How do YOU art?

[realSean_Murphy]

I use pencil and paper.

[niinasalmelin]

I do most of the work traditionally and old-school, with pencils and watercolor on A3 paper. After scanning I fix colors with photoshop and add speech-bubbles and lettering.

[nattbear]

I like to draw tradtionally, but my vision is getting worse and it's kinda hard for me to do it the way I did before, so I use a tablet to draw now... It's very slow for me to draw on tablets, but I'm getting better (saddly not faster yet....).

Here an old traditional art of my character Moira:

And here an old digital art of the same character:

[AnnaLandin]

When I do comics, I do my thumbnails and planning and some of the concept sketches in good ol' pencil on paper, but then I do the rest digitally.

When working digitally, I use mainly Manga Studio 5/Clip Studio Paint (same software, different names) and I draw it all using my trusty old giant Cintiq 21UX.

I don't use 3D-models, though that might make my life easier when it comes to drawing architecture from weird angles; I rely on the perspective rules I've learned, and tons of sketch-layers to get it all right.

ETA: I do also work traditionally at times, though far too rarely; I mainly do watercolour and inkwash paintings, and squeeze in a few acrylic paintings when I can.

Bleh. I could also use Gimp or FireAlpaca, but it looks far too undetailed to me.

What is it that looks "undetailed"?

[UrMom]

I draw traditionally. Using bristol board, inking with a combination of micron and prsimacolor pens, and colour with coloured pencils. For a scanner I use a Mustek 11.7 x 16.5 inch since I tend to use larger paper. If you use average sized paper, and you're having trouble finding a decent scanner, I would suggest this Canon scanner? It's cheap, and it worked well enough back when I had one. It's also rather durable, I can't tell you how many times my cats knocked it down or laid on it, and it lasted probably 6 years or so. (only got rid of it because I needed a larger scanner)

[Endrenesk]

The art programs themselves aren't undetailed, but it's far harder to shade or change the size of a line as often as with pencil and paper. In other words, what I draw in Gimp would take me a few hours less in paper. I could have even drawn more!
In other words, it's just... Inefficient, using a mouse.

This, for example, could have been done better and faster on paper.

[AnnaLandin]

Yeah, using any art-software with a mouse is bound to be time-consuming!

But art-software is like any other art tool: the reason drawing stuff on paper is faster for you is because you're used to it! The more you practise with a tool, be it traditional or digital, the faster you become! There's a learning-curve to everything. : )

[shazzbaa]

I haven't used FireAlpaca, but I know Sanity Circus is drawn with it, so the program must be at least robust enough for that!

Runewriters, my current comic, is inked with ballpoint pen and coloured in photoshop.

My inks for our Vertoscope piece were done with microns and grey tones added in photoshop:

My Cautionary Fables & Fairy Tales piece was strict black & white with ballpoint pen (spot blacks & lettering added digitally):

And every now and again I draw something 100% digital:

Basically, I definitely advocate trying a bunch of different stuff! Just because one style of working is the one you're most comfortable with doesn't mean that has to be The Way You Make Art. The way I draw RW is probably what I find the most satisfying, but I have a lot of other tools I can use!

[J.Z.Castillo]

I plan pages out on my sketchbook, then everything else is done digitally.

For my illustrations, however, I use inks and gouache... they look so much better than my comic lmao! I guess digital is not the main medium for me, no matter how hard I try >P

[Shanny8]

I plan out character designs/concepts in my sketchbook. I then will do an initial drawing digitally to get the feel for the character.

I do all my pencil/ink sequential art digitally in Clip Studio- I then save a copy as a Photoshop file, where I setup and do coloring. I then save a copy as a TIFF file and open that in Illustrator, where I do my lettering. I open the lettering file and the TIFF art in PS where I merge the 2, adjust the size and save it as a PNG file to upload to Tapastic. I also save a copy as a JPG just in case I need to post some artwork elsewhere.

[indagold]

tablet, photoshop for everything but lines, fire alpaca for lines and 3D models custom made in maya either for objects, backgrounds or mixed media.
Recently trying to get the 3D seamless without it popping out while concept designing my new comic.

I went to cartooning courses, they demand you to use traditional work, but honestly i'm a digital artist and it works fine with me.

[SpavVy]

For my comic Soul Ascendance it's all sketched and inked traditionally with microns and dip pens in either Pilot or India Ink. I also have Tsumi brushes I like to use on occasion

Then it's scanned onto my Laptop at 600 dpi.
I save it as a png and I open the comic page or illustration in Clip Studio Paint Pro with my tablet to color, add screentone, sound effects, dialogue, and occasionally special effects. Sometimes (rarely) I combine it with other programs like GIMP or Paintool Sai for certain brushes or effects. I prefer to use noise and noise gradient screentone for my comic instead of the dotted ones.

But yeah that's how I art. ^^;

[Doubtcent]

Well, I have just about everything I need to make things traditionally, however I'm working on that.
I sketch a lot of my concept art with a mechanical pencil though.

Most of my higher-end projects I work completely from digital, with a Bamboo Wacom tablet. I then draw with custom textured pen brushes through Clip Studio Paint.

[Ladilad]

Well, yeah, digital art is really difficult using a mouse or trackpad. Pretty much all digital artists use a graphics tablet from companies like Wacom. If you don't have the money to invest in one, but DO have an iPad or something, you could probably download a good drawing app, buy a cheap stylus, and you'd be all set! A couple iPad apps I'm aware of include ProCreate (worth the money) or the free Medibang Paint App, which is almost like Photoshop but an app. I think it also includes some comicking tools too.

[Endrenesk]

Holy fraggles, I didn't think I'd get this many replies! Thanks, guys- This is actually pretty useful stuff!
I might just become a regular poster here, everyone has great ideas and advice!
I've heard from both sides of my family that I might be getting a new scanner/drawing tablet; which is pretty amazing!

@Ladilad; I do have a tablet, but it's a Monster M7 (Basically a tablet line renown for their terrible customer service and loose charger ports. I'm afraid to use it, since my last one's charger decided to fall into the tablet.

On a side note, what kind of stories are you guys working on?
I've got a couple- But I'm in the writer hell cycle; Think of a great idea, get hyped, think of another great idea, rinse and repeat.
"A world that was turned into a video game, with NPCs that have a one week time limit life"
"A group of (8/9) people forced to solve puzzles with a traitor amongst them"
"Demon outbreak with humanity summoning demons for self defense"
"Stones that are equivalent to their owner's life force, which can be used similarly to magic."
One that I recently thought of, "An extra who started a life of their own" (this could fit into 1, 3, or 4.)

At the moment, I'm working on the second idea- As people seem most hyped for it due to the fact there's time loops, lots of murder, and other shenanigans which may or may not include time travel later on.

[Endrenesk]

Neato! That last one reminds me of Soul to Call.

[UltimateGallo]

I just posted a video yesterday about my process, a Mix of traditional and digital, but I do full digital too, and full traditional.

COMIC RPOCES VIDEO
FULL TRADITIONAL VIDEO

[okellymx]

I do everything in Clip Studio Paint/Manga Studio with a Wacom Intuous, the only time I use traditionally is for sketching stuff away from home. I do my art this way because I've had the same tablet and software for 3+ years and the same computer since 2011, so the cost of me doing art is almost nonexistent. Ink and markers are expensive and scanning is time-consuming.

But I'm in the writer hell cycle; Think of a great idea, get hyped, think of another great idea, rinse and repeat.

Just make a story and finish it, it doesn't have to be good. Ideas aren't important it is execution. Everyone has great ideas, but even two stories with similar ideas can come across in different ways.

[vanillios]

For my comics, I sketch the thumbnails on paper, take a pic with my phone and finish the rest in clip paint studio.

For illustrations I usually go full digital. I draw everything in CSP and then tweak it in Photoshop.

[Tanimation]

My preference for drawing is digitally but I do like to draw on paper whenever I feel like it. I use Clip Studio Paint for almost anything art related.

For my comic, I like to sketch out my ideas in a pocket sketch book in, literally, stick man form (cause I get a lot of ideas when I'm at work). Then I make a storyboard of those ideas in CSP, add panels, ink those storyboards, then add the necessary final touches before I upload it. Then I realize I made a grammar mistake or forgot to color a certain object and have to secretly change it before anyone notices. >v>" Rinse and repeat.