How did you become an artist? 

I started drawing as a kid, like most artists, but I only decided to pursue it as a career in 2021, at the age of 27 (!). I was raised thinking art wasn't profitable, so I never spent too much time on it. During my teenage years, I'd draw in classes, but I never really thought of pursuing art as a career and didn't really draw outside of school.

I went to Law School for college and basically stopped drawing for a few years. I'd draw maybe one drawing a week, if at all. I did a couple of art courses then, but didn't invest the necessary time to take the most out of those.

After college, in 2017, I started studying to become a diplomat. At the same time, I wanted to be part of some fandoms, so I started drawing every night. The more I drew, the more excited I became about it! Still, sometimes I would stop drawing for months on end. After a couple of years, I realized that in the months when I drew a lot, it changed my worldview and I could see more beauty in life. That's when I decided I HAD to draw if I want to be happy, so I made sure to draw every single weeknight.

In 2021, I realized I didn't want to be a diplomat anymore, and so I decided to give a chance to art as a career. That's when everything changed in my life! I started really investing time on it (more than 8h/day), studying a lot and drawing every single day. Ever since then, I feel so light and happy, it really fulfills me!

Where did I get my inspiration?

Oh, there are so many. There's inspiration I get from TV shows and anime, music, and other artists. When I feel uninspired, I usually watch a video timelapse on Youtube and it suddenly fills me with energy!

Here are some of my favorite artists: Djamila Knopf (@djamilaknopf), Sam Yang(@samdoesarts), Lydia Elaine (@lotusbubble), Patrick Ganas (@patrick.ganas), Tyler Edlin (@thetyleredlin), Léa Wai (@regardnoir_), Columbo (@thisuserisalive), Clivenzu (@clivenzu), Velinxi (@velinxi), Dao Le (doesn't have instagram) and Kan Liu (@artof666k).

What’s your hardware setup?

I use a Wacom Cintiq 24 HD.

As for my pc, here are the specs: Intel Core 15-12400F | 32 GB RAM | Radeon RX550 | 2 SSD (465 GB for system and 167 GB for storage) + 2 HD (4 TB and 1 TB, both for storage).

What do you like best about Clip Studio Paint?

There are so many good qualities! I'm really obsessed about CSP. First, it's light and NEVER crashes. This is already amazing by itself. And it has so many features I use all the time! I love the auto recording, the perspective rulers, the lasso fill, the layer modes, the CSP asset store...

It's the most complete and intuitive software I've used for drawing.

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

It depends, of course, on many factors.

But as an example: a single character, bust, cel shaded style takes me around 1 hour. If it's two characters, full body and with background, cel shaded, it takes me about 3 hours.

If it's realistic or semirealistic art, it's twice the time at least! A single portrait in semi realism takes me 2 hours, and I've recently spent 4+ hours in a single character half body. It really depends on the rendering style.

How has Clip Studio Paint improved your workflow?

So many ways. I use its shortcuts ALL THE TIME, and it's so flexible and personalized, I love it.

I also use a lot of the "subview" window to add references, and that also makes my life so much easier.

The layer modes are wonderful, and the fact I can name layers easily with a shortcut is AMAZING and helps me keep everything organized, which saves me time.

When I'm making comics, the 3D feature is a huge life-saver!

Would you like to promote some recent project?

I've recently started a free newsletter aimed at artists! I share weekly tips and explanations about art and I've got feedback from readers saying it's very helpful. Everyone is welcome, and I hope the techniques will help beginner and intermediate artists improve a lot! Here's the link: https://yainedraws.com/newsletter.

Where can we follow your work?