I’m not an art student. Right now I’m leaning toward digital painting, and my fundamentals are pretty weak. Many online courses start directly with painting a full illustration. I want to ask: without any traditional drawing/sketch foundation, isn’t all of this just a house of cards? How am I supposed to learn shading/values and coloring later? Can I really do this without offline traditional sketch classes as support? I’m very doubtful about this path of learning digital painting through online courses. I feel like I’m starting late from nothing, piecing things together randomly, learning whatever comes to mind. Some of my friends who are art students told me that drawing/painting can be self-taught—are they just comforting me? What should I do? How exactly should I learn? If I don’t start from the foundation, does that mean I’ll never be able to draw/paint that well? I see so many people who draw/paint well, and at a glance they clearly have very strong traditional sketch fundamentals. So how can anyone tell others that self-study can reach that level? I’m about to start working, so I don’t have large blocks of time to learn traditional sketching, but I have a very strong desire to learn. Could some kind person give me some guidance?

Not sure if this is the correct forum, so here goes. And disclaimer, English is not my first language so sorry in advance..

My 6 year old is using one of those cheap LCD drawing pads religiously. It’s poor quality and bleeds when she draws, and we have gone through 2 already. When paper is available she uses 10-20 pages pr. Hour making up stories and drawing them. Therefore I am looking for a device that can be used for many years and with more options in drawing, like color and thickness and save the drawings as well.

I have looked at iPad and a pen, but I’m lost in what product makes sense for her. She will only get access to an app (and which one would be suitable for a child this age?).

Please help a mother out, that wants her child to keep the drawing interest but don’t want to create so much paper and electronic waste, as we do today. There is paint and everything available but my kid is not detailed with the drawings, and uses the drawing to get the imagination down on paper. Hope it makes sense 😅

Hi, I've been working on game concept art for some small projects with a friend and I've been using aseprite as it is the software I am most familiar with. I would like to move on to a more traditional digital painting software but in the past when I used such media I would always get overwhelmed with the huge quantity of options, brushes, colors and selections that dwarf what Aseprite can do. I like how simple but effective it is and how easy it was to pick up. So my question is: what are your recommendations for software that allows more traditional digital painting but do not overwhelm newcomers?

I've used Clip Studio Paint in the past and it wasn't a bad experience but it definitely did overwhelm me. I've also used adobe products with similar results. I'm sure this question has been asked a million times so sorry if it has, but input is appreciated!

I am currently making a ton of characters for my DnD party and i usually have my phone with me but what if there is no internet or i just forgot to save it? So is it ok to trace your work from a digital medium to paper if you made it yourself?

I really want to improve my digital art skills. Should i copy real life pictures like a scenery or something in greyscale and add colours??

It has been a few months since I started and I paint in grescale(copied) then add colours in a colorize layer(I use ibispaint)

How do I improve in rendering?? Pleaaase help

And also how to learn colour theory?

I am working on an OC because of my DnD campaign where the party will be fighting some elves in the next sessions. I seek some critique and also some tips on what to improve.

Hello fellas!

Looking for good substitute for Photoshop:

Need to be:
-easy to learning
-not so pricy
-have a good amount of community (brushes etc)

Im totally newbie with digital. Rly like procreate for clean and easy workflow, but my iPad is kinda weak and small. Bought Xp-pen Ultra 16 4k already and looking for good app.

I used Ibis paint on my phone for years and just started drawing on pc (like 3 months ago) using krita for being free, but i was thinking about buying clip studio... Someone already used both and can tell me if it is a good investment or there is any chance of regretting on the future?

Hello! I recently got back into art after not drawing consistently for 6-8 years, and now that I've picked it up again I'm finding im struggling with some of the basics. I keep trying to find a place to start learning again but I'm feeling overwhelmed.

I'm looking for ether a mentor or a course that can help me cover the basics of drawing, more specifically with digital art. I thought learning this way would help eliminate the decision fatigue of trying to figure out where to start first.

I'm willing to fork over as much cash as a retail cashier can afford to fork over lol.

Thank you!

Essentially title. It’s just a pretty overwhelming software compared to procreate which has been my go to up to now. But I’ve moved to pc and so I want to know how to really take the most advantage of photoshop for digital art. Brushes, layers, masks, blending, etc

I watched a speedpaint and I’m kinda new to art so I’m trying to figure out how people do stuff, but I came across this one part where the artist says they put down flat colors in each layer and then use a multiply layer to give it a shadow effect, my problem is how he manages to then render the eyes and other parts seemingly with an alpha lock but without getting affected by multiply. Ive spent hours trying to decipher it but Im very frustrated right now and would like to know how they managed to do it

https://youtu.be/n4-oG-3Ir6M?si=03mXPzqkjCKScX6Q

... my hands shaky... but only when i try digital. Tis so frustraiting to not have skill to draw what you want ☠️... how do u guyz deal with it?

Update: I did try a lot of things here and I looked on the settings of the pen and lowerd the pressure sensitivity and am using my whole arm and the lines are so much better ‼️‼️ thank you all :D

Before you get me for asking about 3D stuff, I am talking about posing model programs that are meant for artists to use as reference.

I'm asking if anyone knows of one that has different body types, the one I'm using has male and female models, but they only range from thin to absolutely shredded. I want voluptuous models! curvy and fat models! Or even just one that let's you manipulate the physics of the body, so far every model is stiff as a board. If you're wondering, I like to draw women in bikinis.

Any recommendations for posing programs is appreciated! I'd also appreciate other plus size resources, like photo references (like adorastock on DA and art books like the morpho series, no selfies please.)

Hi everyone! I’m trying to teach myself digital art, as it’s a discipline that has always fascinated me, but I’ve never really had the opportunity to learn it properly. I’ve finally decided to give myself another chance at learning, so I had a few questions that I was hoping you could help me with:

1) What method would you recommend for starting to study the theory?
I’m also willing to pay for courses/books, as long as they’re beginner-friendly and reasonably priced. Obviously, I’m looking for books/courses that teach the fundamentals, since I don’t even have enough experience to consider myself a beginner yet. I’m not looking for anything too demanding at this stage.

2) What drawing tablet would you recommend?
I currently have a One by Wacom, which, after doing quite a bit of research, seemed like the best choice for me when I was first getting into this kind of practice, only for me to eventually give up. To be honest, over time I realized that I’m quite uncoordinated and found using a tablet without a screen rather uncomfortable. So, for this new attempt, I was leaning more towards getting a display tablet.

The problem is the significant difference in price, which is making me hesitant to buy one. So I was wondering:

• Is it actually necessary to make this purchase? I understand that it’s a very subjective choice, but if the issue isn’t really my coordination or comfort and simply comes down to lack of experience, I’d be happy to postpone the purchase for now.
• Is the tablet I currently have still a good option?
• Are there any alternatives you would recommend?

Advice on other websites/stores where I could buy one besides Amazon or second-hand marketplaces would also be very helpful!

3) What kind of software/program would you recommend?
This is obviously subjective as well, but even after looking around online and watching YouTube videos, I still can’t really figure out what would be best for me. I’m currently using Krita x64, but I know basically nothing about digital art software besides changing colors and using layers (literally just that).

I’m looking for something relatively simple to start with (assuming Krita isn’t already a good choice), so that I can then look for tutorials on how to use it, download different brushes, etc.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! Personal experiences and advice are more than welcome, especially regarding the first point!

The one thing I like about procreate is a feature where you can lay down an even wash by keeping the pencil to the screen never lifting. The technique can be illustrated here:

https://youtube.com/shorts/-B173jftJ98?si=lt1hi88WBccLYB-T

Thanks in advance!

I keep trying to draw using my laptop's trackpad, but either I need to practice more or making art through a trackpad is that difficult. I'm seeing master pieces that people made with their fingers on their phone, so I keep trying to improve but I can't seem too.

So I'm wondering if maybe I chose the hardest/worst way to do it. :/