How did you become an artist?

Making art has been a huge part of my life. When I was young, my notebooks and textbooks were always filled with my scribbles and drawings. I got my first drawing tablet when I was 15, that was when I started doing digital paintings. I decided to pursue this passion and joined an art college to study 3D animation back in 2013. After graduating in 2016, I realized that I was more interested in illustration. Luckily, with my illustration portfolio that I had worked on in my free time, I received an opportunity to work in a video game company as a character concept artist. During my time there, I continued working on my own personal projects and finally decided to leave the company to work as a freelance artist in 2019.

Where do you get inspiration?

When I was young, local comics and Japanese manga especially Doraemon, were my biggest inspiration. Now my inspiration mostly comes from movies and Japanese anime, I really love Ghibli movies and I’m always amazed by the mesmerizing visuals, characters, stories and their unique universe. I like how they romanticize the small little things in life and makes it simple yet so beautiful. Watching Ghibli movies always give me a sense of dreaminess and calmness, which is the feeling I would like to portray in my artworks. I really love nature elements like the ocean, clouds and plants, as well as cosmos elements like the galaxy, moon and stars, which you can see a lot in my personal illustrations. I usually look for references on Pinterest, they have really good images there. Sometimes when I see beautiful things that inspire me, I will take pictures and use them as my references as well.

What’s your hardware setup?

I have two monitors and a Wacom Cintiq 16 tablet. I also use iPad pro with Procreate sometimes.

What do you like best about Clip Studio Paint?

The feature I enjoy the most in Clip Studio Paint is the brushes. It has really nice oil paint brushes that feel similar to traditional brushes and I really love the textures and color blending, it feels very natural. I like to do heavy rendering on my artworks, so I'm very satisfied with this feature. I'm currently learning how to use the 3D posing feature and I think it's a great feature too!

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

It depends on the complexity, I normally take around 3 to 8 hours to complete a portrait, and longer for a full illustration with detailed backgrounds.

Would you consider Clip Studio Paint an industry tool?

Yes! I know many professional artists use Clip Studio Paint for all their works and I personally think it's a great tool for illustrations.

Would you like to promote some recent project?

I'm working on a Stingray personal illustration series from time to time, where I draw myself back facing the audience in a dreamlike scenery where flying stingrays can be seen in each illustration. This series is my visual diary which reflects my different states of mind in different times. My latest piece is me painting in a studio with a big window and surrounded by plants, which is the kind of space and atmosphere I wanted to be in when I'm drawing.

Where can we follow your work?

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bearbrickjia/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bearbrickjia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bearbrickjia
Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/karmenloh
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bearbrickjia
My fantasy digital painting course: https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/1057-digital-fantasy-portraits-with-photoshop/bearbrickjia

*** Karmen 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 October 19, good luck! ***