So a week or two back I asked if *Tenshi-no-Hikari wanted to be interviewed for MA, and she was delighted!! But before you dive right into the interview, look at her Art.  The more you look at her art, the more information you will find helpful from the interview!  


First, I have to say, I feel really flattered to be asked for an interview. In fact, I’m just an amateur who still has a lot to learn and improve yet myself. All I want is to make people laugh with my comics and/or share my enthusiasm about a fandom. And I’m also self-taught, so my ways of drawing might not be the right or most efficient ones. But I really want to be helpful to my fellow deviants, so I will gladly share what I know and answer any questions. ^^

INTERVIEW TIME!
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Q1) Hello *Tenshi-no-Hikari! First question up is something simple.. How long have you been drawing for?

A: My first attempts were in 2004, that makes about 6 years now.

Q2) Something I have always wanted to ask you.. You have such a smooth coloring style, it seems like it’s a beautiful combination between graduation and shading. Can you explain this dynamic coloring style for us learners of the trade? (cell shading, soft shading?)

A: Yes, it is a combination of cell shading and soft shading/gradients. First step is the cell shading. I make the basic colours and then draw the shades, it is important to do it on different layers. Then I go to each layer, lock it and do the soft shading with a soft brush (set to 20% transparency). And I always set the shades layer on “multiply”, it helps blending the colours.

Q3) What started your enthusiasm for Art?

A: It was when I got into anime, I was fascinated by that art style but also had a strong urge to draw the characters I liked. So I started trying to draw fanarts. (Oh and my very first anime was DragonballZ.) :'D

Q4) The question that I have to ask because everyone asks it.. What Programs do you use?

A: I use PaintTool SAI for sketching, lineart, basic colors and cell shading. Photoshop CS3 for soft shading, gradients and other touch ups; also for writing text and making the outline for panels. (I guess most of it but the text can be done in SAI too but I’m just used to do those things in Photoshop.) Oh and a fun fact: I’m generally a tablet user but I do the soft shading with a mouse, it’s kinda easier for me that way.

Q5) Do you feel like your style has grown since you started on dA? Have your skills grown over time?

A: Well, I’d like to think that my style has improved and I hope to continue improving. The response I get on my works is a great motivation for me to always try to get better. And of course, I think improvement is a question of time and practice.
Here’s a little “2008 to now” comparison I’ve made: [link]

Q6) Do you mind submitting that Step by Step Comic tutorial you have to us for Learning? <3

A: Of course, feel free to submit it! I hope it will be at least a little useful to anyone! ^^

Q7) I see a lot of people that ask the question "What do you shade first, dark to light, or light to dark"?

A: I guess it’s mostly light to dark when it comes to cell shading. When I do soft shading it’s from ‘in between’ to both directions and kinda random. xD

Q8) Your comics always have brilliant word choice and story development! Care to share the thought process when making comics?

A: Aww, thank you! But in fact, I’m quite unsure/anxious of it all the time. Especially the word choice is not easy for me (English is not my native language) and I spend a lot of time trying not to make mistakes.
But on to the comic process, it goes like this: I get an idea for a comic and I imagine the scenes in form of panels, including character’s poses and expressions. Then I write down the dialogues, characters’ expressions and maybe some details about the pictures. Then this “comic script” waits for me to have time and draw it and many of them never get drawn because in a few days I think they’re no-good. Oh and I change everything all the time, when the comic is ready, half of it is not according to the “script” anymore. xD

Q9) Do you start with very big canvas sizes and re-size at the end? Do you mind giving us you average Comic strip size in number of Pixels?

A: Yes, that’s right. Drawing at high resolution helps getting clearer lines. One panel has about 1200x800px, that makes a comic with 6 panels to be 1200x4800px. I re-size to 35-45% later.

Q10) If you were just starting out all over again, what would you have loved to know right from the beginning? (clipping masks, Hue/Saturation is Control-U, love exists ext.. xD)

A: The “layer clip” option is your friend! You draw on layers above a layer with the basic colour and it stays in the area of the “filled in” space of that layer. (It’s hard to explain, just try it xD) It saves a lot of time (you don’t need to erase the colours that are outside the lines) and I wish I knew of it sooner.
I also used to fill in the basic colours “by hand”, then with the pen tool before I suddenly discovered the select tool and bucket tool. *shame on me*
And the options “multiply” and “overlay” – very useful. :’D

TenshiQ11) Any advice for people wanting to learn how to draw?

A: I think, it's very important to observe a lot. dA is great for this because here you get to see a huge variety of art styles. It’s really helpful to closely look and analyse them. But don’t try to copy someone, in the end, it’s best to develop a style of your own. Also, tutorials are very helpful when it comes to learning some techniques, like using layers or making lineart from a sketch; there’s plenty of them here on dA.
And of course, practice a lot. If you do that, you will get better over time. And never give up! Personally I believe that *everybody* can get good at drawing (and anything) if only wanting it very much and working really hard.

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That's it guys!! I Wanna see everyone saying thank you to *Tenshi-no-Hikari for giving us some of her time!  Hopefully you have learned something, THANK YOU TENSHI!!