical goods such as stickers or prints, I just launched a shop and I am filling it in with products. Here are my Patreon and my shop links:

www.patreon.com/madebyinkyjar
www.inkyblossompaperie.etsy.com

Where can we follow your work?

I am @madebyinkyjar on Instagram where I put all my work, but you can also visit my website www.madebyinkyjar.com.

*** Ana is doing a #Giveaway with us! Reach her post on Instagram, follow her, follow @graphixly and leave a comment. Winners of Clip Studio Paint Pro will be announced on January 18, good luck! ***