any suggestions/recommendations for digital art programs?

[grooviestbaby]

My fianc? has an art tablet that I plan on trying to figure out because im super into digital art and would love to start creating my own. Does anyone have any suggestions on what programs or softwares to use? Or which are best? Or just any tips in general? I'd love to hear opinions :') Thanks!!

 

[Stella-Io]

I currently use a phone app called ibis Paint X, but I think you can get it on tablets as well. It's a free app, you can purchase other brushes/filters and there are ads that are on top of the screen but for a free drawing app I'd say it's pretty good, esp for a beginner to digital like myself. If you watch an ad you get access to more brushes for 18 hours for free, and when that expires you can watch another ad. I currently don't need to watch the ad for the brushes I'm using rn. Plus there are YouTube videos on how to do some cool stuff, and tutorials are pretty easy to find online.

Another free drawing app is called Notebook somethin (LavenderTowne on YouTube has done a comparison between Notebook whatever it's called and ibis Paint X in one of her videos, and also compared other free drawing apps with Procreate). From her video it was a pretty cool drawing app as well.

If you're willing to spend money, I've seen and heard alot of great things about ProCreate (I believe it's only available for iPads). I think it costs 10$ down and there's no monthly subscription. 10$ and that's it. Custom brushes, models and other hidden goodies. I've never tried it, this is just what I've seen on twitter about it from other artist.

 

[Boccages]

I use Procreate on the latest iPad Air. I really like it.

 

[kuoye]

Photoshop, SAI ,sketchbook

I do all my work in Photoshop, it's by far my favorite program. It's difficult to learn but once you get the hang of it it's worth it. I use an XP-Pen Deco Pro Drawing Pad and pressure senstivity stylus .

Now if you do more of a painterly style Paint tool SAI works amazing. It's the only other program I've tried that o really like.

I would also recommend autodesk sketchbook pro as it?s free now for all platforms. It?s a little more optimized for drawing,sketching and painting than photoshop is.

 

[cosmylk]

Define drawing tablet, as in an iPad or something you would plug into a computer.

For iPads I’d suggest procreate however it does have a one time payment cost. I believe ibis paint is free? I didn’t particularly like it myself, you can also try clip studio paint for free on iPad but it’s subscription based after the trial.

If you mean a tablet as in a graphics tablet which you plug into a computer I’d suggest Clip Studio Paint, it’s what I use when I draw on my computer, it’s not free however there is a 30 day trial after that the base product is $50USD, other wise PaintTool SAI which was created by one person is good as a starting program but a license is roughly $50 (5500?). Otherwise Kritika is free and GIMP as well.

From personal experience I started with SAI and moved onto CSP and the learning curve from one to the other was a bit difficult, so I’d definitely suggest starting with the CSP trial because the UI can get a bit intimidating at first but once you figure it out it’s amazing and has so many user made brushes and tools for easy download.

 

[Seroja]

As someone who’s quite bad at digital art, I really enjoy using Clip Studio Paint! It’s quite straightforward and you have access to a lot of free user made resources on their market. The price is quite affordable too. Sometimes it gets discounted up to 60% so keep your eyes peeled.