How did you become an artist?

I’ve enjoyed drawing since I was young! I used to do a variety of crafts and draw quite a lot when I was a child. To be honest, I attribute my foray into digital art and the profession to my love of virtual pet games when I was in my early teens. I wasn’t dedicated enough to get the rarer in-game items by myself, but I realized if I started drawing digitally I could trade commission work for internet items. Around the same time, my mother decided to get a Wacom pen tablet to help some problems with her wrist from mouse use, and my art life basically snowballed from there. After some time, I started becoming very active on DeviantART, particularly in their roleplay group communities, and this really helped me to connect with other artists and build my creativity by designing characters.

Where do you get inspiration?

My greatest inspiration since I was young were the Studio Ghibli movies. I still look up to the studio a lot and consider the studio to be one of the pinnacles of artistic talent. I’m also very inspired by some of the anime I loved as a kid and teenager, particularly magical girl themed shows such as Sailor Moon and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. These days I also look to video games for inspiration! As well, I feel consistently driven to improve and reconsider my processes by looking at the art of my peers and seniors.

What’s your hardware setup?

I use a Wacom Intuos on my desktop PC, and I have a 10.5” iPad Pro as well that I use when I don’t want to sit at my desk.

What do you like best about Clip Studio Paint?

I’ve been using Clip Studio Paint since it was offered in beta and it is my favourite program. I really enjoy the brush selection and functionality. The painting brushes blend in a watercolour-like way that I’ve become accustomed to, and I honestly get pretty uncomfortable if I try other programs and the brushes don’t feel the same. I also love being able to browse user-uploaded resources very easily on one interface! In the past, I never used any custom brushes or patterns because I did not know how to source them. It’s very easy to search for what you need since they’re all in one place.

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

It really depends on the subject matter – a character that is more complex or a complete full body illustration definitely takes me longer. I would say it takes between 10-25 hours for me to draw a picture with full colour. I feel I draw pretty slowly because I have to break up my sessions and complete other tasks. Sometimes I get pretty burnt out with a picture that is challenging and I pause and come back to it after completing an easier piece, so it’s difficult for me to quantify what the long end is of my drawing time.

Would you consider Clip Studio Paint an industry tool?

I definitely would! I feel it provides features that are more specific to the digital illustration and comic industry. It seems many WEBTOON artists that I follow use this program for their comics. I’ve never felt like I needed another program to make my work print-ready from start to finish.

Where can we follow your work?

You can find me at:
@jaakotodile on Twitter, @lackless on Tumblr and Instagram.

*** Rose 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 11, good luck! ***