Monday, December 15, 2008

Jeneko-chan


Tell me a little bit about yourself, about your life? Where did you go to school, and what classes did you study? What helped prepare you to become the artist that you are today?

My name is Jeneko , 17 yrs old and I'm currently a 1st yr , BSN (nursing) student in Far Eastern University – Main. I'm an anime fan, an avid gamer and an artist ever since. Anyway, I've started drawing when I was about 12 yrs old (very late I know) because I idolized a classmate of mine who was really good in drawing who introduced me to devart. Oddly enough, I'm one of people who wanted to be an art student at first, but wasn't permitted to become one, so I ended up in Nursing. I'm fine with the course now (and loving it), but I can still see that I still love art amidst being deprived from it . I haven't taken any art lessons (except those in MAPEH subject in HS ) I guess I was able to become what I am today because of admiration, persistence and being enthusiastic about art.

What inspired or convinced you to become an Artist?

I was mainly convinced because of all the awesome artists at Deviant Art and the thousands of epic artworks in the website.

What is a typical day for you, and who are the people you work with?

As of right now, I don't really have day offs (except Sundays) so I always end up just studying for my free time and stay at school for the rest of the day. During vacations, I either draw, play video games, SLEEP, read manga or.. BUM OUT :)

What are some of the things that you have worked on?

The last time I've worked on something was some bookmarks and key chains to sell at a con plus the several anthologies I've joined. Other than that, I mostly do illustrations to relax myself.

How do you go about illustration, what goes through your mind, from start to end?


I usually start with the scene in mind then everything else follows.

Could you talk about your process in coloring your art (if at all), as well as the types of tools or media that you use?


It's really simple, it's just a matter of how long have you been using that style . I used to color using tutorials that I see and the next thing I know, I'm doing it on my own. :]

What are some of the things that you do to keep yourself creative?

I guess visiting art sites like DeviantArt and PIXIV.net is my way to keep myself creative.

What is your most favorite subject to draw, And why?

I mostly draw fantasy or just anything happy and cute. Drawing is like my outlet when I'm stressed so I always try to be happy while drawing thus the outcome.

Who are the top illustrators whose works excite you the most?

I love CLAMP and Koge Donbo 's style a lot but KUROT @ deviantart excites me the most. This is kind of silly but I've been a fan of her artworks ever since I started this hobby of mine.




What are some of the neat things you have learned from other artists that you have worked with or seen?


Mostly everything. I draw because I get inspired by a lot of people thus them learning from them.

What are some of your favorite websites that you go to?

My favorite sites include Deviant Art, Crunchyroll, PIXIV, Livejournal, and some random gaming sites.

What wisdom could you give us, about being an Artist? Do you have any tips you could give?


Practice doesn't make you perfect but it does make you a LOT MORE BETTER :] I practiced a lot (and sacrificed a lot of time) to be able to attain what I have right now. No one in the whole wide world can get better in just a day.
If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

You can email me at jeneko[at]gmail[dot]com or drop me a note at http://jeneko.deviantart.com.

Finally, do you have any of your art work for sale (sketchbook, prints, or anything) for fans of your work can know where and when to buy it?


As of right now, I don't have anything to sell mostly because of time/school issues. I do go to cons sometimes and sell my stuffs there.

Thanks!

Thanks again! glad you like my art somehow ^_^ makes me happy.







Who is your favorite anime couple?

I have a lot of favorite anime couples since I'm a big shoujo fan myself but then I guess the pair I favor the most right now is Tomoya x Nagisa from Clannad. 

I am attracted by their innocent and bittersweet love as well as their sad story. I also like Rosette x Chrno from Chrno Crusade because of the same reason. I guess you can say I'm a fan of those sad love stories or mainly sad stories :) (amidst me being the cheerful type haha)

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Dana Martinez




Tell me a little bit about yourself. Where did you go to school, and what extra-curricular activities did you take up? What helped prepared you to become the artist that you are today?
I attended grade school at St. Joseph's Elementary Center in Manila,
and then later at St. Ignatius Learning Center after we transferred to
Mindanao. I attended high school at Xavier University for three years,
and then quit and took a government qualifier exam, picking up random
jobs in the interim. All throughout that time I... guess I paid a lot of
attention to moving pictures, aha. I watched a lot of cartoons as a kid
and because we always had pens and paper lying around at home it wasn't
hard to find interest in drawing. I think reading a lot of books and
watching a lot of cartoons helped me the most, because it kept in me an
active interest for the mediums at all times.

What inspired or convinced you to become an artist?

A lot of things, and a lot of persons, some of which have already been
interviewed here! The entire Culture Crash Comics series, and the
people behind it, they were a very very big inspiration for me, because
before them I wasn't really into drawing as much as I am now, and reading
CCCom really just made me go "wow, this is possible". I used to think
that normal people like me couldn't do stuff like that unless they lived
outside the country or were extremely fortunate. Jennyson Rosero's
works in the Questor magazines were also a big inspiration, and then I
found a battered copy of Gerry Alanguilan's "Wasted", and have treasured it
since. Ultimately, though, a brother-figure of mine convinced me to
pursue this drawing hobby a little further - Kuya Mads, I owe you a lot!

What is a typical day for you, and who are the people you work with?

...Hmm. Since I opted not to attend college this year (I'm still
undecided on what course to take, woe) a typical day for me involves waking
up at around eight, then cleaning up around the house, do laundry if I
have any, and work on making lunch. After that I pretty much have too
much time in my hands until I have to work on making dinner, so I'd watch
TV, check my mail, read books or draw a whole lot. Though, I did get
myself a new job recently, so this routine's going to change soon. As
for people I work with... I have my friends? Almost all of them draw, and
the ones who don't, they write, so... mostly we just show each other
what we've drawn/written recently and criticize these things until
forever, which is fun. The conversation goes several miles in nine
directions after that, though, so I'm never bored when we're all together.

What are some of the things that you have worked on?

Uh. Well, I've done small commissions over at deviantart.com, and I've
joined random art contests here and online, but I've never worked on
anything big yet. I do make my own comics, just to see if I can, and I
sold some copies of LAVI:-FUZZ- at Komikon 08. I suppose I'm a
semi-serious artist? Pretty amateur/independent at best, if anything.

How do you go about an illustration, what goes through your mind,
from start to end?

I don't really have a set process, now that I think about it, but I
always start out with an idea and a short play list. Pretty much all of my
pieces in my devart account have song titles for piece titles, because
I can only listen to two or three - even just one - song for one
drawing, or I get distracted. I can't focus when it's quiet, funnily enough.
I guess, what I think about most is what the illustration should look
like, and I'd just let it draw itself without thinking too deeply into
it. There usually are a lot of mistakes, this way, and I usually end up
drawing something that looks nothing like how it started out, but I
like how random things get this way. Commissions are a little different,
though, since I usually get a specific theme/pose/idea for those, but
the work process is pretty much the same. ...This isn't very insightful,
is it. D:

Could you talk about your process in coloring your art (if at all),
as well as the types of tools or media that you use?

Colors... I have struggled a lot with colors because I have never been
good at color combinations until recently (actually I'm still bad at
them, my color mixes are either too bright or too dull!), so I tend to
use monochromatic or blinding color themes for everything. When coloring
digitally, I only use Photoshop 07, particularly the brush and eraser
tools. I start with cleaning up the lineart I'm going to color, then
choosing the background color, with a grey or red overlay. Then on a
separate layer I just use the default hard brush and color away everything,
switching between several different shades of a particular color for
shading/skin tones/etc. After that I just erase everything that goes
outside the lines, pick a texture from my resource folders or make a new
one, set it on overlay or soft light filter... then add a ton of
gradients, brush-overs, washes, re-colors and generally just experiment with
everything until I chance upon a look I like. It's a long, loopy process! I
prefer coloring things traditionally, to be honest, but markers are
too expensive and watercolors and I do not go well together. Woe!

Inks, though, I can never complain about! Except maybe for how much my
hand would hurt after, but it's a hurt I forget when I'm done. For
inking I use Sakura Microns, Copic multi-liners and fine line pens, and Uni
Pin pigment pens. My default working point size is 0.05, followed by
0.1, but sometimes they're not thin enough. Blue or red lead pencils are
also something I love working with, too, since they make pencilling
easier, and helps with inking later on.

What are some of the things that you do to keep yourself creative?

MUSIC! I love music so much, especially dance music and rock. Currently
I'm listening to Girugamesh, a bunch of anime theme songs, and a lot
of Bjork, Interpol and Bloc Party. After music, I guess movies count as
an inspiration source, but recently I'm more into American TV shows
like Prison Break, Bones, the Law & Order franchise, and CSI:LV. Re-reading
books also help keep my creative juices going, like William Golding's
"Lord of The Flies" and Edgar Allan Poe's works.

...And reading comics, too.

What is your most favorite subject to draw, and why?

I go through phases where I absolutely love drawing girls in pretty
clothes, then move on to drawing ambiguously gendered people in pretty
clothes, then to drawing little boys and girls in pretty clothes. ...I
like drawing clothes. I love drawing pretty clothes!

Who are the top illustrators whose works excite you the most?

This question makes me want to flail! The list is long and... long.
Linework-wise, and this list is probably the list that makes me the
happiest when they update with new works, my favorite illustrators and comic
artists would be Shirow Miwa (Dogs: Bullets & Carnage), Sho-u Tajima
(MPD Psycho) and Christy Lijewski (RE:Play, Grand Scope); their lines are
really really amazing, for me, and I just feel like crying when I see
their lineart. For the "shonen manga" feel I'm a big fan of Hoshino
Katsura (D Grayman), Takeshi Obata (Death Note), Ito Ogure (Tenjo Tenge,
Air Gear), Kubo Tite (Bleach) and Akira Amano (Hitman Reborn, though I
don't have any interest in reading it, sadly). For pretty clothes and
general prettiness I follow Kaori Yuki (Angel Sanctuary), Foo swee Chin
(muZz) and Yun Kouga (Loveless, Gundam 00). There's also a long long
list of devart account names, but aha, I should cut things off to here or
it'll be too long! Incidentally, the new season of Gundam 00 and the
whole Mushishi animated series make me a very very happy person.

What are some of the neat things you have learned from other
artists that you have worked with or seen?

I learned about lightboxes from C. Lijewski, and ever since seeing one
at a friend's office I've wanted one so badly. Not really a technique,
but its existence makes me horribly happy as an inker! I also learned a
few tips on how to use markers from looking at manga artists' splash
pages, and the colored-lead to grey-lead pencilling process has been a
great help for me. Learning how to use tones digitally is another thing
I'm so happy to have learned, as well, because without it I don't think
I could've made my comic pages look better. There are probably a lot
more things I've learned off other people, but I can't recall nor place
my finger on them as there's likely a whole lot that I've never noticed
I picked up.

What are some of your favorite websites that you go to?

Livejournal.com is possibly my most frequented site, after my email
account, and I get most of my community updates there for manga and anime
series I follow, as well as a good number of art blogs, like zombiejam
and visceralprince. Deviantart.com comes next, followed by hypeem.com
and elbo.ws, two music blog aggregator sites.

What wisdom could you give us, about being an artist? Do you have
any tips you could give?

Horribly cliche answer: Practice! And learn to criticize your own work,
as well as be receptive to critique when it is given to you. Also,
take some lessons or pick up some guides, whether it's on anatomy or
layouting or whatever you feel you need to learn and can't figure out on
your own. It won't guarantee you that you'll be a great artist, but at
least it'll give you a more concrete idea on how things work and help make
you better. And never think that you're the best, never let thoughts
like that get into your head; it'll ruin you, further down the line.
Always strive to improve yourself, because there's never a finish line
when it comes to art.

If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be
contacted?

Please just email me! My email address is at kidcorva[at]yahoo[dot]com.
If Yahoo keeps bouncing your emails back, though, please just leave a
message at my devart account (lambchild.deviantart.com), or my
livejournal (firstofsummer.livejournal.com). I check these three
accounts regularly unless I'm out of internet coverage, so I should get
any messages sent my way through these accounts.

Do you have any of your art work for sale (comics, prints, or
anything)? If so, for fans of your work can know where and when to buy it?

I sell prints of my work at my deviantart account, but I don't have a
sales post so please just note me! Anything in my deviantart gallery is
available unless I state otherwise. I also do commissions through
there, I have a commissions post somewhere in there, JUST NOTE ME! I don't
bite at all. Comics-wise... I'll probably only sell at conventions, but
if it's something I've already printed out and I have a spare copy
lying around, I can sell them to you. Email me about this, though!






What favorite line from a film that you wished you could have said
yourself?

From Domino Harvey, of the movie "Domino": "Did you have a nose job?"
Just before she punches a sorority president in the face, even.



Saturday, November 29, 2008

Demitasse-lover



Tell me a little bit about yourself. Where did you go to school, and what extra-curricular activities did you take up? What helped prepare you to become the artist that you are today?

Hello! I'm Demitasse-lover. Born on September 28 *winkwink* 1990. Since we moved a lot when I was a kid, I've been to three different schools until I graduated from high school. Now I'm studying in UP Diliman. You're probably guessing that my course is FA.. well it's NOT. Strangely enough, I'm a BA European Languages student majoring in German minoring in French and would prolly like to learn Italian too.. heck, I want to learn everything.

Extracurricular... my previous school hates art so I ended up just being part of the school paper (as the cartoonist) I was also a member of the student council (but as the one who does odd jobs >.>; I also served as a back-up player (aka lucky charm) for several math competitions. Yes. I'm pretty useless. XD lol

Well.. I guess it's deviantArt that got me into this whole mess. I used to be the type who just ogles at fanart in Japanese fansites. Of course, I drew too but it never really occurred to me to post them in public. When I joined, I learned stuff, improved and so on.


What inspired or convinced you to become an artist?

I’ve always loved drawing ever since I learned how to hold a pen. When I drew, people would always give me compliments and I really took them to heart (and I still do). Also, my older sister used to love drawing and she always taught me how to draw this and that. So I guess those two were my driving forces.


What is a typical day for you, and who are the people you work with?

A typical day for me is most probably like a typical day for everybody. I wake up, go to school, go home, eat, draw some rough sketches, do my homework, study, then go to sleep. Well, I’ve never worked with anyone before. It would be nice though. I like drawing with other people.


What are some of the things that you have worked on?

I’m working on my first ever webcomic, Death Brigade. Like I said, it’s my first ever webcomic so it’s not really that polished. But, hey, I’m learning. :)


How do you go about an illustration, what goes through your mind, from start to end?

It really depends. Sometimes I just draw without thinking. Pretty bad though, not advisable. I end up either not finishing them or actually finishing them but not posting them ‘cause it looks…I dunno.. uncreative? But when I can imagine a vivid picture to draw, I try hard to stick with it. Which never really happens but as long as it looks okay enough then, good.


Could you talk about your process in coloring your art (if at all), as well as the types of tools or media that you use?

Well, it’s pretty basic that I believe I don’t even have to explain to anyone. One tip though: As often as possible, do NOT use dodge/burn tool. There are lots of colors in the palette that are just waiting to be exploi—I mean used. Try to experiment with them. :)
My usual media are Adobe Photoshop CS2 and pencil. But I also try out other stuff.


What are some of the things that you do to keep yourself creative?

Pretty much just live. You can find lots of inspiration from everyday life. You just have to notice them. Besides that, thinking helps too. I’m always in a train of thought, sometimes even when I’m doing something. I’d end up thinking of random situations and imagining how my characters would react were they placed in such situations. That’s pretty much how I think up my short comics.


What is your most favorite subject to draw, and why?

The combinations of the themes Horror, Cutesy, Action, and Fantasy intrigue me very much.


Who are the top illustrators whose works excite you the most?

I idolize quite a lot of illustrators (be it anime, realistic or something in between) but for now, all I could think of are Sachsen and Obata Takeshi. I like them, they’re very cool.


What are some of the neat things you have learned from other artists that you have worked with or seen?

Well, pretty much most of the things I can draw now, I guess.


What are some of your favorite websites that you go to?

deviantArt, mangabullet, youtube, and drunkduck. Plus, quite a few Japanese fansites of my favorite fandoms.


What wisdom could you give us, about being an artist? Do you have any tips you could give?

Wisdom eh? Um.. Practice. Don’t give up. Keep an open mind and learn from other forms of art as well. When you’re in a slump, don’t think of something negative like, “Oh no! I’m never gonna be a better artist!” I like to believe that slumps are just things in your head that tell you, “Hey, you’re in a transition stage to improvement so if you want to get through this phase, you better create something better than this.” Heheh I’m optimistic like that.


If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

You can e-mail me at purplehalfcup[at]yahoo[dot]com I can’t guarantee a reply though. I’m not very diligent at checking my mail. If you have a dA account, you can just note me. I reply more frequently there since I go to dA almost daily. Or if you have a Mangabullet account, then PM me there, my account is demi-luv.


Do you have any of your art work for sale (comics, prints, or anything)?

If so, for fans of your work can know where and when to buy it? Hmm. I don’t have anything for sale (at the moment). But maybe when I become more used to drawing comics, I might want to sell one. :)





Is there a character from a book or comic who you wish was a real person, and who you would want to chat with over coffee (or tea of you prefer)?

The thing with my characters is that almost all of them are the type you wouldn’t want to be chatting with over coffee.. Except for one. Maybe I’d like to have coffee with Capu. At least he’s nice. XD

Monday, November 10, 2008

Melvin Calingo aka Tagailog



Tell me a little bit about yourself. Where did you go to school, and what extra-curricular activities did you take up? What helped prepare you to become the artist that you are today?

I spent my elementary and high school days in Pasig Catholic College (even got a loyalty medal for that haha.) I'm not really big on extra-curricular activities, but I think I remember joining the science club... and oh yeah, I was the artist for our school org in high school.

A major turning point in my comics life would be that time my friends and I decided to draw comics. I was in the sixth grade and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the hottest cartoon around, so, being fans of the series, we decided to draw that. It was crudely made, folded oslo paper, cut in two, then drawn on with pencil. Each of us made his own comic, then we would swap comics until everyone has read each other's.


What inspired or convinced you to become an artist?

The satisfaction I get from seeing people's faces light up when they see my work is my driving force I guess. Back in high school, I made a crappy "sentai" comic which I drew 1 page a day. I had a classmate who was a big fan of the comic, who kept pushing me to draw more and more pages. It was tough, but rewarding nonetheless.


What is a typical day for you, and who are the people you work with?

I go to work around 9:30 in Digital Art Chefs in Marikina. We do concept design works, mostly for animation and stuff. It's fun since most of the people I'm currently working with were also involved with Culture Crash comics. It's like working at CCCom again. Everyone in the office is in the same wavelength, so nobody's out of place.


What are some of the things that you have worked on?

I drew Pasig and the fish/squidballs in Kubori Kikiam for Culture Crash Comics, Modus3, an independent comic book, various comic segments for Komiks Atbp, Destiny's Hand 1-3 a manga for Seven Seas Entertainment, Ragnarok comic strips which appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer... and others I forgot.


How do you go about an illustration, what goes through your mind, from start to end?

When I'm drawing, I always criticize my work as I go along. If you see a flaw in your drawing, then most likely, others will see it too. If an illustration works, it works... if not, scrap it, or shelf it and fix it some other day.


Could you talk about your process in coloring your art (if at all), as well as the types of tools or media that you use?

Way back in college, I used to color using watercolor, oil, acrylics, poster colors and markers... nowadays, I color almost exclusively using digital media. I use Photoshop and Painter with the aid of a wacom tablet to color my artworks. I tend to experiment a lot on coloring so if you will notice, most of my old works are colored differently from my newer ones.

Right now, I'm trying to emulate the classic coloring style of the old masters. Basically, I flesh out the tonal values first in black and white then add colors later on. I use a lot of brushes in Painter (too many to mention) but I usually start off with the Graphic Paintbrush and Smudge tool.


What are some of the things that you do to keep yourself creative?

I try to read more comics and watch films. I barely get to read books nowadays though. I play games a lot... I guess that helps too.


What is your most favorite subject to draw, and why?

Nothing in particular, basically anything that tickles my fancy. A bulk of my work on deviant art are mostly fanart and original works. All if not most of them are manga or anime inspired.


Who are the top illustrators whose works excite you the most?

Locally, the best illustrators in the field for me would be Elmer Damaso, Kriss Sison and Jhomar Soriano. There are also a lot of illustrators making a name for themselves here and abroad... Gilbert Monsanto, Leinil Yu, Arnold Arre, Gerry Alanguilan and Carlo Vergara to name a few.

My all-time favorite illustrators abroad would have to be Jim Lee (X-men), Hiroaki Samura (Blade of the Immortal),and Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell) among others.



What are some of the neat things you have learned from other artists that you have worked with or seen?

I've learned a lot from Elmer and Jio from way back when we were just starting out in Culture Crash. Photoshop and Painter basics, comic panelling, pacing etc... Of course we have our own influences, but we also learn from each other's techniques.

I guess the major breakthrough we thought of collectively in Culture Crash was the blue printout technique in drawing comics. Its just a fancy way of doing the trace over of a rough sketch in a lightbox. In this case, instead of inking over a line drawing, we scan and print out the pencilled lineart in blue ink. There are a lot of advantages in doing this, one, we preserve the original line art pencil when doing the inking, two, we skip the cleanup (erasing) part, since there is no pencil involved, and three, since we scan the page digitally, we can make alterations on the fly in Photoshop, adding or removing elements as we please.

I've worked with a lot of artists and I can say that you always have to keep an open mind when you're around them. A lot of them have brilliant ideas that they are always willing to share.

What are some of your favorite websites that you go to?

Deviantart[dot]com and Conceptart[dot]org would be the top art sites in my list


What wisdom could you give us, about being an artist? Do you have any tips you could give?

Keep an open mind and take criticisms in stride. Don't be dissuaded by negative comments, instead, take it as a challenge to make your skill better. Critics know what they are talking about, no matter how stupid some of them may seem to be. The worst thing you could do as an artist (or as a human being for that matter) is think that you are better than everyone else. Strive to be better, and always be humble. You'll end up looking like an ass if you think you are the best out there. Always keep in mind that there is always someone better than you.


If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

You can contact me through my DA account at tagailog[dot]deviantart[dot]com or through my email tagailog@gmail[dot]com.


Do you have any of your art work for sale (comics, prints, or anything)? If so, for fans of your work can know where and when to buy it?

You can buy our comics (Pasig 16 and Fresh!) at the Komikon or in Comic Odyssey at Robinsons Galleria


Thanks!







If it's possible that anything around you could be doodled and painted on, what object or surface (the road, a certain building, etc) would you wish to doodle/paint on and why?

Hmm... If I could draw on anything, I'd do a gigantic comic page on a city, that you can only see on a satellite photo or google earth haha






Saturday, August 2, 2008

Jennyson Rosero


Tell me a little bit about yourself, about your life? Where did you go to school, and what classes did you study? What helped prepare you to become the artist that you are today?


Hey there! I would say my life was quite normal, as a boy, I loved watching animation and playing with toys. For college, I took up Architecture and after 2 years, I found my place as a student of Advertising Arts at UST. Hmm... preparation, I never got into drawing until my early years in high school. As a kid, sure, I scribbled a lot but I never thought I'd be doing this for a living.

What inspired or convinced you to become an Artist?
Comics and animation.

What is a typical day for you, and who are the people you work with?

Typical day... I wake up at around 9am, get ready, if I have time, check some emails, then go to the studio with my housemates Chester, Zid, Budi and Skan. Arrive in the studio 5 minutes later then have breakfast at a nearby Roti Prata place. I work with all the people at IFS.

What are some of the things that you have worked on?

A lot actually. I did some thumbnails for Witchblade, Caliber, did a cover for Batman Gotham Knight DVD (but sadly, I guess through some confusion, they didn't use my cover), some card art for UFS, Chaotic, J2, Exalted and now I'm doing Freedom Formula Issue #2, after Chester.

How do you go about illustration, what goes through your mind, from start to end?

Just do it. At the end of the day, I have a page ready... usually.


Could you talk about your process in coloring your art (if at all), as well as the types of tools or media that you use?

I rarely color my stuff nowadays since I'm doing pencils to ink for FF. I use Photoshop. 


What are some of the things that you do to keep yourself creative?
Look at hot chicks. Serious.

What is your most favorite subject to draw, And why?
The female form. It's just perfection for me. 

Who are the top illustrators whose works excite you the most?
A lot of Japanese and Korean artists and the people I work with everyday who inspire me to do better.

What are some of the neat things you have learned from other artists that you have worked with or seen?

Neat things... that creating art is a gift and always give it your best. Cliche, but it works.

What are some of your favorite websites that you go to?

joelchua.com... Others... if I tell you, I'd have to hunt you down... refer to question number 7 for clues.

What wisdom could you give us, about being an Artist? Do you have any tips you could give?

Been saying this forever but practice makes perfect.


If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

Uhm, I guess through DA, just drop me a message and I usually answer there. (2ngaw.deviantart.com)


Finally, do you have any of your art work for sale (sketchbook, prints, or anything) for fans of your work can know where and when to buy it?

Sadly, no. Maybe in the future when everything clears up.


Thanks!

Thanks, bro! Anytime!






What are your top three favorite DVD movie/animation titles?

Favorite DVDs: Godfather, Star Wars (Eps 4-5), Fifth Element.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Kriss Sison


Tell me a little bit about yourself, about your life? Where did you go to school, and what classes did you study? What helped prepare you to become the artist that you are today?

Hi my name is Kriss Sison, born in Manila -year 1980, I studied Fine Arts at Technological University of the Philippines for 3 years and then dropped out.

I’ve been in the comics business since 1998, the first titles that I’ve worked on was Thunder Bubuli and TINK, then I did a lot of freelance works and now I work for Groundbreakers as manga artist for Ninja Girl KO!

What inspired or convinced you to become an Artist?

I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember and I just didn’t stop, it was a hobby that grew and I never got tired of.

What is a typical day for you, and who are the people you work with?

Hmmm… my body clock is a mess, I usually sleep around morning then wake up at noon, fiddle with the computer and play some tunes as I do my sideline job, usually I work alone (though I do get some assistance if I need help) then prepare to go for work, I come to Groundbreakers studio usually around night then work there till morning.

What are some of the things that you have worked on?

Mostly comic book illustrations for local publishers and also for the US (eg: LAST HOPE, a Seven Seas Entertainment OEL manga). I also did some animation works.

How do you go about illustration, what goes through your mind, from start to end?

Usually I would try to change or improve a little on the instructions given to make the illustration look better, I always like to keep things simple, easy on the eye and easy to understand, sometimes the art doesn’t end up with the look that I wanted and that is a little frustrating.

Could you talk about your process in coloring your art (if at all), as well as the types of tools or media that you use?


Before, my choice of tools were colored pencils and water color, I don’t do traditional coloring anymore mostly because it is not practical to my current works, nowadays I do my colors digitally using only Photoshop. I usually start my colors doing a flat color layer, and then creating another layer for the renders, to end up with a smaller file size and quicker Photoshop response, I always try and keep my number of layers below 10.

What are some of the things that you do to keep yourself creative?

By observing things, it could be anything, basically anything or anyone that surrounds me.


What is your most favorite subject to draw, And why?


Drawing cute female characters is what I enjoy most, they are fun to draw, and simply because I’m a sucker for anything cute, second would be mecha.


Who are the top illustrators whose works excite you the most?


I can’t choose, there are so many of them.


What are some of the neat things you have learned from other artists that you have worked with or seen?


Digital inking and more coloring techniques.


What are some of your favorite websites that you go to?


Mostly anime blog/reviews that feature new or old shows that may I may find interesting, and any websites that has the latest news in technology.


What wisdom could you give us, about being an Artist? Do you have any tips you could give?


Keep on exploring and continue progressing with whatever you do. Be humble.


If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?


You can send an email to: freezeburn32[at]yahoo[dot]com.


Finally, do you have any of your art work for sale (sketchbook, prints, or anything) for fans of your work can know where and when to buy it?


 

Yes, my work is included in the Mangaholix manga anthology magazine; I’m the artist of the title Ninja Girl KO! written by Marco Dimaano.


Mangaholix is available thru National Book Stores, Power Books, Comic Odyssey, Fully Booked, and FILBARS.

 


Thanks!

Best regards.













How often do you remember your dreams?

Not so much, sometimes i can only vaguely remember.

Got an Artist?

Do you know a Filipino artist who makes exceptional Japanese manga style illustrations? If so, leave his/her name and any other info about him/her on this post.