I studied a 3d art major, and am pretty crappy at drawing, frankly, so I didn't have great traditional drawing skills to lean on as a booster, and had absolutely no digital experience at all. Despite that, between YouTube tutorials and the patience of a bunch of other fabulous creators on various Discord chats, I've managed to stumble my way through teaching myself how to do it!
Well done!
I'm not down with the cool people yet and haven't joined discord, is it a good resource for this kinda thing? Is it worth getting an account etc just for that side of things?
I'm a late comer to digital art and it was pretty rough at first. I started in 2013 with my mouse on MS Paint. (This isn't even a joke lmao!) I learned by getting better tools (Paint Tool Sai and Clip Studio Paint + a tablet). It just took tons of practice honestly... Everything I learned about physical painting could be applied to the digital realm with the addition of enhancement tools. (Textures, color correction, etc.)
I do absolutely recommend CSP. It's a highly advanced software with all the brushes you could want! And if that's not enough? You can download more! 
As for tutorials, I suggest YouTube. There's a lot of great painters for tons of different genres. (I personally watch RyanPaints for cyberpunk/sci-fi art.)
Ahhhhh the days of microsoft paint! Drawing weird scribbles out of boredom on there is literally the most of my digital art knowledge/skill.
Good to know I'll be starting out with a decent softwear while I get the hang of things! Does it cost to buy additional brushes on the program?
I use youtube alot when I was learning to do paint pouring and wire tree sculpture. So I know that's a fab rescource, thanks for suggesting a couple of channels I'll def check them out! <3
I second what MeltingCORE said! CSP is a great tool! That's what I use too!
As to Discord, making an account for it has been well-worth my time b/c not only have I learned a lot, but I've made some pretty cool friends on there too! Just be careful about joining servers, sometimes they can be toxic and crazy...or they can be fabulous! I'm in two that are just for writers and webtoon artists, but I know there are more for stuff like that out there, and I found both of those servers through the Tapas forums. It's definitely not a necessity, but sometimes Google and YouTube can only do so much, and you just need to ask a fellow creator!
Yayyyy I'm glad to hear I'm gunna be starting with the right stuff hopefully haha.
I've got a friend who does gaming streams and they've said that discord can be hard to manage with that sorta stuff, that's why I've kinda stayed away as I'm not about the drama (I live vicariously through my books). Drama forums just play on my anxiety so it's kinda stopped me from really looking into discord. I guess it might be something for me to look into when I feel I've exhausted google/youtube etc (: Thanks
I believe there are brushes you can buy but most of the ones I have found are user-created and free. (And you're welcome!)
I had no prior knowledge of digital art when I started either! So far I've found that lots and lots of practise is the best way to go. Clip Studio is also such a really great program, and they have a great 'assets' system with plenty of resources and tutorials included. If in doubt, YouTube is actually a priceless resource especially if you're like me and are a visual learner.
But yeah, just play around and see what you like really, and never give up! (That sounds Corney, hu?)
I learned how to about digital art through my high school. It offered classes on the Adobe softwares and I had one class that gave me a bunch of books which I had to follow a bunch of tutorials.
So my suggestion to someone who doesn't have access to classes is to watch/read tutorials. Online resources are far better than when I started digital art, so I don't think buying a book in 100% necessary. I would also suggest to just play around with the program. Try out different brushes, effects, colors, etc. There is no one right way to create digital art and if you already have an artistic background you will be able to to find a method or technique that works for you.
I do just need to remember that practice does make perfect. I think it's cause it's an expensive piece of kit that I've never owned before so I'm panicing and telling myself it wont work out. Even though I spent years playing around with cheap paints and pencils and not really caring, but my brain likes to tell me I need to perfect these things quickly even though I know it's not realistic. It's not corny at all! It's a good piece of advice that I need to remind myself often (: Thank you.
Our very first computer (I was about 11 I think) in the 90's came with a copy of photoshop and it was a million times better than MS Paint - which is what they taught us at school. Lol! 
This was before YouTube so I just had to play around with it until I could get it to do what I wanted.
I'm still learning and finding out new tricks today. 
There's so many ways to approach digital art, that I think it helps to really look at your traditional approach and use that approach for how you do digital. So like you, I was a traditionally trained painter, and while I did occasionally use digital in college, it was rarely used to do my entire piece. It wasn't until much later that I started doing pieces that were 100% digital.
So, because I'm a painter, I tend to block in shapes rather than start with linework--and that is how I still do it when I paint digitally. I'm getting better at linework--mostly because I did an entirely linework comic to force myself to learn--but I'm glad I didn't start with learning linework when I went digital, or I would have been very frustrated. I went to where I was most experienced, and it helped that transition go smoother.
As for tutorials, I highly recommend looking at artists you really like, because they often have gumroads and youtube channels where they go in depth for how they do digital.
That's a great idea. I tend to over think my art sometimes, and by the sounds of things I need to stop thinking digital art as a whole seperate concept, and just treat it like I would any other piece I'd do on paper or canvas.
That's a very good suggestion! Thank you.
I started this summer when I was very, very bored. I ended up doing so much that now I'm reasonably experienced with a drawing tablet. It can seriously make a style into something far better than it was with just the idea of zooming in, layers, colors, and fixing mistakes. It can also help learn technicalities that carry over to traditional too. Still, I do like making sure I'm not neglecting drawing in my sketchbook either, because having two different modes of drawing will develop your skill at twice the speed.
It really is just another medium! The flexibility and technical aspect of digital can't be overstated, but all those details are irrelevant in the beginning. I would definitely just draw, experiment with brushes, see what every tool does, etc. Pick through the tool and menu options and see what each thing does. Learning the interface is probably going to be the biggest struggle, but thankfully most art programs follow a similar format no matter which you use. (So if you learn one, you'll be primed to pick up another)
Clip Studio themselves have a youtube channel with a lot of great tutorials, so maybe see if they have any beginner ones? You can also look at something like Skill Share.
As you get to know your way around the program more, you'll pick up ways to make your process easier. There are a ton of nifty tricks that you can use to streamline your work eventually. I definitely think it's a good idea to make friends with some digital artists or join a community so you can learn through other people as well!
Much like how I learned to use chopsticks, or how to sew, I just kinda...sat down and did it. XD I asked my mum for a tablet for a high school graduation present 10 years ago, and now I'm here!
It was a lot of tracing stock images, following a ton of tutorials, and becoming a brush connoisseur and having to play Brush Inventory Management Simulator in Clip Studio, which is what I use now. (Seriously, most of my time working on my comic is spent looking at all the assets they have, because I"m lazy and some of them are REALLY GOOD)
Tutorials are def your friend, though; DeviantArt has become a bit troublesome to navigate when it comes to finding said tutorials, but it's still a good repo for them for almost any program (and, most tutorials will carry over between Photoshop, CSP, and sometimes other programs)!
best resource to start that is relatively free is ctrl paint, but i would not recommend for beginners.
if you want to learn foundations -- new master academy or watts atelier is pretty resonable
if you're interested in picture books/cartoon/graphic novels -- svslearn is unbeatable
and then if you just want like to work in the literally like formal tv animation industry there is schoolism and cgma which have some of the concepts but like specialized, but you need to start with foundations.
all of these schools have like tracts you can follow.
so my art started here last year
and now it's like here this year
i have a more realistic style which is like this (watts atelier is amazing with foundations which i would recommend)
and then here is my second picture book which i learned how to format and paint thru like the SVS learn classes
i use clip studio paint for everything. the tutorials are decent as i am kind of doing some pixel art stuff now but just keep working and you;ll get better more effort you put in
I learned to use Photoshop & Illustrator a little bit when I was in art school...but never had the $$$ to outright buy them. I had gotten some (ARRRR 
) copies through a site, which helped me to get a better grasp on how they worked. I spent a number of yrs trying to get better at coloring and lettering while working on the initial line art traditionally. I also had gotten a tablet, but was hesitant to use it..
Then a peer of mine from Facebook did a piece of one of my characters using CSP(which he bought back then as Manga Studio). I was so enamored by the smoothness of the digital inks and the sharpness of the resolution that I decided to get Clip Studio and try to do digital drawing & inking myself. The first so many months was tough and I'd get discouraged coz I felt like I wasnt progressing at the pace that I needed/wanted to; finally I got to the point where I'd draw a piece and like what I was doing- which encouraged me to do more. Clip Studio forced me to use my tablet more, which allowed me to get better as well as get used to working digitally...
When I started learning digital art, I was already in college, I don't even know what is photoshop that time but
luckily, my professor is a very patient and understanding person.
My professor have to teach me one on one for the basics of programs, and I have to stay at school for longer because I don't have my own pen tab (the school provide it for student use but you can't take it home)
Then I have a nice set of blockmates and seniors to teach me and give me tips from time to time.
Then finally, when I had my own pen tablet in my last year of college, I taught myself by watching some videos on youtube and learning from digital art related books in our library. I can say that I applied my traditional drawing skills in doing digital by being familiar on textures, shadows, colors, lighting stuffs like that then try to interpret it to digital in my own way by playing around with brushes.
After learning several programs I learned that each programs have their own unique set of tools and for what type of digital are they good for (at least from what I observe) like for example:
Autodesk sketchbook - has copic brushes with the actual color codes of copic markers -- which will be easier if you want to turn that art piece into traditional, and want to color it using actual copic markers.
it can also be installed on tablets.
Paint tool sai has stabilizers -- you can use it to control the brush movement so it wouldn't be shaky, and the colors are exact when you save it as JPEG and stuffs.
Photoshop has a variety of blending tool like mixer brush -- which you can use for mixing and blending. You can customize brushes there too and it comes with post editing tools.
Medibang - they have screentones and free resources for manga and comic making, you can also download a lot of brushes. -- and its a free program
Corel painter has gel brush --- good for layering colors and doing semi realistic art since blending and the brushes' texture there are made to be as accurate as possible --- that is if you have the patience to learn each brushes' effect. also its the free program for wacom intuos art
CSP- is pretty much everything, they have nice brushes, you can also customize brushes, they have screen tones brushes, and doing lineart there is really good since it's the result is really clean. and like photoshop they have enhancement tools for post editing your work. I think its the free program for wacom intuos comic but I'm not sure what version it is.
I started doing digital art when I was really young. I didn't have any experience. I started out with MS paint and moved on to other programms like Paint Tool Sai. I learned over time by watching many artists on YouTube. Like LavenderTowne. I also watched many videos for beginners. I recommend looking up the ones for the programm you have since art programms can be different.
I learned by trial and error.
