How did you become an artist?

I’ve always enjoyed making art as far as I can remember! Funnily enough, as a child I was more into drawing animals and creatures than human characters. I remember enjoying drawing Pokémon and … whales in particular! Around the age of 11, I had a friend that introduced me to anime and manga, shortly after I became pretty obsessed with VOCALOID (which is neither an anime or a manga, but visually it’s close enough). It was the idea of drawing my favorite characters that really kickstarted my interest with character illustration.

When I turned 13, I joined social media, which led to my journey within online art communities. The first ever art community I joined was this old app called PaigeeWorld, and being exposed to all kinds of artists was quite the experience! This is how I learned about things like art styles, digital art, and all of that cool art stuff. I feel that being part of an artist network full of people who shared the same interests with me was what really got me drawing consistently, as it felt great to be able to share my work and be appreciated!

I eventually branched off to other communities by opening an Instagram and Twitter account for art, and kept doing what I did (drawing my favorite characters). Fast forward to the present day and the online community has grown larger than I ever imagined! I’m very grateful to have found my place in art; although art is ultimately a hobby I enjoy rather than a career, it’s those who’ve supported my work along the way that have and continue to fuel my love for art-making.

Where do you get inspiration?

I get inspiration from whatever media I’m currently interested in! A lot of my interests are character-driven, so all the love gets pooled into drawing art of a few favorite characters from the video games, movies, and stories that I enjoy. People who follow my work may be familiar with my long-standing interests like Pokémon and Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (there’s really no way I can hide this, haha). The way I get inspired is more dynamic and spontaneous, too, so I have all the wonderful artists and creatives that I follow to thank for it!

What’s your hardware setup?

At the moment, all I need is my iPad Pro (3rd Generation) and the Apple Pencil 2!

What do you like best about Clip Studio Paint?

Oh, there’s SO much to love and appreciate that I can’t possibly detail everything! My short answer would be that this program truly has everything I need, plus more. I’ve been using CSP for over 6 years now and even until today I’m still learning about new features… It's kind of crazy how that happens!

Brush engine - This is the first thing that got me hooked into CSP after using a couple other popular art programs. It’s just that the brush engine makes drawing with CSP’s brushes feel super comfortable right from first use. Honestly, they feel so natural that I didn’t even need to go through a learning curve to draw as usual straight away! Plus, they’re only getting better; with the addition of the dual brush feature, I’m SUPER excited to try all the cool new brushes - not that I already have a small selection that is already capable of carrying my whole process (I do).

Flatting - Hands down, doing flats with CSP is an absolute dream and no other program comes close! The ol’ reference layers + close and fill tool combo is always a delight to use, allowing me to flat color my characters in under two minutes.

Clip Studio Assets - To me, this is what really sets CSP apart from other art programs. Visiting the CSP asset store is kind of like my own version of window shopping, except the materials are all free and I can absolutely go ham with downloading everything I see. I think the mere fact that this site gets updated so often, with all new trending materials each week, is testimony to how dedicated CSP users are in helping fellow members mold the best digital art experience.

And this is only a teeny glimpse of what l love about CSP! There’s so, so much more to love. I honestly feel like I promote this program once every other month, to the point where I get lots of messages asking me to help them with their CSP-related inquiries like I’m customer support (in which I gladly answer them anyway LOL), but it is just THAT good.

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

It depends on the complexity of the piece, but usually I take 2-3 hours on the drawings I post, then more for the more “complete” works that I do. To be honest, I don’t have the patience to take, say, more than 7 hours in a drawing and I don't know how other people manage to do that! Because I can’t sit and draw for too long at a time, I always , always remember to take breaks when I need to! Taking breaks can sometimes take me away from finishing a piece, but lately i've been managing this better by tackling my work piece by piece.

Would you consider Clip Studio Paint an industry tool?

Absolutely! I’m not an industry artist myself, but I know countless professionals who adore this program just as much as I do! In my opinion, CSP is by far THE app that truly understands comic book artists and illustrators so the love that it gets is truly deserved. With such an accessible price point, I 100% back this as a digital art staple.

Would you like to promote some recent project?

I actually have a class on presale right now! It’s an illustration class for anyone who wants to pick up or build their skill in stylized character art. I’ll be detailing my whole character art process from start to finish, as well as how I utilize CSP to make my life easier. As a bonus, I’ll be sharing what I've learned about building an audience and earning as a hobbyist. I’m currently working hard on the production so I appreciate the boost :D

https://class101.co/products/hammerings

I’d also like to share some of my favorite CSP brushes for those interested!
https://twitter.com/hammerings/status/1405719630115524609?s=20

Where can we follow your work?

You can find me as @hammerings on both Instagram and Twitter, where I’m more active is on Twitter.

*** Denev is doing a #Giveaway with us! Reach their post on Instagram, follow them follow @graphixly and leave a comment. Winners of Clip Studio Paint Pro will be announced on June 29, good luck! ***