1-Who are you?

I'm a comic artist from a place known as Estradinha, in the interior of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I started drawing at the same time I became literate (1987 - my teacher read the comics with me to help me) and never stopped. I studied journalism and law in college, but the opportunity to work in comics only happened in 2019. It was difficult to break the bubble of opportunities. Here in Brazil, comic artists who really work are usually middle-class white people who can take courses, dedicate themselves to producing comics without having to work to pay the bills. There is no problem with that, but everything is difficult when you come from poor backgrounds, exceed all expectations, reach some professional quality and always find the doors closed.

2-What do you do for a living? How does making art fit in your life?

I've been living the dream for 4 years and today I'm providing quality of life for my family like never before with the production of comics. I started working professionally for the American industry about 3 months before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. I can say that my family and I were saved by comics. I don't know what would have happen to us during the biggest pandemic of all time without jobs, with nowhere to earn money in a country led by a genocidal president. I was very lucky to be able to work from home with my son and wife without having to go outside.

3-How would you describe your art style? What do you think helped you develop it?

My art style is traditional old school (or I try to), but with a dark touch, full of gray tones and flashing lights. I always mix new digital tools. I've had countless artistic experiences that have helped me expand my skills and with each job I've been experimenting with new possibilities (always with the client's consent, of course). The experiences I had with painting on canvas (oil/acrylic) from hyper-realism to impressionism, watercolor, INK and even the 3D market (3D'sMax) were essential to become what I am today.

4-Name a couple or three artists that you admire, and that made an influence in your own art.

Greg Capullo - it was his art on "Spawn" during my teenage years that made me decide what I wanted to be aesthetically in my art. Greg has the ability to know the right dose for what is needed in a narrative. I try to emulate him as much as I can in terms of art.

Ivan Reis - is definitely someone who knows how to do oldschool properly. Every page he produces is a lesson. I avoid looking at his drawings because he always makes me feel like shit as an artist. Looking at his art makes me feel like a guy working out at the gym already feeling like a strong man until a bodybuilder comes along to use the machines and makes us feel like chickens.

Bilquis Evely - here we have the art mix of someone who understands what she is doing (she is not imitating someone else) and who has the sensitivity to present something that the world of comics (dominated by men) does not have. She is today the great artist of Brazil and one of the best in the world.

Geraldo Borges - is a complete artist, who was able to reinvent himself to no longer be one in the middle of the market. His art is full of movement showing that he really knows what he's doing. Geraldo is proof that art speaks for the artist. The art attests to the quality of his work. Also, he is a very polite and kind person to anyone. Even though I was a nobody, he always gave me great advice.

5-What's a pro art tip you discovered recently? How are you using it in your art?

We get old and just want shortcuts to buy more time. Two cases have come to my attention recently. The first was the advent of art by Artificial Intelligence: honestly, I understand the reason for copyright reasons, but I think it's a waste of time to fight a technological evolution. A quality artist is not made by tools, but by skills and ways of seeing the world (which only he has). As much as an AI can imitate an artist, it will not be able to imitate the marginal art of Claudio Zéfiro. AI will flood the market with images made by those who don't know any technique and will make the market saturated to later become a tool in the hands of professionals just as 3D was in the early 2000s and the light table was from the 1990s onwards.

The second and most recent one was when I got access to the latest update for The Crosshatching Experience Brush Set for Procreate, and I'm loving the "Pressure Hatching" brushes. They helped me speed up many hatching processes (since I draw directly with inks) and allowed me to spend more time on the core elements of a scene.

6-When did you discover digital art? How was your first ever experience with Procreate? What role plays Procreate in your everyday life?

In the year 1999, I was working as a cartoonist in a local newspaper and for the first time I saw someone using Photoshop in the newsroom. It was wonderful to see that possibility of digital manipulation (I was so new to the subject that what amazed me was just the guy changing the color curves). I bought a magazine at the newsstand that taught Photoshop 6.0 and asked a cousin to install the app on his computer so I could practice (at the time it was very expensive to have a computer). So many years passed until, in 2018, I decided that I would quit my job to work in the comic industry after getting a lot of encouragement from my friends. I saw Procreate on an artist's Instagram and was blown away by the line smoothing settings. I decided to buy an iPad 6 (don't laugh at me, but before that I used to hide at work and draw with a cellphone and a capacitive rubber pen). Currently, I use Procreate all day and even take my iPad to the beach (my wife is furious, but deep down she's jealous).

7-What would you tell someone approaching Procreate for the first time?

Take your time. You will always be the artist according to the time you dedicated. Don't think you need to take a course with the greatest artist of all time or join a full Procreate course or even an iPad with a 4 meter holographic screen that connects to SpaceX to make good art. You need to have a regular practice. A good airplane pilot achieves quality with hours of practice and not with the most advanced airplane. It's better to do a basic BOM with equipment suited to your financial moment than to use the most powerful device to try to execute an advanced technique without quality.

8-What is your favorite Procreate Manero brush set and why? How do Manero Brushes fit in your workflow?

My favorite is The Crosshatching Experience brush set. When Procreate started to develop the brush studio in depth, I started looking for many brushes to optimize my workflow. I was lucky enough to find Ittai Manero's inking brush set on Instagram in a profile that advertised brushes. Today I use it completely in my arts, especially the hatch brushes.

When I see videos of artists doing inks, looking patient like Tibetan monks, I realize how this is performance that doesn't apply to the real world. Because you can't spend an hour doing thousands of lines in a background. Those who work in comics and need to meet deadlines know that the work marathon leaves no time to spare. It's much better to buy brush packs made by experienced artists, who know how the production routine is, than trying to break your head in tutorials to make a brush.

9-Final thoughts? And where can people check out your art?

Finally, I want to thank Ittai Manero for being able to be here in this space giving this interview and for being able to promote my work. I advise everyone who is wanting to enter this market or who is already consolidating a career not to close the doors to those who are arriving. Sometimes a new Kim Jung Gi may be DMing you.

I'm on Instagram as @clovisbatebola and on Facebook under the same name. I recently opened my Patreon profile to showcase my work, give comic production tips and launch my own comic called The Glory Manifest. The first edition will be available for free at https://www.patreon.com/posts/glory-manifest-76225942

Check out Clovis's Instagram Check out Clovis's Facebook Go to Clovis's Patreon

Artist Spotlight is a place where I'm interviewing artists that I personally admire, who's art I find very inspiring, and that also happen to use Procreate and my brushes as part of their artistic routine. Watch this space for more interviews in the future, and make sure to check each artist's links to show your support!

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Cheers!

Ittai

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