We were lucky to catch up with Napua recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Napua, thanks for joining us today. Some of the most interesting parts of our journey emerge from areas where we believe something that most people in our industry do not – do you have something like that?

A lot of artists feel very strongly against the use of AI in creating art. While I do agree that AI art can negatively hurt our industry (both by being competition, and also by “stealing” artists’ intellectual property), I feel that AI can be another tool for artists to use to make our work easier and sometimes even better.

In the 90’s there was a similar feeling about artists using digital tools like Photoshop. Many people felt that digital art wasn’t “real” art. However, feelings changed over time. Now it’s completely acceptable for an artist to use digital tools (like a stylus and tablet) to create digital art using traditional drawing techniques. Digital brushes have also evolved to simulate the look and feel of paint, like watercolor flowing and spreading across a canvas.

I feel that AI can become a useful tool. One such example is the posable 3D human forms that can be used as reference for poses or shading. What used to be a highly articulated artist mannequin, can now be simulated digitally. Over time, AI will be developed to increasingly help artists create art.

Napua, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m an artist and comic book writer. My traditional art is done with watercolor and usually focuses on anything and everything cute and whimsical. My digital art is done with Photoshop and usually focuses on comic book superheroes. I also write comic books… from kid-friendly stories (“The Duck Knight”) to stories for teens (“Mysterious Things”) and adults (“Macabre Tales” and “Dracula 1944”).

I was a self-taught graphic designer. Digital art became my hobby and passion. Years later, my art was noticed by a local comic book creator who asked me to collaborate on his series “Pineapple Man.” At this point I started to wonder if I could make my hobby into my profession. I joined local art clubs and met another local artist who had been a professional comic book colorist. He hired me as his assistant and taught me how to adapt my skills to meet industry standards. Since then I’ve worked on dozens of independent comic books.

My passion is creating art. I also love collaborating with other artists. The local art community in Hawaii is very welcoming and filled with aloha for each other. I’ve been very lucky to learn my craft surrounded by aloha. I enjoy bringing that feeling to other project I work on outside of Hawaii.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Have passion for whatever project you are doing! Genuine love for your work is contagious. Your team and peers will notice your excitement and enthusiasm and it will catch-on. Having a positive attitude also helps stave off burn out. If you believe that your work is honestly fun, you’ll feel like the luckiest person everyday!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Talent might get you noticed at first… but putting in the work and delivering on-time will get you far. Reliability makes people LIKE working with you. I like to think that I developed a reputation for being pleasant to work with and able to handle the tasks given to me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/napuaahina/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/napua.ahina/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@artbynapua
• Other: https://art-by-napua.printify.me/