How did you become an artist?

Hello I'm kanbiiru! I'm an Alaskan-based freelance illustrator who was born and raised in the Philippines! I've always loved picture books at a very young age which led me into comic books and eventually into manga. By the time I reached my freshman year in high school, I decided that I wanted to do the same thing: create pictures and tell stories through manga.

I took a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts and focused my thesis on Sequential Art. I slowly realized a decade later that I enjoy designing/illustrating more vs doing storytelling through manga. Now I mainly focus on character designs and illustration work.

Where do you get inspiration?

Mostly through art history, specifically art nouveau, impressionism, early 1900's American and Filipino commercial/comic book illustrators (Rockwell, Layendecker, Redondo, Alcala). Japanese artists from Trigger, KyoAni, JC Staff and IG Production. Lately a lot of Korean artists as well (Kim Jung Gi, Hyeung Tae Kim, TB Choi, OKKU). Also games with cool character and graphic designs in it (Final Fantasy, Guilty Gear, Nier, Valkyria Chronicles, Persona Series) and many more.

What’s your hardware setup?

My 7 year old PC (i7-4790k / 32gigs of RAM / GTX 1080 / 4.25 TB HD), 2 1440p monitors, a Huion medium sized graphics tablet and a Razer Tartarus V2 that stores all my shortcut keys. Oh and an aging iPad Pro that I sometimes use for sketching on the go.

What do you like best about Clip Studio Paint?

I got quite a few: Lasso fill - best tool for blocking in quick shapes, the brush engine, Assets Store, 3D layers, perspective rulers, adding a Stroke Effect to layers, the Fill tool - best in class out of all the creative apps I've used, very flexible vector layers, and the Liquify tool that DOES NOT need a new window to operate which is the most amazing thing ever.

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

It ranges from a week to a couple of months depending on complexity.

How has Clip Studio Paint improved your workflow?

A ton! There are some processes that require a lot more steps to do in other apps but with Clip Studio Paint, it's just a single process which really improves my workflow efficiency.

Where can we follow your work?

You can follow me at @kanbiiru on Instagram or @kanbiiru88 on Twitter.

*** Kanbiiru is doing a #Giveaway with us! Reach his post on Instagram, follow him, @graphixly and leave a comment. Winners of Clip Studio Paint Pro will be announced on September 19, good luck! ***