It might seem quite daunting at first when you gaze at a digitally treated image and then look down at your pencil and paper and wonder.. “How on earth am I ever going to get my head around this stuff?” I must admit it is pretty confusing at first, especially when there is no one out there to help explain which tools you need to get started with. Yes its the artist that makes the art and not the tool but with computers it could mean improvements in workflow which in my opinion is very important for your creative productivity.

I’m going to go over some software and hardware that will come in handy, something I wish someone did for me when I started out.

Know which tools to use for the job

Software

It can sometimes be overwhelming when you start out with digital drawing/painting and you’re confronted with so many great options. Every tool comes with it’s advantages/disadvantages. The truth of the matter however is that it isn’t that important what you use; you can most likely get away with creating high quality imagery if you know your tool very well. When you’re out looking for the right tool for the job the main thing you need to consider is whether it is compatible with your workflow.

Here are some of the applications I’ll be reviewing for digital painting/drawing that I have experienced.

- Photoshop
- Painter
- OpenCanvas
- ArtRage

I’ve seen amazing artworks with each of these applications and all of them have something unique to offer in terms of workflow, useability etc.

- Photoshop (PS)

The digital art sector is pretty much dominated by this application. Most see Photoshop as the main solution for any 2D digital image manipulation/generation. This is absolutely true for everything but moving pictures and vector art generation.. as its a bitmap image editor (with basic vector capabilities.)

Pros
It wins hands down in terms of usability and workflow (at least for my needs.) This application is used in almost all creative studios, especially amongst photographers, VFX artists and designers. Photoshop is famous for its powerful layer capabilities, tools, color manipulation and that which should not be named (starts with “f”) I’ve used it for generating web graphics, manipulating 3D renders, magazine/newspaper adverts, illustrations, paintings, the list goes on.

Cons
In terms of digital painting, not much has been introduced after Version 7 that would really make much of a difference for those of us that use Photoshop only for its layers and brush tools. Yes you could argue that there are way more layer features but nothing that I believe really benefits enough to make the investment for an upgrade. CS2 and CS3 have come with more application crashes and seems to be quite taxing on memory. To defend those that believe that upgrading 7 is worth it I would say yes, if you’re doing a lot of print work and Image manipulation. It can also be said that Photoshop does not run on Linux, some have managed to run Photoshop 7 (partially) but after that things get messy… fact is, it’s not supported.

- Corel Painter

This is a big player in the world of Digital Painting, it is specialized towards simulating the feel of traditional media and makes available a wide range of tools that give your images the texture, spontaneity and essence of something created with raw materials like oil paints, crayon whatnot.

Image from Wikipedia

Pros
At the time that I’m writing this article I have to say that I don’t have a great deal of experience with this application. What I can say however from my own experimentations and from what I’ve heard from other people is that this application is used as something of a painting/illustration “enhancer.” You would use this application alongside something like Photoshop.

Cons
None that I can think of apart from that it’s not always great using this application independently, things tend to become a bit messy after using the traditional tools excessively. Another problem might come from having troubles with learning the UI, but this might be from my inexperience with the application as it is not very intuitive.

- OpenCanvas (OC)

You could say that this application is somewhat adopted by the online digital art cult of users that want to share their art knowledge in a social manner. OpenCanvas is used amongst many forum-goers as a means to “network” with their friends on a multi-user drawing canvas. It is popular for the fact that you can record sessions that you’ve done alone or with your friends. This acts as a great educational tool for artists on social networks.

Pros
The application is very simple, it’s got great hotkeys, interesting brush physics and to some the only way to start off an idea. Its common for some artists to use OpenCanvas as a starting point of inspiration.. After they’ve finished their line drawings they’d take it to another application for finalization. Sometimes you need to break away from applications that are heavy on resources and features and go back to the more “paper and pencil” approach.

Cons
Their recent versions have reintroduced network drawing but as far as I understand it not very accessible. The reason many people do not know about this application is because it is purely word of mouth and completely foreign (Japanese.) As time goes by its become harder to connect to friends over networks using the old version of OpenCanvas due to modern firewalls, routers, operating systems and blockers. The application is known to go out of sync and even crash after over-use.

- ArtRage

ArtRage is straightforward. You are handed a canvas and a minimal amount of tools, all aiming towards simulating real life art tools. The aim of this application is nothing more than a simple sketcher type tool for jotting down ideas or thumbnails.. it’s a great way to get started if you’re not in the mood for graphite staining on your hand and hooking up your scanner.

Pros
The interface is very user-friendly.. it is sometimes impossible to tell the difference between what is real and what is digital when using this application. The pencil tool is incomparable with any other pencil tool I have seen yet. The application supports the .psd format so it is easy to implement this into your workflow. It is insanely cheap.. as much as dinner would cost you at a restaurant. The paint brush physics is very ambitious and makes for great fun when blending different colors and strokes. Very comfortable for tablet PC use.

Cons
The interface is so easy that its actually a little dumbed down to be honest. You are left with very few features but what do you expect from such a small price-tag? The UI does feel sluggish at times and some features are not really desirable. They try to give you a real “desktop” experience by adding strange rulers and reference “snapshot” like cards that just harms workflow.

Hardware

If you’re thinking you’d get anywhere with just a mouse then you’re very brave. When starting out it is inevitable that you will go through trials trying to draw with a mouse; actually I encourage you to first try that because it would make you appreciate digital tablets so much more. Escaping to the world of Digital Art does not mean abandoning tools that we’ve come to love.. there has to be a sense of familiarity and a tablet pen is just that. The first time I heard “tablet” I thought it was some wonder drug that makes me draw better.. I was wrong.

What are Tablets?

A graphics tablet is a device that lets you draw on your computer. It usually consists of some sort of base to draw on, a pen and a mouse. It commonly uses electromagnetic induction technology. It’s kinda complicated really.. nothing you should be concerned about! You just need to know that it has a lot of awesome in it.

How does it work?

When you draw on a tablet information is sent to your computer, the area of your tablet represents the available area on your screen. It can however be set to whatever you want to, I prefer having it stretch to 1 and a half screens so my pen can reach my tools on the 2nd screen leaving me more space to draw. Your pen is able to send quite a lot of different behaviors in terms of the level of pressure you apply, which button you press, whether you’re using the back eraser or front nib. The pressure sensitivity, pen tilt, pen direction are factors where the beauty in tablets really lie.

Getting a tablet

Purchasing a digital tablet can be a very big investment, you have to pay if you want quality. This does not necessarily mean you need to go for the most expensive and biggest tablet you can find to draw well. On the contrary, it’s all about how you use the tool you are given to produce quality art.

I’ll talk about 2 tablets that I’ve had the chance to try out

- Wacom Intuos
- Genius

Wacom Intuos

There is one company that stands out in the production of tablets and that is Wacom, I could even go as far as saying that they are the only standard you should set your eyes on. Every studio in the world uses them and every digital artist I have come to know owns one.

Pros I have to speak out of personal experience and say that I’ve owned a Wacom for 5 years now and it has yet to break on me. This thing has gone through hell and back, survived weight of heavy objects, hot plates of food, being tossed around.. it traveled around the world like 2-3 times.. its so so sturdy. When buying a Wacom you can be certain of the fact that it will serve you for many years to come. The only thing thats been failing on me a little is the pen’s eraser but only because of years of chewing on it out of artist block and frustration ;P

Cons Sometimes there are driver issues with pressure sensitivity and you have to restart your drawing application or even sometimes your system.

Genius

Genius tries to compete in the market by creating digital tablets that are cheaper than the industry standard.

Pros
Not all of us have that much money to spend on shiny Wacoms. From what I’ve tried Genius isn’t that bad of a substitute and is considerably cheaper. Doesn’t do all that bad in terms of pressure sensitivity for the price.

Cons
As good looking as it may seem, the material is of low quality. When touching a Genius you can feel the difference, its made out of cheap plastic.. when you draw with the pen it feels like you’re scratching against sand paper. Pen nibs only last for a few days if used excessively.

Have money to spare?

Get a Wacom Cintiq.

Conclusion

Well, I hope that this article has served as a source of inspiration and gets you started on a enjoyable journey towards becoming a digital artist! There will be a lot of frustration with software not meeting your workflow needs and a lot of headaches with the hardware feeling like it’s so much harder than drawing with a pencil. The hardest thing you need to overcome is that you have to develop a keen sense of eye hand coordination with digital tablets. A great place to start your journey of learning is Conceptart.org Start a sketchbook thread there and get critique from fellow artists.

As with all things… practice makes perfect! Good luck!

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Drawings in screenshots created by Author and Angryscientist