100 Questions for Artists

A very lengthy survey by Stupied

1.) Introduce yourself! What kind of art do you make?
I'm Nat. An imp on the web who likes drawing pointy things. I mostly do stylized character-centric work & a mix of both OC art & Fanart.

2.) How long have you been making art?
Since I remember? When I was a kid I was very into arts & crafts. I think I started taking art more seriously & learning more at the beginning of middle school though

3.) How many hours do you spend for each piece?
Varies a lot. Usually 1-3 hours for my polished pieces. Doodles 10-20 minutes (depending on how pedantic I'm being). Larger illustrations & non-illustration work? Uh... I lost track of time 🥀

4.) Do you prefer taking your time or do you like to quickly move on to the next thing?
Moving onto the next thing.

5.) When do you decide a piece is finished?
When I can't figure out anything else to add onto the piece / anything I add on feels like clutter

6.) What part of the creation process do you enjoy the most?
Digital - Coloring & shading probably. It's the part of the piece where it starts to take it's 'true form'

Traditional - Lineart. Pen and ink lineart is pretty meditative once you get into it

From 2023 - I used to work mixed digital a lot during college. The lineart was inked traditionally with the colors done digital. Best of both worlds!

7.) What part of the creation process do you dislike the most?
Digital - lineart. It's gotten a little less tedious with a monitor and better brushes but something about digital lineart doesn't click & results in it feeling stiff & taking way too long

Traditional - color mixing... It's on me for preferring wet mediums like paints but color mixing is something I never got the hang of & I keep wasting paint... but I don't want to make a craft store run every time I need a new color either.

8.) Do you have a designated workstation or do you just work wherever?
I have my main computer desk where I do my digital work and my craft & traditional art desk right next to it. Though I prefer doing sketchbook work either on my computer desk or on the go.

9.) Do you monetize you work or is it purely a hobby?
I was pursuing art as a career, but the sheer amount of anti-art things going on in the industry + the current destruction of the web has made me back out of wanting to pursue anything. You will get self-indulgent doodles & IIDX fanart until the situation improves.

10.) Where do you share your work? On social media or a personal websites? Do you keep to yourself and close friends?
My website's main purpose is to be an art archive & platform off of social media. In terms of socials I've culled them down due to being wary of the direction the web's going. It's mostly Bluesky, but I've revived my Tumblr (begrudgingly) and my Newgrounds recently (the latter two are mostly 'post and leave' pages though)

11.) What's an aspect of your art you enjoy?
Honestly the novelty of having something I get to look at in the end. It rarely (if ever) wears off for me. I did that!

12.) What are things you would like to improve on?
Seeing projects to completion. I can't really joke about it too much because it's a genuine problem. Right now I can only handle one-off projects but anything long term (think; a comic over 16 pages) tends to collapse.

13.) Are you self-taught or had formal education?
I went to art school & majored in illustration! I do miss the formal education setting (and a lot of things about college honestly). But a large chunk of my non-illustration skills are self-taught.

14.) Do you research about old techniques or stick to newer ones?
Learning about older techniques & how people used to make things is fun! Especially from an art history perspective & learning more about the mediums you're working in.

That being said I feel I bias using newer methods & finding new things I can try out.

15.) What do you value more, experimentation or mastery?
Experimentation. Mastery sounds cool on paper, but foregoing trying other mediums & techniques to perfect a few things is too restrictive for my tastes

16.) Do you practice drawing with your arm? What other art techniques to you practice?
I try my best to, but for smaller things like painting figurines or tiny doodles it ends up being from my wrists...

17.) How frequently do you do studies?
Not as much as I should honestly. I feel my main problem is I prefer the classroom setting for studies & I can't exactly drop $30,000 every time I want to brush up on my anatomy.

The one time I do make sure I study is if I'm doing an important / major piece (like my Trans day of Visibility / El-ahrairah piece, where I drew some of the rabbits and animals in advance)

18.) Do you understand color theory? How'd you learn or do you want to?
Somewhat? I have a lot I need to improve on, but I've gotten better at color balancing over the years. My main tip here is nudge the colors towards the main color or lighting of the scene if you want to get things looking more harmonious

19.) Favorite color(s)?
Pink!

20.) Are there colors you avoid? Do you think ugly colors exists?
I mean i wouldn't say I'd 100% avoid these but I prefer to not use 'sad millennial grey & beige' unless it's a background or study

21.) Can you do perspective?
girl, help (i've been trying to work on it but my art's usually flat as a board...)

From 2025 - An attempt at perspective that didn't hit as well as I planned...

22.) Do you like doing lineart? How do you go about it?
Traditional - yes! Favorite part!!! I usually start on one end and work away from it to avoid smudging the ink.

Digital - it's gotten better but it's a pain. I usually do quick brush strokes and clean up later because I hate the feeling of stabilizers. But it also means a lot of undo/redraws. idk I guess I'll never be happy with digital inking

23.) Do you have multiple unfinished projects? Will you ever get to finishing them?
Unfortunately yes & it's a problem. I've been trying to be more strict on starting new projects until I cull off more of my backlog but it's hard to resist the siren song of a new idea

24.) How do you start a new piece? Do you have a plan or just figure it along the way?
Depends on the piece? Usually I just raw dog it & jump right into the sketch from the idea. But for larger works (especially non-illustration projects) I prefer to do planning & concepts in advance

25.) How do you handle art block?
Unless I have a deadline I just don't force it & do something else. Forcing myself to create when I don't feel like it is what leads to the frustration.

26.) Do you listen to music or watch something while working?
Usually music. Lately I've been enjoying a lot of hyperpop (especially dariacore / hyperflip). I also sometimes tune into SomaFM. I'm starting to find videos & movies pull my attention slightly too much for my liking.

Sometimes I'll just work in complete silence, but that's usually later into the session when I'm too focused to pick something new.

27.) When are you most motivated to create? In the morning or evening? Rainy or sunny?
Night owl. Art sessions regularly end at 1-2am

28.) Are your sketchbooks messy or aesthetically pleasing?
Messy and honestly? Pretty utilitarian all things considered. In the past they were aesthetic & I went through them fast. But these days they're reserved for studies & note taking (my travel sketchbook became a journal at one point). So a lot of it is text & hastily jotted scribbles. They usually take a long time to 'finish' too since well, it's more of a tool than a place for finished works.

Most of my pages look something like these. Usually more notes than sketches

That being said I'm starting to prefer digital notes far more, so my current travel sketchbook hasn't gotten as much use.

29.) Do you like showing sketchbooks to others?
Not really. I prefer to keep them a 'my eyes only' space & only post small snippets.

30.) Do you have any art friends? IRL or online?
Yes. A good chunk of my online friends are also artists, ditto for irl peers (I miss you guys)

31.) Do you collaborate frequently with your friends? Is there something you'd like to work on together?
Not really, but I think that's because most of us kinda do our own thing? Parallel play I guess. But the idea of collaborating does sound fun.

32.) Have you created art to gift to others? How do feel about parting away from your work?
Sometimes. I've given a few physical pieces to IRLs before & I sometimes do art games (albeit digital only). On parting I feel I'm ok if it's a piece i intended to give away & i documented it

33.) Have you drawn for someone else? Like commissions or requests? Did you enjoy it?
Yeah, usually in trades or as part of art games. They can be fun & an excuse to draw things not in my OC roster

34.) How's your posture?
Not good... I'm trying to work on it but alas. I'm debating on looking into more ergonomic solutions to my set-up but I also don't want to drop a ton of money only to find out it doesn't work (or makes things worse)

35.) Have you ever been injured making art?
The physical art + clumsy experience. I've poked myself with needles & sharp things more times than I'd like to admit

36.) What's a medium of art you've wanted to try / currently attempting?
Recently I've been getting into 3D works. Blender 3D, cotton doll making, figurines to name a few. I guess it's a nice break from 2D work

A low-poly model of Nix, made to self-teach myself Blender. I have a longer blog post about making him.

Cotton dolls of Io and Nix. Also has a blogpost on making them.

LPS custom of Xenia, the Linux fox.

One I'd like to try in the future is 3D printing. But I don't have the space nor the funds to justify getting one & I'm not sure if the only place that had 3D printing services near me still does it... (seriously, where's everyone finding libraries with 3D printers?)

37.) Do you prefer stylized or realistic art?
Stylized. It's where I started & where I'd like to go.

38.) Do you like hyper-realistic art?
Idk... I feel like I appreciate the technical side of hyper-realism & the observation skill it takes to pull it off. But I really don't like the types of crowds that realism draws in (anti-stylization elitists & people with less than favorable political views)

39.) Do you like abstract art?
I feel college & art history classes gave me a new appreciation for it. I'm so sorry i'm the type of guy who likes the 'pretentious' conceptual stuff 😅. But conceptual art is honestly pretty interesting to look at and think about.

I also feel once you get past the elitists & people treating art like an investment the overlap of stuff people enjoy casually & conceptual art is pretty large.

40.) How do you feel about fine art?
Kind-of a mix between the above two answers. I feel like people idolize 'classic' fine art (realisim paintings and sculpture) too much, but I respect it from an art history & technical perspective. Contemporary or close to contemporary art tends to resonate with me more, as I feel more of them seek to challenge perspectives or reflect on the world.

41.) How do you feel about outsider art? Do you think you fall in that category?
The line between outsider & non-outsider art is pretty blurry sometimes. I don't fall under here, but I think it's neat

42.) Do you follow art trends?
Not really. Usually they're over by the time I have art energy again

43.) Do you think your art is influenced by what's currently popular?
I honestly don't know. I've been pretty out of the loop of what's popular or not due to reducing my social media usage so if something shows up in my art it's probably coincidence.

44.) Do you compare yourself with others? Does it affect you negatively?
I know I shouldn't but especially with work output & my enthusiasm for art being in flux it's hard not to compare myself to myz more successful and stable peers.

45.) Your controversial art take?
When you consider you don't see nearly as much hate & criticism towards western cartoony styles for being unrealistic & 'not teaching the essentials', a lot of anti-anime / manga rhetoric in learning circles feels like thinly-veiled xenophobia towards non-western art.

Core essentials of art like anatomy, values, composition, etc don't vanish because someone wants to draw more like shonen manga than Marvel & DC, and if someone's serious about pursuing art they're probably gonna work on those regardless of style.

46.) Art related pet peeves?
I think the art community holds hobbyists & indie artists to professional standards way too much.

47.) Who or what are your inspirations?
I don't have many idols these days, but for a handful of artists I currently look up to;

• Squeege / Dino
• Goli Matsumoto (IIDX illustrator)
• David Revoy
• Tyson Tan

48.) What's an art piece / artist you wished got more attention?
9:15 slushie, a short collection of shorts about getting slushies from the gas station. Looking back, I think the marketing wasn't that great. But it was my first comic project after college & was honestly extremely fun to work on. You can read it onsite.

49.) Have you touch grass recently? Do you go out frequently or do you spend most of your time indoors?
I've been making an effort to go outside more. Less related to my art, and more not wanting to let my mental health decline further. It gets hard between weather & worldly stressors, but as of posting I've been making a larger effort to go to the library more often. It's a good place for art inspiration, you should visit your local one every once in a while.

50.) Do you create art daily?
No

51.) Do you take breaks from creating? How frequently?
I'd say so (or at least breaks from creating larger works). Frequency's inconsistent, but breaks usually last from a day up to a week

52.) Do you set deadline for your work?
I should start setting them. But self-imposed deadlines are really hard to keep up to the point i only use them for date-specific art & art for others

53.) Do you archive your work? Do you keep old pieces?
Yes yes yes yes. This site's main function is as an art archive & I keep offline backups as well. I also cling onto a lot of my physical art works too.

54.) Are you embarrassed of your old work? Or are you indifferent by it?
Mixed. There's some pieces I'm embarrassed by, but honestly I'm more nostalgic when looking at them these days and sometimes kinda sad? Like on a technical level I've improved but it's hard to ignore the fading enthusiasm in my newer stuff.

55.) Do you seek out for criticism? How do you handle feedback?
Usually only for singled-out specific problems. I feel like leaving feedback open leads to more frustration & unhelpful comments so keeping it to a single topic is the way to go.

56.) Are you harsh on your own work? Or do you love your work despite all it's flaws?
Not as much anymore. I don't like how normalized self-deprication is in the art community (it's not healthy to constantly put down your art...) Flaws are frustrating, but I'd rather just say "that's frustrating," and move on to the next piece

57.) Do you get compliments frequently? How do feel about them?
Not frequently, but I do appreciate the ones I get!

58.) How do feel about the rise of generative AI? Do you use it for getting ideas or references?
Very negative. It's destroyed the entry-level job market for artists, pushes out established ones while plagiarizing off of them, floods the web with misinformation and garbage, and turned the art community against eachother. People can't make mistakes or even just have certain style traits lest they get labeled as 'AI'.

Plus AI companies keep hogging & driving up hardware prices, meaning me & many other digital artists can't upgrade our setups until this fuckass bubble pops.

In terms of inspiration / refrences, there's decades worth of non-GenAI material for that so I don't see the point in fixing what's not broken.

59.) How do feel about tracing? What about tracing 3d models to streamline art process?
Ultimately I prefer non-traced art, but I feel as long as the person has permission or is doing it for study process it's not really my problem. I've done some tracing for studies + in terms of 3D models that's very common practice in professional workflows (though I haven't figured out how I want to do that myself).

60.) Drop you art resources!
Nat's free art software list - list of a ton of free software across multiple mediums and platforms

61.) Do you prefer making fanart or original content?
A mix of both. Though admittedly I've been biasing fanart (especially IIDX / Roots 26 fanart) lately

Here's a Nix I drew color picking from the queer pride flag!

62.) Do you think original content are more creative than fanart?
Nope. Some people love to claim it is on the grounds of "you have to create everything for original art and fanart is copying" but i'd be hard-pressed to call entire fancomics & fan-AUs 'less creative', nor call fully-original shovelware that follows common tropes 'more creative'

63.) Do you strive for originality?
Passively. I feel pursuing being as original as possible would just lead to a lot of comparisons, unneeded drama, and self-doubt. So outside of avoiding direct copies I just let ideas happen on their own

64.) Do you draw from imagination or heavily rely on references?
Leaning more on references. Usually for me to draw something from imagination it's gotta be something I've drawn a ton of times, like a favorite character.

65.) Do you think using references is a crutch?
Nope. I mean for starters it's hard to master drawing something you can't perceive in the first place

66.) Do you like to make mood boards or scroll through Pinterest?
Moodboards can be fun. When I do them it's usually collage-style. I haven't touched pinterest in years, but it's mainly because I prefer to keep most of my art process offline.

67.) Does your work have a story behind them or do you just make things that you think look neat?
Somewhat? In terms of illustration, I gravitate towards character-centric and narrative art (even if it's a loose narrative like a short bio or comic strip). But a lot of my non illustration art like custom toys are there because it looks nice.

68.) Do you think art should have a purpose?
I think both purposeful / meaningful art and art with no purpose other than personal enjoyment has their place. Like people who want art to be only 'shut-your-brain-off feel good stuff' are a glaring red flag (usually this mindset goes hand-and-hand with conservative ideals). But I also think people should be allowed to make things for no reason other than they want to.

69.) Favorite aesthetic?
Sharp angled lines and cel shadied goodness

70.) Do you have a muse or a theme you fall back to?
Usually favorite characters, but I also like doodling shadow-y creatures from time to time

71.) If you could eat you art, what would it taste like?
Assorted Saltwater taffies

72.) If your work suddenly became sentient, would it adore or hate you?
If it's my OCs & favorite characters, hopefully we can all agree to go out & grab a drink together. If it's more monster-y then oh no

73.) Based on previous question, can you win in a fist fight against it?
Not against most of them...

74.) Is your art style consistent? Do you prefer making a wide variety of art?
Very consistent. I mean I can deviate but it takes a lot of effort & I still feel like you can see my style shine through. I usually don't actively try to build a style, so I guess it makes sense it'd stay consistent if I'm not intentionally trying to change it anyways.

75.) Do you revisit old concepts or sketches? Do you touch em up or leave them as is?
Fun fact a decent chunk of my OCs have recycled concepts. Think fan characters turned original or re-purposing arcs & characters from scrapped projects. I feel this happens more often with writing / written character info.

76.) Do you believe in talent or is it all skill?
Not really, idk even if someones quick to pick up something I feel like writing it off as just 'talent' disregards any work they put into building their skills.

77.) What's your favorite thing to draw / make? Do you prefer making living things or still life?
Character art! I generally lean human & humanoid in terms of characters

78.) Do you create your art with a specific audience in mind? Who?
Me myself and I. Though when I was pursuing career arts I was targeting older-teen to adults in terms of topics I wanted to write about.

79.) How do you feel about people taking inspiration from work? Do you think art style theft is real?
Getting 2017 furry instagram flashbacks (a dark place that was)

But in all seriousness art style theft is usually just petty drama & people being entirely against taking inspiration come off as unpleasant to be around. Plus inspiration is largely subconscious in my experience. So I think it's unfair to smear people for similarities they did w/o noticing

80.) Do you participate in art conventions? Do you sell your work or support everyone else?
I was looking to do them, but put a pause due to backing out of pursuing an art career & the current economy making it way too expensive to jump in. Seriously, between rising table prices, higher shipping & manufacturing costs, high travel costs, and people having to cut out luxury expenses like art? I feel like the only way to break in to tabling now is if a suspiciously rich and generous person sponsored me.

I will say though, indie comic fairs are dangerous for my wallet

81.) Are you art materials expensive? Do you hoard any tools?
Tell me about it. I try to be smart about it but the prices for everything, especially in the physical art sphere keep going up and up...

I do have a ton of art supplies from college & defunct hobbies. I'm thinking of downsizing to free up space, but I think I'm still too clingy.

82.) Do you organize you supplies and tools systematically?
Every time I try to re-organize my tools they end up getting messed up in less than a day, or I completely forgot how I sorted them & make a mess trying to re-find everything

83.) Do you clean up after a project? Or do you just leave everything lying around till you need the space?
Trying to get in the habit of cleaning up. I've realized me leaving out projects creates a 'mental block' in terms of starting new ones or picking up older ones. Even if it's on a different desk.

84.) Do you have a ritual before you start creating? Do you have a drink or some snacks?
Cleaning up my space a little; putting away other projects, clearing any dishes I forgot about, quick wipedown. Then I grab a water or two. If the weather's bad I'll also shower beforehand

85.) How do feel about censorship in art? Where do you draw the line for inappropriate art?
Generally dislike. I get there has to be some level of consideration & there's a time and place for everything but once it gets into the territory of "You can't discuss (heavy topic) even in a nuanced / negative way" or "everything must be ultra-sterilized for children & their negligent parents" you've lost me.

But also the conversation is ruined thanks to people using anti-censorship as an excuse to flaunt pedo/zoo/incest/etc. bullshit (and no, not wanting to see untagged diaperfur art is not nearly on the same tier as IRL nazi anti-art movements)

86.) Do you censor your own art? Do you feel like you leave out details for it be socially accepted?
Ideally no, but I feel like I can't help but be nervous when doing more suggestive stuff or tackling heavier themes especially with the current rise of internet censorship. I do want to tackle more complex themes in the future & be less subtle about LGBTQ/pride-related pieces (think stuff like my Trans day of Visibility piece). But my NSFW works are for my eyes only.

Swearing on the other hand I don't like censoring because I value my ability to say "fuck shit balls"

87.) Do you feel intimated with starting a new projects?
Usually. But I think that's mainly because I don't know if it'll be finished in a few days, sit as a WIP for months, or abandoned.

88.) Are you scared of your art regressing? Do you think it's even possible to get worst at art?
Not in the conventional sense? I've accepted that art progress is non-linear and that dips are natural. Plus I feel worrying too much about if I'm getting worse would do more harm than good. But also it's hard to ignore that decline in quality, output, and effort align very closely with mental health dips.

89.) Do you frequently make compromises for your work? Does your art come out the way you envision them?
I guess so now that I think of it. Multiple times I've changed parts due to time constraints, technical problems, skill issues, or even just because I thought something would work better.

90.) How well do you manage your mistakes? Do you stress about them?
Not too well. I once put down an LPS custom for over a year due to breaking it mid-way through. Plus I swear most of my worst mistakes come when I even slightly let my guard down (think: ink smudging, dropping a custom mid-sealing and ruining it, noticing continuity errors after posting). I feel I handle it better with digital art because it's easier to fix in post.

91.) Do you make lists of things you'd like to make? Do you actual commit to them?
I keep a text file with some ideas, but ultimately it's more like an idea holder than a to-do list

92.) What is your ultimate goal of your work? Like, is to tell a story, connect with others, or just to enjoy the process?
I want to make a mark on this world somehow. It's hard to know how or if that'll happen though.

93.) What's something you've recently worked on that you're really proud of?
I've mentioned it a few times, but my 2026 Trans day of visibility piece, "But first, they must catch you,"

This piece is about Trans & queer survival in an ever-hostile world. Especially with a lot of the assaults on queer rights globally, I felt like this was something I needed to get out for myself if only to find some form of strength when I spent most of 2025 and early 2026 feeling hopeless and alone.

On a technical level, it's also the first full illustration I did this year and it was nice being able to engage with some of my illustration practices from my college days again

94.) Do you have any dream projects? Have you started on them?
A lot of my ideas are on hold due to dropping out of pursuing art as a career, but two of my main ones include;

• Doverhill - A comic / OC universe about some guys who live in a Massachusetts town. There isn't really an overarching story, more of a setting for more comedic stories, shorts, and OCs
• Fang and Iron - A world building project about a sci-fi universe merging with a world of demons and magic. It's mostly writing-based right now, with most of it being world building snippets and short stories

The good thing is both of these are universes rather than set-in-stone projects, so I can always pivot or branch out in what I do with them.

95.) Would you prefer unlimited money or unlimited time to make your projects?
Unlimited money would buy me unlimited time & save me from nearly crashing out every time I go to Micheal's

96.) Why do you create art?
Honestly? I feel like it's just something I do by nature at this point.

97.) Are you happy with what you create?
Fluctuates. Happy with finished works, unhappy with my unfinished/scrapped project graveyard

98.) Do you think everyone should make art?
Yes! It's human nature to create things & I think people should do it, regardless of skill, medium, or whatnot.

99.) What's advice you'd give to newer artists?
You should have some form of self-indulgent art thats separate from what you want to make into a career (or regularly post). I think a lot of peoples self-deprication & art burnout comes from making their practice solely for the sake of publishing to an audience, so having art where you don't have to worry about views, money, etc. is very useful.

For example; I reserve fanart for 'self-indulgent' works, I write a lot of private fanfictions (including in-depth AUs), and repaint toys as a break from illustration

100.) When did you finish this? How'd you feel?
2026-08-13... this sat in my obsidian vault for months. I'm not sure how I feel. Kinda tired? but I guess that happens when you're checking over 100 questions over and over again.