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February Q&A - leave your questions here! (Patreon)

Published:
2020-01-30 19:14:46
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:
Q&A

Content

Hey!

I wanted to drop this here so we can get some questions together for a future Youtube live type thing, I'll go through and address everything as I draw(or something along those lines). Eventually I'll get a camera setup with one of those porn ring lights so you can see it reflected in my eyes for ultimate effect. No, but really, I do plan on getting video fireside chats goin in the future!

So, if you have questions about art, self publishing your own books, comics, writing comics, composition, business, anything at all, please leave them here in the comments!

I don't have a date just yet when I'll be able to do the live stream but I'll let you know soon as I know.

Dave

Comments

ohdeanbean

oh wow so many questions! I guess the first is typically how do you go about the research phase and when do you know you have enough to get started on the actual comic work? I find myself endlessly stuck in research and have trouble getting started

Benas Bratkauskas

Hey, you will be able to film porn for additional $$$. Of the top of my mind: why and when did you decide to draw digital?

Arcturus

A suggestion, save the questions you answer so when you do another Q&A you can have an "already answered in Q&A for [month]" section to help cut down repetition. As for a question: "Do you still do/have any interest in traditional art?"

Towel Man

Any tips on starting a digital comic? I want to make an ongoing series but I'm not sure how far I should develop my story before I start drawing it. Did you fully develop Steve Lichman before creating the first pages (like you had the beginning and end planned out)? Or did you have a good chunk of the story developed and then decided to start drawing and developing it as you go? Any help is greatly appreciated! :)

Latrozin

You have a very distinct style and the word that comes to mind is "cool" - just one look at the Skull and Shark art, still give me chills. Do you have any tips on making an image look cool? Also, I'm very interested in your inspirations - you post some of them on Twitter but maybe you can name a few that inspired you the most, especially doing linework.

Carlos Machuca

Have you any plans on making a Discord Server for patrons?

Joshua Barbour

How do you get work? I’m told that my work is good enough to get paid (I’m not sure, myself), but I’ve got no acumen for the business side of things. I don’t know how to get exposure or get my name and work out there. I use Instagram and Twitter but it’s slow going. I also work a normal full-time job. While it’s nice and comfortable, I want to make a living at this stuff. My plan is to transition to part-time once I get some work coming in. The only client I’ve had so far didn’t pay me lol. Lesson learned there.

Brandon Eckert

Recently you made a big switch for your workflow in picking up Clip Studio. I remember seeing you mention that it kind of made you fall in love with drawing again and felt a lot more comfortable for you. What specifically do you look for in your tools and workspace, digital or otherwise, that allow you maximum comfort and efficiency? And what specifically about Clip Studio drew you towards it?

Mauro Franco

Guys please remember to like any comment you agree with so that he can gauge better what we all want answered the most or focus on the most. So he has more to talk about with us, Great questions by the way!

Rave Dapoza

My question revolves around the basics, I’m talking about anatomy, poses & facial expressions: “What advice would you give to get to your level of anatomy?” P.s. I would love it if you could do one of your YouTube Live videos (maybe your first one!) on the basics of what you do when drawing faces, hands etc.. would be an awesome introduction to the building blocks that make Dave Rapoza! Thanks! I’m glad I could contribute!

iviajoi2n

Hey man, OG Crimson Dagger used to tune in all the time to Dan and you. Really great artist interviews through the old casts (Kekai Kotaki, Daarken, Brad Rigney etc just to name a few). is a Podcast (Twitch/YT Live) or something along that vein on the radar at all?

DaveRapoza
>>31879470

Hopefully! Part of this is me trying to make some time possible for doing extra things again like a podcast or just YT live. I'd love to spend more time on here and giving back through that type of angle but we'll see, I'm more or less focused on creating personal work for the time being through this patreon. But if we end up with a lot of support here then it'll definitely make it much easier for me to take the time out for it all.

Andrew Gibbons

Dave, what is best in life? Also, Since you've achieved a bunch of milestones of personal and professional success, How has your relationship with money changed? Serious question. Like, I'm still scraping by freelancing and it's building slowly.. The stress that comes with a close to zero bank account sometimes remains even when I build up a bit of saved moneys. Wondering if you ever feel, I guess safe with finances and able to really just sink into the stuff you want to make. I dunno, I guess just, how has your outlook on money changed as bigger sums have been coming in?

Rauv_Art

Hey Dave - Really excited to join your Patreon! You've been a lot of help to me over the years and I am thrilled to be able to give back. I was wondering if you could go into your process for using reference material. On your Twitch streams back in the day you mentioned that you don't use a lot of reference at this point, but do you use any kind of supplemental reference for stuff like specific character designs, etc? Characters like Grey Fox, Gundams, etc, just seem too specific in the intricacy of their design to be completely drawn from memory. Do you draw a basic gesture and then reference the specific character design into the pose? I imagine this can change depending on the type of work you're doing, but let's say you were going to draw a Final Fantasy character for fun or something. How much supplemental reference do you feel like you would need? Also, if I can squeeze in a quick second question, I would really like to know what your typical daily schedule is. How do you fit it all in a day? Thanks man, hope you and your family are doing great, and hope that Patreon works well for you!

Martin Ong

Hey Dave my question is, how difficult is it to get a job from the west if you’re from the east?

Nigel Crudgington

Art you going to be set up at any comic cons this year? I would love to get a Steve Lichman sketch and my Vol. 1 (2nd print unfortunately) and Spider-Verse books signed.

Fitzfactor

I'd like to hear your philosophy towards art in comics. I really love all the pages I've seen you do and think you have a good balance between detail and simplicity, but it's also clear from some of your illustrations that you can go far more in depth in terms of detailing. How do you approach a balance for speed vs. quality specifically when doing comics? What's the difference when it's going to stay b&w vs. color? Thanks man!

Asher Tail

Wondering what are good brushes to use for Clip Studio and what do you use? Thanks!

Paula Shin
>>31889424

Or even overall recommendations for starting on Clip Studio or moving from Photoshop to clip studio.

Paula Shin

Hey Dave! First, excited with this patreon, really! I follow you and Dan since Golden Boys and Crimson Daggers. And if there is any way to support and hear more from you, I'm all in. My question is around studying and prioritisation. Only recently I went back to studying illustration and tho I'm practicing daily, it still feels overwhelming sometimes (specially when compared to artists I am inspired by). How did you started studying? Supposedly you had to start from scratch, how would you prioritise your daily practice? Is there anything you would do differently? Thanks for everything!

Jaz McDaniel

Hello Dave, I believe in your Blog Witch tutorial you briefly discussed how to pose characters. Can you dive deeper into how a character pose can tell their story and how you went about studying it? Also, I would like to hear about how you then combine them into a final illustration.

Niall O'Reilly

Hey Dave! Delighted to support you on here dude, you've been a big motivator for me through the years! My question is a business one regarding an agent or someone to represent you. Would you recommend going with one if you're someone who's not particularly confident in their hustle or just isn't sure how to navigate their industry? Or would it be better to hack through it alone? Myself, I worked in video games for a few years and currently work in a big animation studio. For a long time I thought I wanted to be a concept artist, in the vein of Artstation. Recently I've come to realise my real love/flair is cute and colourful stuff. I'd like to get more into cute illustration, kid literature, stuff for toys etc. However I'm unsure how to approach looking for freelance in these areas, and am wondering if an agent might be a good idea. As I've heard that in some industries cold calling is frowned upon. Thanks man! And looking forward to the porn light ring, so we can fill ya fulla cream again ;)

Timbo

How much does mental illness play a part in making the Garfield comics

CrazyDescent

How careful does one need to be when drawing fanart or literal scenes from existing games/anime, when selling art? I read that the safe option is to sell that kind of stuff only at cons, but I'm curious what your experience is with copyright holders etc.

ivan p

Talk about your favourite ink lords as much as u can. Just about inking workflow and what inspires you, in general. I know it's vague, but im all about that creamy ink talk. And i want it

ivan p

Also, was that hard to make a healthy transition from a established teenage serial killer to a default cat porn maker

Bora_M

Comics in general, started working on my own, any help would be great! More specific, is there a way to emphasize an important detail in a larger panel (zoom out). (In my story a character has gotten a nose ring and I want to show that off in next couple of panels, however unless it's a bigger panel and with her zoomed in, bust/portrait, the nose ring is barely visible) Thanks!

Zuzanna Horaczuk

I would love to know how to approach an illustration so that it conveys some kind of emotion/story, and not get too focused on technicalities. Of course, fundamentals are the key, but at some point, personally, I lost variety, emotion, and expression in my illustrations because I focused too much on technical aspects of digital art. How to achieve balance between this two?

Honza Pavliš

Hey, Dave! I was wandering how you calibrated your pen pressure curve in Clip Studio and in Wacom driver, since you talk a lot about the "perfect" feel of the brush, that you are achieving with CS.

Alan Baker

Dave! Hey man--I've been beating around the bush with this, but I decided to go in and help you out by contributing to your Patreon! You've become a big inspiration for me and I'm very happy you set this thing up. I started off as a character/creature designer, but as time went on I leaned more into environments and concept work. So I have two questions, if you don't mind. I'm very curious about contacting and working with larger clients--do they reach out to you? How much control do you or SHOULD you have over how everything is handled? And the second question is in regards to character work. Are you the type to "master the concept of anatomy" or do you learn as you go from piece to piece? I know everyone is different, but the method people take to get to where they are has always intrigued me. Thanks again!

Zuzanna Horaczuk
>>32110843

Exactly! settings in both, Wacom drivers and clip studio affect how the brush feels :) I would love to get some more info on that!

Alessandro Dal Cortivo

ehi Dave! my question is more a psychological type of question, have you ever gone through a really long artblock? I attended a concept art school and now everytime i have to draw i can't do anything, i'm stuck, i don't know how to approch a drawing, is like i never draw in my life, and i don't know how to get out of it, it's very stressful and painful! thanks man, keep your patreon going, i love it <3

Andrew Boucher

If you were to make a portfolio of 5 pieces to try and get gigs now what would the focus be?

Devin

Could you open up a Discord or the community section of the Patreon so we can share our art with one another :3

DaveRapoza
>>32225897

for sure, my wife is reading me a tutorial now, I'll have to implement it after work today :)

Morgan Adam Miller

I know you like using Clip Studio for its more naturalistic drawing brushes (I also like Clip more than Photoshop for that), so I was wondering if you've ever tried Corel Painter, and if so what you think of it in terms of its brushes for painting as well as drawing?

Abi Kelli

Any advice for someone who has always drawn traditional who is just starting to explore Clip Studio Paint?

McDaniels

Whenever someone leaves a comment like, "You have all this talent/skill/etc and yet you use it for this filth/silliness/smut/etc.", how big of a fire does it light in your belly? How do you harness that fire to fly?

MarkWithAC

Hey Dave, first of all thanks for your quick reply on my last question about the noisy brush in Clip, if you don't mind going over where this noisy brush is that'd be awesome (The clip UI is a bit confusing after spending so many years in PhotoShop) -- My Second question, have you ever used Art Studio Pro on the IPad? It loads in all abr and tpl brushes but also has virtually no lag at all when using the brushes as mixing brushes which kinda gives off a more traditional feel. Just wanted your thoughts on it since imo it's probably the most well rounded art app on IPad atm.

Tim Turner

Hey Dave I have a question, First thing is seeing a lot of your work what really inspires me isnt just the quality but the versatility in your styles. From loose almost sketch like drawings to the more comic to the more painterly work you've done in the past. Regardless if what the style you always manage to make the work look awesome. So my question is how do you balance the different styles and processes you're capable of? And is there one style you do that you lean more toward and why. Thanks!

Martin Paz Romero

Hi Dave, I wanna know If you have any suggestion for an artist that want to make a Patreon, I saw a lot of good artist that don't work in triple A companies but they do good art for their patrons but they don't have too much people. What do you think they are missing?

Klutsen

How was your day?

Jeremy de la Garza

Hey Dave, love your work man, so inspiring and beautiful stuff. Wanted to ask you... I'm an illustrator striving to become more efficient and faster. How long does it take you to do an illustration usually and how much reference do you use? ​I use a lot of reference and watch so many tutorials but I feel like it's starting to affect my own trusting myself in putting down marks with confidence without consulting a thousand references on anatomy, color, etc. At some of my jobs I have been known to take a while to do work, I feel like it's quality work, but it takes me a long time. Do you have any advice on how to push past the issue of being a slower artist and still keeping the quality?

Jeremy de la Garza

I realize you addressed the reference question, I guess it's more about speed in general.