CSP Featured Artist: Elsie Rose aka CATTSICA
Contact Graphixly @
How did you become an artist?
I started drawing at nine years old, coloring in panels from the manga I owned and following YouTube tutorials on how to draw anime eyes. In my teenage years I realized I couldn’t picture a future for myself that didn’t involve art, so I pursued Fine Art & Design at college. After college, I took a leap and moved from England to Romania, leaving everything behind except one suitcase of my belongings. I left my drawings and art supplies which at first was a setback, but I realized this could be a fresh start for me and my art journey. For a long time then, I didn’t think myself worthy to be called an artist, but now I am proud of that title. I’ve been drawing daily since!
Where do you get inspiration?
The vocaloid scene is my main inspiration - the community is filled with many creative and talented artists from all over the world. I’ve spent over 1000 hours playing the Project Diva series too, all the different modules have given me countless illustration ideas! Cartoons and Anime are always going to be a huge factor in my art, with watching endless Powerpuff girls and sailor moon definitely shaping my style today.
I’m drawn to bright colors and bolder line work, even after I finish an illustration I have to crank the saturation up! When creating a piece, I think to myself: ‘Would this make a good poster? Would it draw someone in?’ I always want to imagine my artwork being shown on a large scale, so I take a lot of inspiration for composition from video game covers and anime posters.
What’s your hardware setup?
At home, I use Clip Studio Paint EX with my XPPEN Artist 12 3rd Gen tablet (in pink, of course).
On the go, I use a iPad Air 4th Gen with the Apple Pencil 2nd Gen, with Clip Studio Paint as well. I love being able to work with both an at home and travelling setup, since drawing in a cafe or at a park is really refreshing for me!
What do you like best about Clip Studio Paint?
The 3D model figure is a huge asset to me. As someone who used to spend way too much time looking for the perfect pose and perspective, being able to configure a model to look exactly like the vision in my head saves me so much time and worry less about proportions. This allows me more time to work on the rendering, and the technical side of things don’t stress me out as much.
How long does it take you to make a single illustration?
It really depends on the complexity of course, but for a full body illustration with a background usually around 8-10 hours! I try to put a 10 hour limit on all my pieces so I get into the habit of drawing quicker, otherwise I’d keep nitpicking and rendering forever.
How has Clip Studio Paint improved your workflow?
Being able to work on both PC and IOS is a huge bonus for me. Instead of working on a PC and then having to adjust my workflow to a separate program, I can put my work in the clip studio cloud and easily continue on the go! At first, I was worried there would be a steep learning curve since before I used simpler programs, but after a week I knew all the shortcuts and my productivity improved massively.
Would you like to promote some recent project?
I’ve recently opened a digital shop! Keyrings, stickers, and standees are the main things I’m working on right now. It’s completely surreal to hold my own artwork physically and display it in my room. One day I hope to participate in a convention so I can have a little booth and meet many more talented artists.
Where can we follow your work?