also i'm not a furry or anything so shut up There's more to art than just paper and pencil. Millions of digital art pieces are on the internet already, with many more ahead in the future. Here's a tutorial on how to get started if you're interested in it. Drawing tablets Drawing tablets are used by pretty much every popular digital artist you'll see (that are decently talented). Drawing with a mouse is much harder, and I 100% DON'T recommend drawing with it. I think you can tell which one is mouse and which one is tablet. Drawing tablets can be expensive or cheap, depending on what kind you get. The one I'm using I don't recommend, it's super hard to set up, it was $300, it has literally one sentence of instructions, and I don't even know how to use it properly yet after 7 months. Drawing tablets can range from $80-$1000+. The expensive ones are ones with screens, like Cintiq 13hd, most likely with better resolution and stuff. The less expensive ones are Wacom tablets, usually without a screen. Me, personally, did not like Wacom tablets because I couldn't see anything and I found it really hard to work with, but so far I've heard great reviews on Wacom tablets. But if you have the money, seriously, get a Cintiq or something. Art programs FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T USE MS PAINT. SERIOUSLY, ARE YOU 7? There are tons of great and free art program options. I'll just list 3 for now: Medibang Paint Pro (which I use currently, great if you love having a darker background when you draw, free) I definitely recommend this one if you want a completely free program. It's amazing and also very easy to download, same with FireAlpaca. Paint Tool SAI (you can use it free for a while, almost every popular artist I know uses it) FireAlpaca (I used to use it, basically the same as Medibang Paint Pro, free) More expensive programs, like Photoshop, are recommended as well. Adobe programs and stuff are great for drawing, animation, editing, etc. The only downside is how much they cost, but there is a limited free trial to see if you like it or want to try it. I hear Photoshop is great for backgrounds and also drawing, and Flash is good for editing and animated (from what I've heard as well). There are some other programs out there, but I suggest these at least to get you started. Drawing art Drawing art can be easy for you, though it depends from artist to artist. Transitioning from paper to tablet is hard, trust me, but you get used to it pretty quickly. All I can say for people who are new to drawing tablets is practice! The only way I got used to mine was that way, and you get the hang of it after a while. Digital art is obsessive though sometimes, I'll tell you that. For me, I became so dependent on my tablet that I completely lost all traditional (paper) art talent, so now a lot of stuff I draw looks like trashy doodles. But it's definitely not negative, I still have a bunch of really good sketches and ideas that pop up occasionally. Also, I definitely suggest listening to music while drawing art! It keeps me so entertained. And if you don't like music, just listen to some podcasts or streams, which are great too. Posting art There are a lot of places to post art. You may have heard of a website called DeviantArt by now, considering you're on the internet. DeviantArt is by far the biggest art posting website. DeviantArt has tons of fandoms and places to post art, and you can get popular pretty quick on there. well this is kinda the end so have some art tips -Don't have a huge list of owed art like me. It sucks. -Requests are a good way to help you practice without feeling like you're just forcing yourself to draw random things. Just don't take too many! - Ever see those stupid white lines around black outlines or anything? This is your solution! Just make a layer below your lining for color (another tip) and use the paint bucket to fill it in. -NEVER USE SOLID BLACK FOR COLORING, LIKE JFC IT LOOKS REALLY BAD. -If you want to upload photos onto your phone use Dropbox. -Use anatomy references! It doesn't hurt anyone. -Don't trace or steal art. It doesn't end well. I even exposed someone by posting all of their traced art one time and a lot of people hated them c: -Don't make mary sues. If you don't know what those are, they're basically really cliche characters. If you need an example, I'll describe it: they're super strong, their parents died and they MIRACULOUSLY survived, they have a bajillion eye-bleeding colors, they were super depressed, they're really OP, they have a horrific backstory, super edgy looking, perfect in every way, etc. Perfect characters can't develop or really be anything. -A lot of artists use terms and words like "aaaa", "bab", "hiatus", ";w;"and use all caps a lot. Some artists also swear a lot (like me) -Uhh don't be like one of those super depressed and dramatic artists.. if you're depressed just talk to someone who'll understand -Don't have fetishes.. just don't -Don't be afraid to join fandoms you like. You might just get rejected by your peers or other people but in the end those human beings are worthless in your future -Don't get bad friends or be apart of the wrong group Have any questions I might be able to answer? Just pm me on here or comment (please ask me for music or artist suggestions)
you should also mention art styles and how to find your own, too. Just to let you know I'm trying to start getting into art, and my setup is the following I don't have the money for a drawing tablet, so my Lenovo Miix 510 does the job. Good palm rejection and a nice pen to go with it. I even like the pen tip despite it being quite hard. For now I'm experimenting with Autodesk Sketchbook and Krita. My friends (who are absolute idiots) were like, "get paint.net it's so easy oml and it's for pros". I immediately turned them down. A dog for motivational purposes (bork bork) Coffee and procrastination School to take up my time and soul Is that good or should I work on it
I didn't include art styles, because I'm really struggling with finding one myself. And yeah! Pretty much anything with a screen and pen can be used to make digital art. I used Krita at first, and hated it. Medibang Paint Pro is a lot better than Krita imo. If you want to download Medibang or anything here: https://medibangpaint.com/en/pc/ I've never even heard of paint.net? brb gonna go check it out ok the website looks like utter trash and i'm not even gonna try reviewing it Dogs are great <3 mine randomly come up to me when i'm drawing sometimes and they're good for references too if you need one I'm a procrastinator too dw and I still get stuff done School is weird and I hate homework yet I make things like this: So I think you're all set! i do mostly on forums, i just go ingame to hang out with friends and argue with people about the stupidest things
I mean the levels of pen sensitivity on the tablet is 2048 which is amazing for a windows 10 laptop like this but not as good as a drawing tablet from what I know. I'll check out Medibang when I can, and yes dogs are great motivational pets that make you want to squeeze them so you can get all that goodness inside you
some other tips: beginner? use what you got! its ok if ure playing around with the idea of digital art and only have ms paint. it's ok if all u have is a mouse. we all start somewhere. while mice are hard to use, it's completely possible to get good results with these tools as long as you put the time and energy into it. i use my mouse for most of my pixel art, and will even draw doodles with it when im particularly lazy to plug my tablet in. heres some stuff that ive done with only my mouse : x x x also about posting art & the art scene in general dA, instagram, and tumblr are popular sites to create spaces just for your art be careful of art theft, sign and/or watermark your work! dont compare yourself to other artists we're all different & all have areas of improvement to be worked on yes use criticism to improve yourself i feel as if the overarching idea is just to stay openminded, explore your options, and practice. dont get too caught up in the negative art scene, there's some real baddies out there. art's about improving yourself and having fun with your creativity.
also make sure you have a bucket-full of coffee or tea on the go before you start a project I'll PM you two somethin' if I end up making a piece that I'm near satisfied with
