MacDirectory magazine is the premiere creative lifestyle magazine for Apple enthusiasts featuring interviews, in-depth tech reviews, Apple news, insights, latest Apple patents, apps, market analysis, entertainment and more.
Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1384448
knowledge that makes them feel better, like they have learned something about their work. People are always seeking to improve in the art community, that’s why tutorials are easy to build off of. The tricky part is the many tutorials out there that have already been done. There are tutorials about how to draw Mickey Mouse that have millions of views, even though the person wasn’t even that skilled. Yet it has millions of views, because they were first. Today, you have to be a lot more creative and really sell what you are trying to advertise. MD: When you are working on your content, what is your setup to work with? EJ: I have quite the excessive setup, which I showed off in my video “The ultimate digital art setup”, which did really well. (laughs) Maybe it was the thumbnail, but I’m a bit surprised it did so well. My setup is balanced between content creation and artwork. For the artwork side, I literally just sit in front of my iPad Pro or my Cintiq. Those are the main drivers that I have for creating artwork. MD: Do you need a certain vibe to do art, like the purple lights in the back of your streams? EJ: I do like setting a mood in my space. Sometimes, I’ll put a movie on. Recently I had “Ghost in a Shell” and “Bladerunner 2049” running, which helps me get in a vibe and get excited. It’s helpful to have that reminder of what I find creatively interesting in the past. I also always listen to soundtracks, but if I have something that’s too upbeat, it makes me rush my artwork. I get stressed out so I have to reserve the upbeat songs for when I’m past the tough part of the artwork.. MD: What kind of software do you use with your setup? EJ: Right now, I use pretty much the same for both my PC and the MacBook Air I got recently: Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint, and PureRef, which I actually use a lot and I am glad it’s on Mac. But that’s pretty much it, apart from the Adobe Suite that I use to edit my content. On the iPad, it’s Procreate, and recently I got into using the Clip Studio cloud service to move artwork back and forth between devices. I prefer the ways that Clip Studio Paint and Photoshop save a file and then upload it in a few minutes. MD: You have been using Clip Studio Paint for a while. Do you have any favorite aspects of the software? EJ: The first thing that I remember enjoying about Clip Studio Paint was the line stabilizer feature. It was something that I was seeking when I was starting out, because I was worried about my lines being shaky. I find it useful at different scales, which is hard to find in different software. Oftentimes this functionality breaks at different levels, but in Clip Studio Paint there are levels for casual sketching, there are levels for inking. Another thing I like in the UI, you can actually see the brush size cycling through in the palette, which I actually find quite important for how I work. And the number one thing I really like about Clip Studio Paint is the amount of different tools. It’s very intuitive and well laid-out. I use this keypad with the buttons mapped to different tools, like blend, airbrush, pencil, painting and fill. I can map them to a button and switch as easily between them. MD: Are there any recent discoveries you’ve made in the software? EJ: I’m a pretty simple user, but I recently found the automatic coloring tool. When it puts colors near edges, it creates these really nice gradients, that can be a really cool place to start off from. MD: What is the best part of drawing digitally for you as an experienced artist?