Arven92's FAQs, all the answers! by ARVEN92 on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Hey there guys, here
Remember the FAQ journal I posted some weeks ago? Well, I managed to collect all the questions (even from other journals and messages) and found some time to answer them all I made this FAQ section for everyone to read, I split it into paragraphs, and if you still have more questions about me, feel free to ask! I hope you enjoy the journal

1-1.) What's your name?
Here on deviantART, I'm known as Arven. You can call me Arvy or Arv if you want, too. My full length pseudonym on the web is Panthera Arven.

1-2.) What's your REAL name?
Well, my real name is Maura, but I don't like it that much I prefer Arven much better!

1-4.) What does "Arven" mean?
I came up with this name while I was a Teen Titans addict. I thought it as an anagram of "Raven", the name of a character I loved. It has no meaning basically, but recently a friend told me that "Arven" means "The inheritance" in Danish. My reaction:

1-5.) What does "Maura" mean?
"Maura" comes from Latin and it's the feminine version of adjective "Maurus", which means "Moor" in English. Moor was the name the Ancient Romans used to call the Arabians. So, basically, my name means "Arabian woman". :3

1-6.) Where do you live?
I live in Rome, Italy.

1-7.) What do you do for a living?
I don't have a job yet. I am a student in the Degree Course in Pharmacy in the university of Roma Tor Vergata.

1-8.) What? But don't you want to become an artist when you graduate?
I wish I could. But as much as I can think of my life after graduation, I really can't think of me as a comic artist. Right now in Italy, chasing your dreams is not the wisest choice to do in my opinion. Perhaps, who knows. One day.

1-10.)Are you lazy or hyperactive?
First option. I'm too lazy to write that I'm lazy.

1-11.) Are you a professional artist? When did you start drawing?
Hell NO! I'm not professional, and I think I'll never be. I've been drawing ever since I have memories. I have drawn my first "wolf" at the age of four. But it has been just a leisure activity since then. Only five years ago, when I joined DA, I began to actually focus on improving. I have remained a hobbyist however.

1-12.) What are your hobbies?
I am a weird person My hobbies include drawing (of course), writing, daydreaming, and starwatching <-- this last activity is the one I love the most. I also enjoy spending time with my pets.

1-13.) What music do you like?
I like pretty much anything, except that one genre of music you listen in discos. Other than that, anything's just fine, from classical, to pop, rock, metal, cartoon soundtracks, and even a little jazz! My favourite singers, however, remain on pop/rock genre, with Nickelback and Max Pezzali.

1-14.) What's your favourite show?
I love all detective series. I began watching Kommissar Rex as a kid and loved it, then moved on to Castle and Body of Proof, which are currently my two favourite shows. I also enjoy Murder, She Wrote, NCIS and Don Matteo.

1-15.) What kind of animal do you like to draw most besides canines?
I love drawing felines really much, namely my favourite animal, the African leopard.

1-16.) Do you have any pets?
Yes, I have four cats. Two siblings: Murzim and Adhara. Adhara, the female, has recently had a kitten (I'm still deciding on the name XD). The fourth cat doesn't really have a fixed name. His current one is Rospo (= Toad in Italian), because he's ugly but cute at the same time x3
I've recently lost two of my cats. The first, Neve (= Snow), died a while ago. She was a beautiful pure white cat. The second, Rigel, was the brother of Murzim and Adhara, and my favourite of the litter. He has disappeared not so long ago. I'm still hoping he finds his way back to me, because I really love him. Let's cross fingers! <3

2-1.) Have you ever taken art lessons?
No I haven't. All I know, I have learned from personal studies and daily practice, and FYI, I don't think of myself as a good artist. I don't do it for the bawws, I'm just pretty sure that I can improve, that I can get better than my current level. The only art course I took was a one-year long course about how to make comics, held by . I learned a lot during that one year and I'll never thank him enough

To be honest, pretty much anything. A phrase said by someone, a song, a pattern in the sky, anything. I usually carry a sketchbook with me wherever I go, because inspiration strikes in the most unexpected moments. God, even during a chemistry lesson! Has it ever occurred to you to have the Periodic Table explained, and imagine each element as a different creature?

If there is something that really inspires me, is spending some time surrounded by nature. A trip to the mountains gives me more inspiration than anything else. Breathing fresh, pure air and watching breathtaking panoramas can be a blast for imagination. I highly suggest you give it a try!

2-3.) What do you use to draw?
For my comics as well as all my other pictures, I use a box of 120 Caran d'Ache Supracolour Soft coloured pencils. www.artdiscount.co.uk/images/p… (I have the metallic box though, not the wooden one) www.carandache.com/_imgm/Image… cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/c/0/0/…
For the lineart, I use any pencil I can put my hands on.
For the inking, I use five Staedtler Pigment Liner markers. www.paintblog.net/wp-content/u… www.google.it/imgres?hl=it&…
Supracolours are exceptionally versatile pencils. They are produced by Swiss brand Caran d'Ache, and they have a rather soft and slightly waxy lead, ideal for blending and gradient-shading. When water is poured on some pigment, this turns into watercolour. On one side, this is great, because it doubles the fun and utility of these pencils, but on the other hand, watch out! If you're working with Supracolours as pencils, keep away from water! Also, make sure your hands are dry. Even the sweat from your fingertips can mould the pigments. The full 120-pencil set is around 240 euros.
Pigment Liner are in my opinion the best markers on the market. Fast-drying and water proof, they last long and come in many variants. I have five different markers, each with a different tip thickness, ideal for illustrating which characters are close by (thicker lines) and which are far away (thinner lines) in a scene. Each marker is 3,50 euros.

2-4.) Do you use any other tools apart from coloured pencils?
Well yes, sometime I drop water on some pigment taken from my pencils and turn it into watercolours. Some other time, I use Copic Ciao markers, or graphite pencils, or even charcoals to draw. I can also use Adobe Photoshop CS4, but I dislike drawing digitally. For my videos, I use Pinnacle Studio and Sony Vegas Pro 10.0.

2-5.) What do you use to scan?
My scanner is called CanoScan 5600F. This huge, gigantic machine can scan at a resolution of 4800 x 9800 dpi with an output resolution of 300 dpi, meaning the resulting scanned file is humongous. What I most appreciate about this scanner is that it respects the original colours I used on my drawing, so I don't have to waste time adjusting them on Photoshop. I have no idea what the price is, I received it as a gift from my brother. Still, make sure you have a big desk before you buy it -with nearly 30x50x10 cm (10.7" x 19.4"x 3.8") it's a large, enormous machine.

2-6.) How do you add speech bubbles to your pages?
I add the speech bubbles on Adobe Photoshop CS4. On how I do it, I simply follow the steps of this tutorial: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSlTkL…

2-7.) How can you make such bright light effects? Are they done digitally?
No, they're not. Everything I do, I do traditionally. For the light effects, I use a special white pencil named Staedtler Lumocolor Permanent. www.everydaypens.com/431-1780-… It can write over other things, including other pencil layer, and on all materials, even glass and metal. It remains bright and vivid and it doesn't mix with the underlying layer of colours, so it's perfect for light effects. For the stars and all liquid-looking surfaces, I use a white acrylic marker called Uni Posca. www.squidink.it/media/catalog/… This also writes over the layer of colours, but it remains much brighter than Lumocolor, so it's not suitable for average-looking light effects, because it would overdo them. Also, it has much more precision than Lumocolour, but it's harder to remove if you make a mistake. I use it to add the shines to eyes, stars, sparkles on water, and sometimes, to outline sunrays.

2-8.) Where did you get your pencils, and what do you do when you run out of one of them?
I got my pencil at a local art shop near my house. My mother gave them to me for my sixteenth birthday, and I still keep them ever since. When I run out of a single pencil, I return to my art store, that also sells pencils separately, and buy it.

2-9.) Do you draw storyboards before drawing a page or you just happily go with the flow?
I used to happily go with the flow for the whole first chapter. I had the story planned out, but no storyboard, and I sketched the pages out until I liked them. But from chapters 2 on, I do use storyboards. They are really helpful! Here are my storyboards for Chapter Three: sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos… sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos…

2-10.) What is the most difficult part while drawing a page? What's the easiest?
Well, I'd say the hardest is the colouring part. It takes ages, and I have to re-outline the lineart while I colour, which takes extra time and effort. As for the easiest one… Maybe it's… hmmm, I don't know XD

2-11.) What's the process for making a particular page?
The process is as follows:
-Storyboard (tiny drawing of the entire page. It helps me define shots, perspectives, and bubble placements)
-Rough sketch (I sketch out a first-impression of the storyboard on a full A4 page. I'm not too detailed on it, it can be fixed later)
-Detailed sketch (I modify what I don't like from the old sketch and start adding faces, expressions and all the details. This is more precise than the previous)
-Lineart (Once I'm satisfied with the sketch, I ink it. Careful not to make mistakes!)
-Colouring (The longest step. I colour the lineart traditionally)
-Scanning
-Lettering (I open the scanned file on Photoshop and add the speech bubbles where I had planned them. After hitting Save, the page is ready).

2-12.) How long does it take to finish a page?
The whole page making process can last up to 12 hours, which I usually distribute over 2 or 3 days.

2-13.) HURRY UP AND MAKE NEXT PAGE THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING MEEEH! AUGUAUGHHAAAAAAA!!!11!
Well, I am glad that you're enjoying the comic, and the fact that you can't wait for each page motivates me even more to make the next. But please, don't demand it. I find it extremely rude. In a second, it minimizes all the hard work I put into my drawings. Seriously, I post a brand new page, and all you manage to write is "Make next page NOW!"? You have no idea how frustrating that is. Like I said in the previous question, it takes me up to twelve hours to complete a page, and beside that, I've also got private life: university exams, laboratories, seeing my friends, and resting. Yes, I rest too. Moreover, I've never missed an update in the past year, ALWAYS posting a page every Saturday, and when I knew I wasn't gonna make it by that week for any reason, I'd warn everyone in advance.
So, again, I'm very happy that the comic makes you excited. But please, respect my timetable and don't demand the next page. Thanks.

2-14.) Do you have a full walkthrough on how you make your comics?
Yes I do.
Illustrated walkthrough: arven92.deviantart.com/art/Pag…
Video walkthrough: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC2NB_… www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du-EgX… www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvqOUG… www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdDHS5…

2-15.) What kind of traps (mistakes) are lurking for you during drawing? Can one mistake destroy the outcome completely and makes you start over? Have you ever started drawing a page again because you made a mistake? Or had an accident while drawing a page (like a cat stepped on it, eat it or something was spilled on your desk and reached your papers)?
The most common mistakes are in the lineart, like, I outline a detail that shouldn't be there or a screw up an expression. For minor mistakes, I go over the pen with a white acrylic marker that covers the ink.
The most serious mistake is the ripping of the paper, especially while you're erasing at the edges. It did happen to me once to start a page over, for this very reason. It was the old page seven, it got ripped during the sketch: arven92.deviantart.com/art/Rip… so I had to redraw it O:

2-16.) Do you have some tips on anatomy?
Sure thing. OBSERVE! If you want your anatomy to be accurate, there is no other way than to observe real animals and people. Look at your house dog, or go to the zoo, or google wildlife pictures. Try realistic drawings before you develop your own style. And remember that "style" does not justify anatomy mistakes. Don't hide behind the "IT'S MAH STYLE, THE ANATOMY IS MY INTERPRETATION!11!!", 'cause there's no such thing as "interpreting" anatomy. Anatomy is that, deal with it.
If you want to get REALLY detailed with your illustrations, I suggest buying Animal Anatomy for Artists, by Eliot Goldfinger. It's an extremely detailed book that illustrates all body parts of the different animals from various angles.

2-17.) Do you have some tips for a beginner comic artist? How do you come up with plot, characters and backgrounds?
Sure. Being a beginner myself, I don't have that much experience, but I'll be glad to share what I have learned. To come up with a comic, you need a lot more than just characters. Setting, for example. Ask yourself questions about the plot. Where does the story take place? What is it about? In what year/season/century/month are we? If the story takes place during an actual historical period, the best option is research anything you can about it. Characters come last, first off, you need the plot. Remember, it's the characters that depend on the plot, not the other way around. Mathematically, plot > characters. The plot is more important. The plot defines which characters are in the story. Does the story take place in Nineteenth century? Well, surely there won't be any "goth" dressed characters, because goth was not a fashion during that century. This is a very common mistake of many comic artists, me included: deciding the plot AFTER the characters. That's wrong, and you can see it very clearly in Chakra. What I really don't like about my comic is its total lack of coherence. Not only because there are sparkle woofs, but also because the whole plot is inconsistent. If were to go back, I'd rewrite it better, and that's why, for my next comic, I'm going to enhance this aspect.
When you have an idea of the plot, try to make a summary of your story in a single sentence. Then, rewrite it, but in a paragraph. Then, be more detailed: start adding how, when and why things happen. Be even more detailed: describe every single thing happening in each scene. You can continue by going chapter by chapter, page by page, and even panel by panel. Make sure the story is entirely planned out before you actually start your comic. Add subplots, cliffhangers, flashbacks, mysteries and twists to make the story appealing and interesting to read.
For the actual comic making, I highly recommend Making Comics, by Scott McCloud. It's an illustrated book that explains everything you need to know about making comics. It's simple to understand, fun to read and very straightforward, with lots of examples and exercises you can try.

2-18.) Are you able to draw well in any other styles than the current one you use for The Chakra Heroes?
I can draw realistic animals, but in my opinion, I need to practice harder in this field. I can draw in Ginga style, but if I were to draw just naturally, I would use the style of the comic.

2-19.) Your art is great! How did you reach your level, and what can I do to become as good as you are?
Okay, first thing first. My art is NOT great. I've got a long way to go before I actually become good. Anyway, I do admit I improved since I joined DA. I will be glad to tell you how I got from this level arven92.deviantart.com/art/Dau… to this arven92.deviantart.com/art/Afr… As I said, I began drawing seriously only after I joined DA, almost four years ago. Since then, I practiced and practiced. I drew every day, and I failed. Yes, you heard me. Failing is included in the process of learning. If you don't make mistakes, you don't improve, because you don't learn from your mistakes. Practice drawing figures from different angles and in different poses. Draw an animal performing a specific action, then ask your friend to guess which action the animal is performing from your picture. If they understand your pictures, it means you're on the good way. But don't stop there, keep practicing. Keep repeating the same exercises until you get what you want. If you give up once and think "this pose is too hard, I'll never master it", you're done for. DON'T. GIVE UP. EVER. Also, don't think of yourself as perfect. Self-depression is not good either, but I'd say something in the middle will do: "okay, I'm at a fair level, but this is not my best. I feel I can do much better." Have the sense of admitting that you made something wrong. Accept critique. And when someone points out that you made a mistake, don't eat them alive. Try to follow their suggestion. You'd be surprised to see how much Chakra has improved just thanks to the advice I received from other Deviants
Again, I'm not even half the way to my full potential, that I'm sure of. And if I could reach a certain level and have a certain improvement, you can too. It's not immediate and it's not easy. It takes patience and practice, but it's absolutely not impossible From the bottom of my heart, good luck!

2-20.) I don't like your art, I think it's full of mistakes. Is there a way I can let you know without being flamed to death?
Sure there is. Just feel free to say it. If there's something I don't do, it's flaming. I make LOTS of mistakes, and sometimes I don't even notice XD So when people point them out, I'm really happy. I enjoy receiving critique and helpful tips on how to improve my drawings. I'm not the kind of person who says "If you can't write something good about my art, then GTFO". Hell NO. My motto is: "I want to improve. Feel free to critique me, HARSHLY if that's needed". And by harsh, I don't mean that you have to be offensive. By harsh, I mean that you may feel free to entirely skip the good side of my drawings (if there are any XD) and just tell me all the wrong things you found. That's fine with me, and if you could also tell me why you think they're wrong, or give your suggestion on how I should make them better, that'd help even more! What I don't tolerate, is people typing "UR ART SUX!!11!1!" and then running off. That's not constructive or helpful, that's just trolling

2-21.) How can you get so many pageviews/favourites/comments on your works? I'm jealous!

I honestly have no idea I don't really mind pageviews or favourites, but I greatly value comments. One thing I know, is that, if you want comments, you have to give comments. DeviantART is a community, meaning, a place where people share not only their art, but most importantly, conversations.

If Deviants post a comment on your picture/profile, don't ignore them. Reply to their messages. Who knows, you may find some valuable friends! I have noticed that artists who avoid answering to or ignore their messages tend not to get that many. Why? Because people want to be listened to. If you knew a person was going to ignore your comment no matter what you said, you wouldn't even want to spend your time finding the right words to write a nice message.

Comment on other people's artwork, post Forum threads, write critique. There are tons of different methods you can use to comment. It's going to take long, but once you do this for some time, you'll gradually get more and more friends, so more and more comments.

Personally, I really wish I had more time to spend commenting like I used to. Sadly, University is taking its toll But I wish you the best!

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3.) About Chakra

3-1.) When did you start Chakra?
Chakra started back in 2008 as a leisure project. The cover was posted on December 16th, 2008. The comic has lately turned four years old. YAY!

3-2.) What inspired you to draw Chakra?
I was inspired by Playstation 2 videogame "Okami". That game is amazing, it has such a great plot and brilliantly thought characters, everything about it is just awesome. After I completed the game (and after crying at the very last part ), I could already see episodes from an epic adventure in my mind. Slowly the plot evolved into a spin off story of Okami. But I wasn't too convinced with it, and later, the plot took a different path from the game, so that today, there are only some references to Okami here and there, but the plot, characters and events are original. I did, however, keep the "inspired by Okami" tagline on the cover, as a thank you for the amazing inspiration this game gave me.

3-3.) Where does Chakra take place and when?
Chakra takes place on the Western coast of Nippon (Japan), during the 100-year gap between Shiranui's death and Amaterasu's rebirth (Okami).

3-4.) How many chapters does the comic have? Do they follow a pattern?
Chakra is made up of six chapters, and I'm currently working on the third one. Yes, they do follow a pattern: the chapters are called "Call Me C.Y.", "Here Come The Heroes", "All Hell Breaks Loose", "Keener Than Blades", "Red In Tooth And Claw", and "A Hero Never Dies". Now, look what you get when you read the first letter from each chapter.

Call Me C.Y
Here Come The Heroes
All Hell Breaks Loose
Keener Than Blades
Red In Tooth And Claw
A Hero Never Dies.
'Looks like I haven't named the chapters randomly, huh?

3-5.) Are the Chakra Heroes full wolves, or are they hybrids?
They're almost all hybrids/fantastic, except C.Y., Hielo and Kuma.
Led is a wolf, but has the colours of a kingfisher (bird). Cheetah is half wolf, half cheetah, Motyl is a winged wolf and Orca has the colours of an orca.

3-6.) What was your inspiration for the Chakra characters and their designs?
Well, if I have to be frank, they came pretty randomly.
Led was inspired by a video I saw, which was in Czech and involved kingfishers. C.Y. was invented after I saw the picture of a kitten affected with cyclopia, who was indeed called Cy (Not C.Y., but still XD).
For the other ones, I just picked my favourites from several animal classes - Cats (at the time, my favourite was the cheetah), bugs (butterfly, Motyl) sea creatures (Orca), and bears (Kuma).
I had already created Hielo earlier, he was based on a siamese cat.

3-7.) Why does Ketek look like Monferno?
Ketek and Monferno look similar because they're both based off the same, existing animal, the mandrill: www.ilovetravel.it/Mandrillo.j…

3-8.) Which of your characters is your favourite among the Chakra Heroes? And among the Zodiac Demons? Which is your least favourite?
That's a really hard choice. If I were to pick, I'd say Kuma is my favourite Chakra Hero, I love him! Among the Zodiac Demons, I really, REALLY love Kozel the Sheep. My least favourite is probably Shirotora.

3-9.) Is *insert name of character here* going to die/come back to life/get married/have children/become a tomato/etc.?
I'm sorry, but I can't reveal upcoming plot details about any character. Just stay tuned and read the upcoming pages, you'll get to know eventually!

3-10.) Are there any romances in the comic?
Yes there are! So far, the most obvious couple is Led x C.Y., but there will be more. And YOU, which pairing do you support?

3-11.) What do you think about fan-fiction, spin-off and fan characters that are inspired because of 'Chakra'? Do you like them or they annoy you?
I love fan-fiction and fan-characters based on Chakra! When I first started the comic, I'd have never imagined it would become popular one day, and I'm always glad to know that my work inspires other artists to this point.

3-12.) Why you decided to have cameos in your story? How many cameos did you collect and how? How often do people ask you to put their character in your story?
I decided to let some cameos in at the very start of the comic, when I didn't have some roles (like Kobura's and Tiikeri's one, for example). I asked my closest friends at the time to design a couple new characters for me and they gladly accepted. As the comic went on, however, more and more people asked me if their character could be in the story too. I still had some really minor, free roles and so I accepted. But as requests increased, I noticed that in order to make more characters be in the story, I'd have had to modify the plot, so I started declining the requests. So, to answer the question, I have currently six cameo characters in Chakra (Near, Kobura, Furie, Diviak, Omen and Charon, two characters yet to be introduced). Tiikeri was originally a cameo, but my friend never completed her design, then she deactivated her account, so I kind of made Tiikeri myself.
As for the how often, well, I get asked all the time by deviants to let their character in my comic, despite the notice I left on the Chakra group: chakra-comic.deviantart.com/ga…

3-13.) Will there be more deaths in your comic? Or bloody battle scenes with flesh being thorn from the bone?
The upcoming battle scenes won't be very bloody, because characters will mostly use their powers... but yes, there will be more deaths in Chakra!

3-14.) So far 'Chakra''s plot has been focused on action and pushing this action forward and all other information about the characters is shown only on Wiki. Why you decided to leave the past of the characters out of the comic? Why you decided not to show the Heroes's recruitment process?
I was actually planning to make a second Chakra comic after I finish this one, and to make it a midquel, meaning I would tell what's going on during the one-year gap between chapters 1 and 2. This project, however, is currently on hold. The reason why I didn't show the past of each character is that I feared it might become too subjective for each of them, as my main aim is showing their story as a group rather than as singles. That's why chapter two starts from the moment the Chakra Heroes are formed.

3-15.) Out of the main characters only Hielo is left unpaired with anyone, while everyone else is either in love or will be in love, or have quasi-love relationship with someone else. Why there is so much 'love' and 'pairing' in 'Chakra'? What made you pair so many characters with each other? Do you think that the comic would be worse without all those love couples and love issues?
Aside from the main plot, which involves the Heroes searching for the Sword and fighting Jackal, I felt the story needed a subplot, something that could fill the gaps and explain why things are the way they are. I also needed to show the Heroes interact between each other as a group, or it would have given the impression of seven wolves being there by chance, without any true relationship. Romance is a strong way of connecting characters, so and I thought it could be interesting to see characters like Orca react to love. But romance isn't the only subplot I chose There are several minor ones that are yet to be seen, of a certain Hero being torn between love and loyalty, of another character trying to prove himself worthy of something, etc.
And for the last question, if Chakra were to have no romance, rather than worse, I'd say it would be very different, maybe even a bit empty. Perhaps I would have chosen another strong subplot rather than love, who knows! x3

3-16.) You had a lot of work re-designing all the characters before they made their final appearance. Why you decided to change their look?
Several characters, especially some of the enemies, were really complicated. Take Ushi, for example. I never managed to figure out his horns (in the initial design). Seen from the front, he looked ridiculous, and he had several other things (rings, scars, extra floof) that weren't really needed. Tiikeri, in her initial design, has a very dizzy stripe pattern. I tried to give her a simple one in her final rendition. Orca used to have some additional white spots on her face that only made her look more confusing, so they were removed. Basically, I chose to change some designs because they were too busy and complicated to be repeated from various angles for the whole length of the comic.

3-17.) Would you change something about the Chakra Gang if you had a chance? Appearance? Personality? Role in the story?
My, yes I would! If I were to go back, I'd totally change Led's design to a simpler one, for the reasons I explained above. When I started the comic, I didn't care about his fur, but now, I realize he's a pain to draw all the times. About a role in the story, I'd probably have given Oniken more attention. Sure, he is going to have his share of attention, but I feel he could do a lot more for the comic.

3-18.) Do you plan to make any other comics after you finish Chakra?
Yes I do! There is currently this other project I have in mind, about a certain leopard who struggles to keep her land clear of intruders…

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4.) About Africa

4-1.) What is Africa about?
Africa tells the story of a female leopard, the struggles and challenges she has to face every day and her rivalry with a male leopard who threatens to take her land. Raised and educated the way of the leopards, Africa has learned that living alone is the best way of life, and that depending on someone else is a sign of weakness. This belief she has will be continuously tested, and she will have to prove herself to demonstrate its validity. Could a leopard actually live in a pride?

4-2.) Where does the story take place?
The plot takes place in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.

4-3.) Is this a realistic comic?
Yes it is! After five years of Chakra, I think a change in styles is interesting. While Chakra was completely out of this world, Africa is very realistic and tangible.

4-4.) Will we see more wolves?
Sadly, there won't be any wolves in the story. This time for a change, I planned the plot before planning the characters, and there are no wolves in Africa. We will see, however, some canines, like the jackals and maybe fennec foxes. There will be hyenas, too.

4-5.) Does this mean you're going to stop/delay Chakra?
Hell, NO! For absolutely no reason I'm going to stop or slow Chakra. Africa is still in the making, I'm currently defining character designs and filling the gaps in the plot. This requires time, and I'm unlikely to actually start the comic before next spring.

4-6.) How did you come up with your characters' names?
I made some research on the web. Yes, it involved Google Translate, but not ONLY that. I actually researched some Swahili names. Yes, despite its Italian-like sound, "Mondo" is actually a Swahili word!

4-7.) Who is Africa's father? What does he look like? Will he appear in the comic?

Sadly, Africa's father won't appear in the comic, simply because he's not really relevant to the story.

Male leopards don't take part in raising the cubs. They only mate with females and then just leave them be, because both males and females are solitary animals, and only meet during heat. It's very rare for leopards in the wild to meet with their fathers, that's why I didn't include Africa's father in the plot.

But I do imagine him to be a rather bulky male, with the same spotted pelt as his daughter's, and green eyes.

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5.) About my art policies

5-1.) Can I use your art on my blog/facebook/website/whatever?
Since you asked me, I'm likely to say yes, but will always carefully consider each situation. If I happen to find my art on your website without you previously asking me, I'm going to report you. Please respect my art policies. I am an open and disposable person, but I don't tolerate people taking advantage of my disposability to do what they want with my art.

5-2.) Can I use your poses/comic pages/art in general as a reference for my pictures?
Yes you can. I'm flattered that you find my art helpful, and I give you permission to reference anything you want from it.
But please notice, REFERENCE does not mean TRACE. You should not simply copy-paste my work just because you can't get the pose on your own. On the contrary, you should STUDY images to understand WHY I made them that way/how I achieved that pose. This is what art is about. Tracing is not art, it's stealing.
Also, please, if you are going to use my art as reference, I'd appreciate if you gave me credit.
I reserve the right to report any art used without my permission or properly given credit. Thank you.

5-3.) I see you have fakemon in your gallery. Can I use them for my comic/roleplay?
Once again, if you ask me first, I'm very likely to say yes. The fact that it's on the internet doesn't automatically make it yours to use.

5-4.) Can I translate your comic in my language?
That would be greatly appreciated. Before you translate, please make sure to check the group and see whether a translation of the comic to your language already exists. If there is no translation, or if you see that the old translator has stopped posting pages for a long time, you may as well take the responsibility to translate it. Please make sure to let me know first.

5-5.) Can one of my characters appear as a cameo in your comic?
I have been asked this many, MANY times, and sadly, the answer is no. As I already said before, I did use to accept cameos in the comic at first, because the plot could do with some more characters. But now that the plot has been decided and that the comic has gone on for over 100 pages, it can no longer be modified. STILL, nothing prevents you from creating a character. I'll be glad to add it in the 'cameos' folder in Chakra-comic, and it can have its own place in the domain of my comic, even without directly appearing in it.

5-6.) Can I draw fan art of Chakra/Africa?
Of course you can! Fan art is always welcome and greatly appreciated.

5-7.) Can I help writing Chakra Wiki? chakrabattleofthetitans.wikia.…
Of course! Any help expanding and enriching the Wiki is very well appreciated! There are several pages that need revisions and content, and you're more than welcome to help. Before you start editing though, please take a moment to read the Editing policy here: chakrabattleofthetitans.wikia.…
Thank you.

5-8.) Can you donate me some points/a premium membership?
I wrote on my front page that I will donate Memberships to deviants who deserve them, and I'm not lying. I DO donate Memberships. But I'm not going to donate them to you just because you ask me, I may as well refuse. I reserve the right to personally choose the people who I think deserve a premium. And no, these people are not just my closest friends, it can be pretty much anyone.
As for the points, I'm likely to donate you some if you ask, unless a hoard of people does the same before you because they read this line I wrote I'm not a point ATM machine

5-9.) Would you like to take part in my contest?
I would love to join contests, it feels like a lifetime since I last joined one. However, private life, university, commissions and comic making are enough to fill my schedule. I have little to no time for contests, sorry.

5-10.) Can you watch me?
Okay, this is not referred to a Deviant in particular, so please don't take it personally. But if I had found your art matching my interests, I'd have watched you long ago. What do you use your 'watch' button for? To follow Deviants whose art you find interesting and appealing, right? Well, so do I.
"But Arven, you're mean!"
Am I mean for expressing my opinion? I didn't say your art is ugly or bad. I just said it doesn't match my interests. Why do you even bother asking the question if you can't handle a negative response from me? You could have simply written "Watch me." without the question mark in that case.
"That does it, in this case I'm not watching you either!!11!"
Do as you wish, I won't be the one to stop you.

5-11.) Can we be friends?
Of course we can. Differently from the watch, being friends has no restriction to me. Feel free to talk to me anytime you feel like it, I'm always here for everyone.

5-12.) Do you do requests, art trades, collabs or commissions?
Sadly, I have stopped doing requests and art trades long ago, and I reserve collabs to special occasions. I simply haven't got time for them. I do, however, accept commissions. They are closed at this very moment, but will reopen soon.

5-13.) I sent you a message/note. Why haven't you replied yet?
If you sent me a message, I'm bound to have received it. The reason why I haven't answered yet is because lots of other people sent me a message, too. I have lots of comments to answer, watchers to thank, suggestions to review and to give, discussions to make and lovely conversations to follow. Long story short, I'm flooded with messages, so it takes me a while to reply to each and every one of them. Yes, EACH and EVERY one, because I seriously appreciate comments and I'm always up to listening to what people have to say. It may also happen, however, that my messages can get auto-deleted because of a glitch going on on my DeviantART. If that happens, I will sadly lose part of my messages, and that might include yours. If you wrote me an important message and see I haven't answered you by one week time, please resend your message.

5-14.) Are you selling your comic? How much is it?
Yes I am. Chapter One has been printed and is ready to be sold. There is still plenty of copies left! The comic and shipping is USD 24 if you pay with Paypal, or USD 28 if you play with money order. Please contact me via Note for more info.

And there you go Once again, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask! I'll be adding the answered question to the joural^^

Thank you!