If any of you guys draw digitally, would you recommend anything in particular for a beginner?
Dunno what kind of tips you're looking for so here goes:
Hardware (jus some):
Pen and Tablet -
- Wacom or Monoprice. I use Wacom Intuos 4 but I've heard good things about Monoprice's tablets, which are cheaper and, according to this review at least, works better on Macs than Wacom's.
- Scanner - If you want you can scan hand-drawn art in using a scanner and then digitally ink and color them.
(a few) Software:
- Paint Tool Sai: Pretty awesome and pretty cheap compared to Photoshop. I find it better for pen and tablet drawing and painting than Photoshop as well.
- Photoshop: Expensive (though I think there's a subscription plan now) but full of features. Better selection tools and more blending options. Bad default brush selection.
- GIMP: Free, plenty of features, and free.
(an inch of) Other:
- You have unlimited canvas space in the digital world!
- You have (a near) unlimited choice of colors in the digital world!
- Most programs let you draw on multiple "layers". Layers are like invisible sheets that let you draw on a layer without affecting other layers. For example you could have a rough sketch on one layer and then trace over it in another without messing up the rough sketch. Or draw characters on a background without messing up the background.
- If one program does something better than another switch back and forth (but be careful you don't lose some important thing in the pic cause Sai doesn't support something from Photoshop/Gimp, etc)
- You can shrink, but try not to scale up a final piece too much. Unless you're using vector things will just get blurry... Totally okay for rough sketches you don't plan on being in the final pic though.
- Use the selection tools to cut, crop, paste, trim, rotate, etc your rough sketches before you start finalizing them.
- Flip the image constantly while drawing to get a fresh eye. Unlike analog drawing you don't need a mirror! Paint Tool SAI even has a button for this at the top. With Photoshop and GIMP you have to Image -> whatever -> and mirror horizontally...
- DRAW BIG and export the final image at a smaller scale. Just like you would vidya games to get a prettier picture.
- The internet is your resource. If you see a color you'd like to use on the internet just import the picture into your program and use the eye-dropper tool.
Dunno if that's what you wanted but regardless, straight from my heart~
Edit - There are videos of specific drawing techniques out there. The programs behave similarly at the basic level - learn one and it won't be hard to switch later - but they each have their own way of performing certain tasks.
