How long have you been drawing for?

• If we're talking about traditional art:
  Whenever I was old enough to grip something that could be drawn with. Everyone drew when they were toddlers, so that may not be a very exciting answer, but it's the only one I have. I started, and just... never stopped.


• If we're talking about digital art:
  It's kind of hard to say... Long before I had my own computer at home, I would use the one in the attic of my grandparent's house while staying there during summer. I honestly can't remember if I ever drew anything original on it or not, but there exists a photo from 2007 of me doing digital coloring pages on it, if that counts. As soon as I got my first laptop (which I got either Christmas 2009 or my birthday 2010.) it didn't take me long to find Microsoft Paint.

How long have you been posting your art online?

• Since 2010... The oldest piece of art I have made that is still publicly available to view is from September 2010. It's not impossible that I had posted stuff before September, but 2010 is definitively the correct year.

Where did you first start posting art online?

• Unless there are serious holes in my memory, it was DeviantArt. (I could be wrong, but I think the only registered account I've ever had that predated my first DeviantArt was my email.) The account lasted four years. Another early dwelling for me was the Chicken Smoothie Oekaki (2011), and I'm still ashamed of my behavior on there TO THIS DAY.

Wtf did you do on the Chicken Smoothie Oekaki that was so awful that you can't let it go even 10+ years later?

• I know I shouldn't be so hard on myself for it, I was barely even 10 years old and did not speak english beyond a few very simple sentences and a limited vocabulary of common words. I would read any english sentence I came across by looking up the norwegian translation of every word independently. Then I would piece the norwegian words back into a sentence, with a lot of guesswork when it came to structure. (Google Translate was around, but it sucked so I only used it sparingly.) 
  
  What I'm trying to get at is that I wasn't the best at following the rules/guidelines. Simply because I could not comprehend. I'd post in the wrong categories and CONSTANTLY break people's rules of use in the editable Oekaki. I guess I can forgive 10-year-old me for these crimes, HE did not know better... However, I'll never cease to be riddled with shame over my 12-year-old self's conduct on the Oekaki forums. *HE* THOUGHT HE WAS HOT SHIT OR SOMETHING! HE intentionally posted ( this ) to the INTERMEDIATE category... And when some poor soul, in the nicest, most respectful way you could tell a child, replies to this drawing:
  
  (July 30th, 2013) "I Love It I Just Don't Really think it belongs on intermediate really sorry" -CS user ciitruus (Known as Team Plasma <3 at the time.)
  
  It was a crime that a 12-year-old child's hubris could not forgive.
  I REMEMBER feeling so offended. I posted a few more drawings on there in 2013 after this, but I would be radio silent for 4 whole years, from January 2014 until June 2018. Purely because I had become so fucking ashamed of my reaction to the aforementioned event. What was that reaction?
  

  Behold:

  
  
  This short sentence contains so much... I almost feel a sort of reverence for it. It's mystifying in a way.
  What the fuck did I mean by this?
  First word of sentence: uncapitalized, pronoun "I" uncapitalized, no punctuation. The word "draw" however, is capitalized.
  What the fuck did I mean by that???
  There is so much to unpack here if one is willing to dig. But this tangent about Chicken Smoothie has gone on for too long, we must move on to other matters...   Expand

What software do you use for art?

• Oh god. I use a wide variety of art programs. Different ones for different things... some just for variety's sake. I like to experiment and try new software.
  
  I think just listing every program I have/use would be the easiest way to answer:
  
  
  • MS Paint (win 7 and xp)
  • Clip Studio Paint
  • AzPainter2
  • Rebelle 5
  • Tux paint
  • Kid Pix Deluxe 4
  • Flash MX 2004
  • Drawpile
  • Aseprite
  • Playscii
  • Heavypaint
  
  I also used to have these : Paint Tool Sai, Mypaint, Gimp.
  (Technically I still have gimp, but I only use it to recover images from Ms Paint datadump files whenever it freezes.)
  
  Sometimes I'll use browser based applications or Oekakis like:
  
  
  • Chickenpaint/ChibiPaint (Chicken Smoothie Oekaki)
  • TEv2 (Tegaki E Reboot)
  • lvllvl
  • Kid Pix clone in browser
  • MS Paint clone in browser
  
  When I was little, I also used DeviantArt Muro a lot. Lastly, I'd like to mention I have Flipnote on my 3ds. :)  Expand

Which ones do you use most?

• MS Paint, Clip Studio Paint, Rebelle 5 and AzPainter2 in that order.

Got any recommendations?

• Yeah, actually I do:
  
  
  • I recommend MS Paint (7) to everyone.
    If you learn to use it, it's not bad at all!! it's free. It's relatively stable, (Unless you're working with extreme canvas sizes like 10000 pixels wide (LIKE I DO <3) or in black and white mode with canvas sizes over or close to 1000 px, it might freeze. But MS Paint XP's black and white mode is more stable in my experience.) and it's a program many people think very little of for no good reason! (the fact that a lot of kids made shitty anime base art with it in the early 2010s is not a good reason, in that case the kids were the "problem", not Paint itself). Therefore, they'll lower their expectations, making it easier to impress them with less effort! Wow!
    
    I promise the "Wtf this was drawn in poo poo pee pee microsoft paint??? you're lying :O !!!" comments NEVER get old or condescending.
    Just make sure you never post a screenshot of a drawing including the ui on social media, this could inspire no-life twitter losers to dish up some tasty harassment just for you!! If that seems like an out of pocket thing to warn someone about, it is! Because it's an out of pocket thing to do!
    But apparently, doxing artists who are open and unashamed about using Microsoft Paint is something some people do nowadays, I guess?
    Sorry if I sound bitter, hope it didn't turn you off from the idea of trying it out. It's genuinely fun and relaxing to work in. It's so much easier to draw when you don't have to deal with layer management or an overwhelming ui with 1000 features.
    (Here is a link to a FREE!!! page that will teach you how to become a pro MS Painter in 5 easy steps.)
  
  
  
  • I recommend Drawpile.
    It's the best collaborative drawing experience I've had, and honestly? It isn't that bad of a drawing program, even if you disregard the collaborative element. It's nothing fancy but it is perfectly capable, it has most basic features you'd expect from any drawing soft. Even though it lets you host an online session to draw with friends, you don't HAVE to. There are people who use it as their standard drawing soft for all their art, just because they enjoy using it. It's free! It's fun! It's pretty solid!
    
    
  • I DON'T recommend Clip Studio Paint anymore now, after they've become so cringefully suck. 
    
    
  • I DO recommend AzPainter2.
    It's got a nice balance of simple and convenient features. Lightweight, runs easy, don't think I've ever had it crash? It's free!
    
    
  • I WOULD recommend Rebelle 5, BUT it's expensive.
    I bought it on sale like... 90% off, hard to complain with a deal like that, so I'm super happy with it. Though I think I might have felt differently if I had paid full price, I could and did write a whole essay about why, but I'm cutting it because it was deranged.
    Tl;dr: Brushes amazeballs and the Mixbox integration is orgasmic, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The ui kinda sucks and I really hate how the eyedropper tool behaves, especially when mapped to a shortcut. Talking out my ass here, but sometimes it kind of feels like a program only made with screen tablets in mind? Don't get me wrong, I only use pen tablets, and I manage fine with little issue. It's completely compatible. That said, there are a few things about it that feel unintuitive to me. Stuff that would probably make more sense with a screen tablet. Like that there is no option to enable scroll bars for canvas navigation.
  
  Other than those I recommend any program supposed to be more for novelty's sake, they may not be ideal for very serious work, But they're fun to play around in. Sometimes silly soft can help with art block.  Expand

What hardware do you use for art?

• My laptop is an Acer Aspire 7. I have both a Wacom Intuos Pro Large (PTH-860) and a Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch Medium (CTH-680). I turn off the touch though, it's annoying.
  
  Both of them see similar amounts of use. Got the large because I thought it would be easier on my wrist, but it's very unwieldy and hard to travel with, hence why I still use my pen and touch so much. The Pro is pretty new. Before I had the medium, I had the small, but I've been using an Intuos Pen and Touch since 2014 or 15.  I've gotten very comfortable with it. It was my second ever drawing tablet.
  My first was a Wacom Bamboo I stole from my dad in 2014 (I didn't have it very long), before that, I just drew with trackpad. Even now, I still regularly use the trackpad to draw. Most of the art you'll see on the site was drawn with either the Pen and Touch or trackpad.
  For over ten years I would use my tablet on mouse mode settings, but around the same time I got the Pro I switched to pen mode in hopes that it would be easier on my wrist. I have continued to use pen mode, but ngl I miss mouse mode sometimes. 

What traditional mediums do you use?

• First thing you must know about me: I <3 MIX MEDIA!!!!! I love experimenting with different mediums. I aspire to be Mr. Jack Of All Trades, But Master Of None himself. My repertoire includes...
  
  
  • Graphite
  • Pen and ink (Acrylic ink, india ink if it's water-fast.)
  • Colored pencils
  • Wax crayons
  • Watercolors
  • Gouache
  • Paint markers
  • Water and alchohol based markers
  • Linocut 
  • Oil pastels
  
  As for surfaces... I will use most paper meant for drawing as long as it's not flimsier than printer paper, but if I have free choice of surface I'm most likely to choose watercolor paper, mixed media paper, acetate overhead sheets (Btw in my experience, it's best to avoid sheets intended for ink jet printing, the coating can react with the paint or other media used.), or passe-partout card.   Expand

Do you have any specific art supplies and tools you favor? 

• OH BOY, DO I?
  
  
  • There is a past behind every man, and in mine you'll find I have a history of being indecisive about pencils.
    I have sworn up and down for many different kinds with much enthusiasm, and every time it turned out to just be a phase. Currently, I mostly use (without passion, but with some satisfaction) the Staedtler Mars Lumographs. They're nothing special, but they're decent, predictable and easily accessible, and that's enough. I can't remember the brand, but I also employ a non-photo blue pencil whenever appropriate.
  
  
  • The Uni oil-based paint markers are BEASTS; they are the only paint markers I can use on acetate without worrying as much about scuffing. I can well understand why they're so popular among graffiti writers lol. The fumes, however, are also BEAST. 
    The Molotow ONE4ALL acrylic paint markers are also mainstays of my pencil case, despite being a little high maintenance compared to, for example, Poscas. At least replacement nibs are available and easy to swap for when I inevitably fuck up and clog one. 
    (PS. Protip: When researching what paint markers to get, I would definitely recommend watching/reading reviews and forums, by and for graffiti writers. No offense, but they tend to know way more about what they're talking about than your average hobbyist crafter or what have you.)  
  
  
  • My favorite colored pencils are the Faber-Castell polychromos. My favorite wax crayons are the Caran d'Ache Neocolors.  I have a set of 30 Neocolor 1's, and a set of 10 Neocolor 2's. As much as I'd love to get my hands on more of the 2's, they're so fucking expensive!!!
  
  
  • I'm in a love hate relationship with waterbrushes, they get so fucking nasty and are so hard to clean. And yet!! When watercolors are involved, they are so easy and convenient and kind.
    Do you know? Have any idea how good it feels to not have to wet the brush every 5 seconds?
  
  
  • As for normal brushes, I have one sable I got as a present. A Da Vinci Maestro Voyage.
    it's my only natural fiber brush and feels very luxurious to paint with.
  
  
  • The lightbox/table my dad made for me years ago...
    I don't use it /very/ often, but it is very reliable and handy to have for the times I do need it.
  
  I'd love to one day make a dedicated page detailing my full arsenal. Alas, today is not that day.  Expand

How do you make your comics?

• Digitally drawn comics:
  Often I will thumb/draft the rough comic in MS Paint (or with pencil on paper and scan) before bringing it into Clip Studio and working on things like fixing panel layout, page flow, maybe re-sketch entire panels. Usually, I draw a grid to use as a guide for page composition. Once I'm happy with those things, I'll move onto lineart, color (if any) and lettering. That's the formula at least, I probably deviate from it more often than I stick to it. Still, it's nice to have a set approach to fall back on just in case, and this one works for me.
  I have drawn entire comics in just MS Paint, AzPainter 2, and Rebelle 5 before; Clip Studio is not a must-have. That said, out of all my drawing software, it is the most convenient one for drawing comics.


• Traditionally drawn comics:
  Depends on the medium, most of the time, I just go about it like I would any other traditional art. If I want it to look really clean, I use my lightbox to trace/line over the draft onto better paper. But to be honest, 9 out of 10 times, I just draw straight on top of the sketch. After all, If it's a comic I'm making just for fun, I don't really care that it gives worse results, why should I when it's only for my pleasure and delight anyway?

Do you do any other types of art or crafts?

• I make dolls. I sew (mostly clothes for those dolls), and I make pop-pop boats with my dad when we have the time (Which is not as often as I'd like it to be...).