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Daniella
Okay so I've decided that I want to get more serious about digital art than the cool yet limited app I have on my Nintendo 3DS... where's the best place to start?
Does everyone use photoshop, or are there special programs made just for artwork? I'm assuming there are, and if so which one would you recommend? I'm willing to purchase it if it's really good.
What would be the best drawing tablet to purchase?
Any other useful tips for someone wanting to start getting more into digital art?
Thanks in advance :)
By digital art, since I know that covers a ride range of things, I do not mean editing others photos or my own. I want to create things from scratch. I have a full sketchbook of things like portraits and landscapes, so I would like to continue that only... digitally. :)
Answer
Here are some things that might help you get started with illustration and design:
Free:
- Gimp (download, similar to Photoshop)
- Inkscape (download, similar to Illustrator)
- Lunapic (online, similar to Photoshop)
- Pixlr (online, similar to Photoshop)
- Blender (download, similar to Maya, a 3d design program)
- Autodesk Sketchbook Express (download, similar to Corel painter)
------> Autodesk software is available for free for students at:
------> http://students.autodesk.com/?nd=download_center
Paid:
- Photoshop (Photoshop elements is a cheaper alternative, it comes free with some tablets)
- Illustrator
- Corel Painter (you can get a free version of painter with certain tablets)
- Sketchbook Pro 6 (similar to Corel Painter)
Best drawing tablet: wacom intuos4 small (for beginners, try ebay for the cheapest). I've used wacom bamboo fun before as a starter tablet I was 100% disappointed and would not suggest if even as a starter tablet. There is a newer version of the intros, intuos5 but the new additions are really not worth the upgrade cost. There is a big difference between the 3 and 4 though so I'd go with the 4. The 3 is heavier, old, and clunky.
I use a tablet for everything and I noticed if you use it for long periods of time you might have wrist pain from your lower hand hitting a desk as you use it. What I use to save my hand is a thin glove without fingers. They are really cheap and normally around $2-3 for a pair. Sometimes I put tissues on the part of the glove that hits a desk for extra padding so I can use a tablet for many hours without having a bruised hand.
It sounds like you are interested in digital illustration. You might like Photoshop or Corel painter best. Illustrator is more technical and can be hard to be more free with. It is a great program but not the best for detailed illustration like landscapes. It is better for making things like logos, clip art. Both photoshop and Corel are pretty expensive for full versions but there is a big difference between the cheaper versions and the full versions.
Of all of the programs listed, Photoshop is probably your best bet, the full version, not elements. I wouldn't waste money on elements, I'd use it if you have a free copy from buying a tablet but it isn't worth buying in my opinion. Try out some of the free programs above if you can't get the paid version of photoshop. The downloadable ones are best for long projects because you could lose your work if you work online. I'd suggest Gimp and Adobe Sketchbook Express to start with. If you cannot get a student license for a free version of sketchbook, amazon sells it as Sketchbook Pro 6 for around $20-40 depending on who you buy it from. It is a larger version of the program with more options that is relatively cheap. A great option to Corel Painter if you don't want quite so many options (it sells for about $70 on amazon).
Other things that might help:
- a scanner
- a camera/phone for pictures of 2d art
- tripod for taking good pictures with camera
- Staedtler pigment liner markers (these are very expensive, roughly $10-15 for 4 but they are very good quality and should last awhile, great for inking drawings for good scans digitally)
- Prismacolor Turquoise soft pencils (for 2d work to scan, best pencils I've used so far, I've tried a lot of brands)
- Prismacolor Turqoise medium pencils
- Staedtler White eraser (I use these all of the time, and they are great! Best eraser I've used so far.)
- Staedtler white eraser pencil toppers (these are hard to find but also great)
- Zebra drift 0.5mm lead mechanical pencils (larger mechanical pencil)
- Pentel 0.7 mm lead mechanical pencil (regular mechanical pencil, my favorite kind)
Generally for 2d supplies, Staedtler, Prismacolor, Pentel, and Zebra are really good. My mechanical pencils are all japanese, they seem to be the best quality. I actually got them from a college book store that sell supplies for 5 for $1. Generally they are about $2-4 a piece though. Staedtler's stuff if German and known for high quality drafting supplies. Prismacolor is made in Mexico (at least the Turquoise pencils, they are very expensive but I've used the cheaper ones and they just aren't the same. Drawing smudge a lot with the cheap ones and aren't as dark. The cheap brands look 'fuzzy' a lot. The best place for most of these is either local 3rd party supply stores, not chains, or ebay. Amazon is pretty high with shipping.
Have fun! :D
Here are some things that might help you get started with illustration and design:
Free:
- Gimp (download, similar to Photoshop)
- Inkscape (download, similar to Illustrator)
- Lunapic (online, similar to Photoshop)
- Pixlr (online, similar to Photoshop)
- Blender (download, similar to Maya, a 3d design program)
- Autodesk Sketchbook Express (download, similar to Corel painter)
------> Autodesk software is available for free for students at:
------> http://students.autodesk.com/?nd=download_center
Paid:
- Photoshop (Photoshop elements is a cheaper alternative, it comes free with some tablets)
- Illustrator
- Corel Painter (you can get a free version of painter with certain tablets)
- Sketchbook Pro 6 (similar to Corel Painter)
Best drawing tablet: wacom intuos4 small (for beginners, try ebay for the cheapest). I've used wacom bamboo fun before as a starter tablet I was 100% disappointed and would not suggest if even as a starter tablet. There is a newer version of the intros, intuos5 but the new additions are really not worth the upgrade cost. There is a big difference between the 3 and 4 though so I'd go with the 4. The 3 is heavier, old, and clunky.
I use a tablet for everything and I noticed if you use it for long periods of time you might have wrist pain from your lower hand hitting a desk as you use it. What I use to save my hand is a thin glove without fingers. They are really cheap and normally around $2-3 for a pair. Sometimes I put tissues on the part of the glove that hits a desk for extra padding so I can use a tablet for many hours without having a bruised hand.
It sounds like you are interested in digital illustration. You might like Photoshop or Corel painter best. Illustrator is more technical and can be hard to be more free with. It is a great program but not the best for detailed illustration like landscapes. It is better for making things like logos, clip art. Both photoshop and Corel are pretty expensive for full versions but there is a big difference between the cheaper versions and the full versions.
Of all of the programs listed, Photoshop is probably your best bet, the full version, not elements. I wouldn't waste money on elements, I'd use it if you have a free copy from buying a tablet but it isn't worth buying in my opinion. Try out some of the free programs above if you can't get the paid version of photoshop. The downloadable ones are best for long projects because you could lose your work if you work online. I'd suggest Gimp and Adobe Sketchbook Express to start with. If you cannot get a student license for a free version of sketchbook, amazon sells it as Sketchbook Pro 6 for around $20-40 depending on who you buy it from. It is a larger version of the program with more options that is relatively cheap. A great option to Corel Painter if you don't want quite so many options (it sells for about $70 on amazon).
Other things that might help:
- a scanner
- a camera/phone for pictures of 2d art
- tripod for taking good pictures with camera
- Staedtler pigment liner markers (these are very expensive, roughly $10-15 for 4 but they are very good quality and should last awhile, great for inking drawings for good scans digitally)
- Prismacolor Turquoise soft pencils (for 2d work to scan, best pencils I've used so far, I've tried a lot of brands)
- Prismacolor Turqoise medium pencils
- Staedtler White eraser (I use these all of the time, and they are great! Best eraser I've used so far.)
- Staedtler white eraser pencil toppers (these are hard to find but also great)
- Zebra drift 0.5mm lead mechanical pencils (larger mechanical pencil)
- Pentel 0.7 mm lead mechanical pencil (regular mechanical pencil, my favorite kind)
Generally for 2d supplies, Staedtler, Prismacolor, Pentel, and Zebra are really good. My mechanical pencils are all japanese, they seem to be the best quality. I actually got them from a college book store that sell supplies for 5 for $1. Generally they are about $2-4 a piece though. Staedtler's stuff if German and known for high quality drafting supplies. Prismacolor is made in Mexico (at least the Turquoise pencils, they are very expensive but I've used the cheaper ones and they just aren't the same. Drawing smudge a lot with the cheap ones and aren't as dark. The cheap brands look 'fuzzy' a lot. The best place for most of these is either local 3rd party supply stores, not chains, or ebay. Amazon is pretty high with shipping.
Have fun! :D
Graphic Designers- What software do you use?
Q. What do you use your graphic design abilities for. Engineering, art, design, Fill me in thanks. I want to learn about this. DO you like the software? you can email me
Answer
My primary software applications are Photshop, for image manipulation and editing photos, Illustrator for creating original vector graphics and vectorizing my sketches, InDesign (formally Pagemaker) for page layouts, and Word for text editing.
Less often, I use Adobe Streamline, Adobe Dimensions, Dreamweaver and Flash Pro. I am also trained in QuarkXPress, for clients who insist on projects done in this format, and 3D Studio Max. I started off using the Corel suite of products, but I have not used it in many years.
For tracking my business, I use Excell and Quicken Books.
Do I LIKE the software? For me, unless the application can save me time and money, it is useless. As a freelancer, time really does equal money, and all of these products save me a LOT of time. I don't take the time to draw lines in Illustrator when a quick pencil or marker sketch can do the job. If a client is not willing to pay for an original illustration, I can pull out one of thousands of clip art images from disc. (there is an OLD commercial artist maxim that reads, "Never draw anything you can copy. Never copy anything you can trace. Never trace anything that you can cut out and paste down.") Not only that, a lot of the operations that I used to have to pay someone else to do, I can do for myself. (color separation, trapping, choking, text formatting, typsetting, etc) The cost savings contribute to MY bottom line.
For peripheral equipment, I use a graphics tablet, desktop scanner and inkjet printer. (for proofs and comps) For production, I take my files to one of several service bureaus for printing, binding, etc.
My primary software applications are Photshop, for image manipulation and editing photos, Illustrator for creating original vector graphics and vectorizing my sketches, InDesign (formally Pagemaker) for page layouts, and Word for text editing.
Less often, I use Adobe Streamline, Adobe Dimensions, Dreamweaver and Flash Pro. I am also trained in QuarkXPress, for clients who insist on projects done in this format, and 3D Studio Max. I started off using the Corel suite of products, but I have not used it in many years.
For tracking my business, I use Excell and Quicken Books.
Do I LIKE the software? For me, unless the application can save me time and money, it is useless. As a freelancer, time really does equal money, and all of these products save me a LOT of time. I don't take the time to draw lines in Illustrator when a quick pencil or marker sketch can do the job. If a client is not willing to pay for an original illustration, I can pull out one of thousands of clip art images from disc. (there is an OLD commercial artist maxim that reads, "Never draw anything you can copy. Never copy anything you can trace. Never trace anything that you can cut out and paste down.") Not only that, a lot of the operations that I used to have to pay someone else to do, I can do for myself. (color separation, trapping, choking, text formatting, typsetting, etc) The cost savings contribute to MY bottom line.
For peripheral equipment, I use a graphics tablet, desktop scanner and inkjet printer. (for proofs and comps) For production, I take my files to one of several service bureaus for printing, binding, etc.
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Title Post: I want to get more into digital art, need tips?
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Rating: 100% based on 99998 ratings. 5 user reviews.
Author: Yukie
Thanks For Coming To My Blog
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