It's all about the Benjamin's. Money equates to value, as illustrations start to fetch the same prices as "fine art" that perceived gap is closing. Artist's like Norman Rockwell are finally being seen as the master's that they were, others will follow.

I only draw Stan nude from my imagination, and those are just for me.

All the Loomis books. "Don't worry about being different, be good, these days that's different enough" John Asaro

What she said, she's very smart

Being able to repeat apparently mundane exercises over and over. I love the saying "Don't do it until you get it right, do it until you can't get it wrong"

I did the covers to the Haunted Mansion comic for Disney, and a "children's" book called More Bones for Viking.

Nearly impossible. My best recommendation is to find some like minded people locally, and get together periodically to draw and paint

30+ years and counting. At different times different amounts, anywhere from 15 hours a week to 60 hours a week. Somewhere in between is best ;)

I stand by this

I would recommend a minimum of 6 good pieces, no more than 12. Do samples until you have 6, then start replacing the worst ones with better ones until you have 6 you are really proud of, then top out at 12. Emphasize quality over quantity, and try to target your dream job as much as possible. Don't put anything in your portfolio that is a job you wouldn't want to do. When pitching, briefly introduce your self hand them your portfolio "reader ready" (oriented so all they have to do is open it) if on a tablet have it already qued and active with sleep mode turned off. Then keep your mouth shut unless specifically asked a question, answer the question and only the question, then be quiet. The more you talk the more likely you are to say something wrong, you are nervous after all.

1. In the simplest terms an illustrator conveys story through character, composition, and staging, often in a single self-contained image. Concept design is more often conveying narrative or functionality though design of one part of the overall project. Concept design usually needs to be more functional and interactive, where illustration just needs to look cool. However, there is a lot of grey area and crossover. The line has become very blurry. 2. Nearly nobody cares where you went to school or how you got good. Your portfolio is your degree. The industry cares about three things, are you good, can you meet deadline, and are you easy to work with. 3.NO! 4.It's fun, but intense. Deadlines and volume of work can be very fast paced, but the many different kinds of work can be very rewarding. 5.Because I like telling stories, and I don't want to work in Hollywood. 6.Anything you want. I would recommend a job that gives you some flexibility of schedule. 7.Go to their websites and look up their submission/application process. Go to conventions to network. 8.Find your specific passion and pursue it with everything you have. Try not to let the "job" aspect of it make you bitter or resentful.

This is an incredibly complex question. The easy answer is 1. Rough thumbnails breaking down the flow of your panels and their contents 2. Breakdowns refining the contents 3. finishes, final rendering. For a more in depth analysis I recommend reading the many books by Will Eisner and Scott Mccloud as well as How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. As for covers, that's usually handled by the graphic designer. Usually there is an established template that you can ask for from the client. Every so often the cover designer will do something unique, and that can be a lot of fun. Even more rarely you can fight to incorporate the title into the artwork.

It sounds as though you're doing things mostly correct. The only thing I would add to this is after you have read a section and copied the drawing, find a similar piece of photo reference (or get a friend to sit for you) and try to repeat the process on your own. Sometimes copying someone elses drawing can leave you with either a false sense of security or a feeling of emptiness (depending on your personality) because much of the problem solving was done for you by the original artist.

I don't think there is anything unique to digital art, it's just another medium. I would recommend focusing on the fundamentals regardless of your medium of choice. That being said, I do my digital work with the Apple pencil on an IPad pro in Procreate

Not really a true collaboration, but we have painted on each others paintings. The closest thing to a true collab was a book cover we did early in my career. I couldn't get the head right so she painted the whole head and a few other bits and bobs