Question for all creators-What devices do you use to drawl? Specifics

[agagnon0982]

Hey there Tappas community.I’m someone who has an interest in drawling,but consider myself a bit old school.It literally took me awhile to figure out how this forum worked to ask this question but I digress.I use just normal notebook paper and normal number 2 pencils so I haven’t even fully figured out the different shading with different numbered pencils etc.But I am at point where I really would like to create something and bring it to life. My question would be how.What devices specifically do you creators use to make such great realistic drawings and characters.I love how each person has their own variation of what an eye is like,an ear and my horrifying design the nose I always have a hard time.I tried on my phone with my finger but it’s too botch’s and even with the great paint app with the trial period I’m so out of the loop with the different buttons and things they can do.It’s more advanced then I imagined.But what I would like to do is just start a simple story not sure if it would be a comic or whatever but I just have this need to express my stories and thoughts in my head.I may not be the best at it but I just think that I’m doing something that occupies time and takes focus and determination and dedication,I’d be able to keep my mind occupied when my bf moves away.Hes taking his dream job offer on the other side of the country and we’ve been together on and off 10years and what a rollercoaster thru heaven and hell it’s been….needless to say,I may have a existential crisis anyway which I am taking necessary steps(yes this man literally drove me crazy) but I digress.Gotta be a sign from a higher power and I tend to believe in fate..i have a tablet that doesn’t have a good touch sense thing I have tried with my finger and I didn’t get a stylus to try but not sure if a cheap dollar store one would work since my finger makes the line go not even close to where it was supposed to. Does anyone have a recommendation on a drawling tablet or device with a stylus if that’s the way you all drawl and upload it on the platform? Or do you drawl on paper and scan? I mean I could do that but I don’t think it would be efficient. Sorry to ramble about my personal life. Please help me to understand and thank you for taking the time to read thru this.

[BoomerZ]

This is a big question that depends on your budget. If you can afford a Cintiq, you buy a cintiq. It's the industry standard. If you want portable you have 2 real choices, Ipad or galaxy note with Spen. both work well. The other pads from china I personally have little input on, but people do like them and they are far cheaper than a cintiq.

[JaveCraze]

I use a laptop, a stylus, and clip studio paint. It's worked quite well for me

[Shanny8]

I cant say that I would recommend this tablet or that tablet, but the questions you should be asking yourself is "do I want to work at a desk, or do I want a mobile tablet that I can take with me and do art on the go?"

I started out with a screenless Wacom Pen & Touch medium, and did fantastic art stuffs with that for 6 years; I then decided to upgrade to a Huion Kamvas 22" screened tablet...I wanted to stay with Wacom, but A) the Wacom price was a little to much for me, plus B) at the time I was hearing a LOT of horror stories about Cintiqs crapping out with various artists. I was gonna get a Veikk but by the time I was ready to buy their largest screened tablet, they had sold out...I heard mixed reviews about XP Pen, so Huion was the safest move: their prices fit my budget and the screen is NICE(large). So far I haven't had any issues with it beyond trying to connect it via USB-C. The program I use is Clip Studio Paint EX...

Or you can go get a Surface or iPad, which are smaller but mobile tablets that you can use anywhere. You CANNOT get Procreate on Surface(iPad only), but you can get Clip Studio on Surface as you would be able to get on the desktop(one time payment), where as with iPad you have to pay a [monthly] subscription for Clip Studio...however, Procreate is a one time payment of $10 on iPad.

[abigaillmartin]

I use ibisPaint X on my phone! I really like the program and it’s free! But you have to pay for premium to use certain brushes and things.

[darthmongoose]

I use a mid-tier gaming laptop, a copy of Clip Studio and a pretty basic Wacom Intuos Medium (the type without a screen) for nearly everything I do (I use Photoshop for some design stuff, but it's not vital. Clip Studio can do a lot of the same stuff, or Photopea or similar). It's a setup I've been using for years including for over a decade of professional work.

If you're short on cash, smaller tablets, and cheaper or free software like Krita can work just fine for learning. Or if you already have an iPad, just get an apple pencil and Clip Studio; plenty of people make pro-level work with that setup.

Basically, don't get too stressed about having the fanciest tools; ultimately practice and study are far bigger factors in making good art than tools. Keep it simple and focus on technique. Look up tutorials for whatever software you try. Don't stop using pencil and paper for practice sketching though; it's a convenient way to practice and a good way to relax. I do all my thumbnails for page layouts or cover compositions, and some of my concept sketches on paper.

You can actually see a brief runthrough of how I make my comic here:

Read Errant :: How to Make an Errant Page | Tapas Comics

[AxemanRifflord]

Pretty much all the art I’ve done since June used traditional line art. Sometimes captured with my phone camera, sometimes with a scanner. Sometimes I edit them, be it digital coloring or otherwise. I used krita for a while but I eventually realized that for what I was actually doing with it, it turned out to be better to use a browser program called photopea.

I own a cintiq but uh... the only computer I have access to doesn’t have a HDMI input. There was a brief period where I tried to use it like a screenless tablet but at that point, it’s really no better than a mouse.

[NickRowler]

I used to use an old version of Photoshop, but after I updated my computer, I switched over to Clip Paint Studio.

I use a small Intuos Pro Wacom tablet that I got in 2009. I probably need to upgrade but I will say that a professional tablet will last you a long time.

[Calculus_Homework]

hi hi.
Personally, pencil and paper has a special place in my heart. But I haven't used those tools to draw in a while due to digital's flexibility.

I use a Huion tablet (pro kamvas 13). If you're thinking of investing in a tablet, please get a Huion--they're HALF the price of Wacom, and they're just as good and sturdy. I suggest using a rough film to put over the screen if you're more comfortable with the grip of paper. It'll mimic it to a degree which will help you draw with a less shaky hand. (I'm hoping to get one for myself soon, because screen are slick af and tend to mess things up lol.)

Also, it sounds like you are just starting into art? Correct me if I'm wrong. It takes a while to get to a place where you want to be. It also sounds like you may not be in a great place for starting something like this--but that is just what I've surmised from your post. Creating is fun and can be therapeutic, but it can be quite frustrating if you're not in a good mind set and want to finish a hefty project or goal. So, definitely take time with this sort of thing. It's all about the process, not the result. Be patient and enjoy starting out with this.

[bloodstained.skies]

Move, kids, the boss entered the chat

I use gimp and...

touchpad on my laptop. Yes. I do that.

[LunarScyphozoa]

I use procreate, it’s pretty good especially for a one time purchase drawing app. I think it’s only on ipad though which sucks

[VersusVII]

I use clip studio paint ex and a Wacom bamboo touch & pen

[Lady_T_Musings]

I do hope you are able to be in a better state, and here's to your creative journey though. Whether you are drawing on paper or online, you bring it to life when you put your hand to the task of drawing

I sketch my thumbnails in pencil with a .9 - .5 clicky pencil and copy paper and then take a really crud photo with my iPad Pro 2017 and then import it into Procreate (love this app). I mainly do most of my art in there, but if I need to do a lil more design-type things, or need a larger size than Procreate can handle, I use Affinity Designer, also great for resizing and text editing.

[Lensing]

I was in the same situation 7 years ago, I was super old school, I didn´t even know it´s possible to draw digital at
that time
Here is what I had in the last years and my experience with it:
-Wacom Intuos L
You look at the screen and draw on the tablet on your desk, some smart kids get
used to it right away, some after some weeks, I didn´t get used to it after one year of
every day practice
-Wacom companion 2. Biggest mistake. It´s a portable drawing tablet like the Ipad etc.
Drawing on it was the best, I learned a lot, drew on it every day, I loved it. Here is the thing,
it was freaking expensive and after 2 years the rechargable battery got weaker and weaker.
The guarantee for the device already ran out. You can´t replace the battery without having
to destroy some of the inner stuff of the device, there are scary videos about it on youtube.
It´s also really hard to even get the battery for it. I felt cheated on by the company.
The prices to get it "repaired" are ridiculous, even just checking it costs a fortune.
I felt cheated on by the company. It´s obvious that they don´t want customers to
be able to change the battery. Fucked up.
-Xpen 22e. After that experience I tried an alternative and that´s the device
I´m still using. You can connect it to your computer, the screen is big, I use it since
5 years and I´m still using it. It was cheap compared to the companion and really
cheap to all other wacom products

Conclusion:
Wacom might be the industry standard and I´m pretty sure that the cintiq is the
perfect tool for digital drawing but the price is very high. It´s worth checking out
alternatives which maybe work for you like they do for me.
A lot of people work with HUION and XPEN, you can compare the specs of the
devices, pressure sensitivity etc, in the end all those devices do the same thing
with some different options, touch screen, different specs
A lot of my illustrator friends work with the Ipad Pro. The advantage of that
is that you are mobile with that thing, something which was important for
me some years ago because I was traveling a lot and because I was also
drawing in my bed I prefer sitting on a desk nowadays.

I hope you read all that stuff and I hope it helps you

[RedLenai]

I use a personal computer that may dad build for me, is outdated and kind of a Frankenstein.
Then, I use a XP-Pen Star G640 drawing tablet (But I originally started with a Genius i608x almost a decade ago)

Then drawing software, I started in Photoshop, moved to Paint Tool SAI then last to Clip Studio Paint Pro.

There is really not much I can suggest since everything will be according to what is comfortable to you.
You have to test different drawing programs until you find the one that feels the easiest and comfy to use (I have tested several, especially free ones)

For drawing device, I recommend to draw in traditional first, knowing the fundamentals will help you with the more advanced tools. Then to move to a cheap normal drawing tablet, mostly in case you don't find it appealing and then you won't feel too guilty for wasting a lot of money in a tablet with screen or ipad, so starting low is highly recommended.

[Takaki03]

I am using the Wacom Intuos pro and Clip Studio Paint for drawing basically everything. Yes granted Intuos Pro is a bit expensive and make take a bit of time to get used to, because its surface is kind of slick, but once you got used to that feeling it's not so different from drawing on a piece of paper. I think it's quite durable too because my cat always sits on it and it still has no damage on the sensitivity.

[sushy00]

I also use a Wacom Intuos Pro (M). For software I use Photoshop CS6.

[alliascompany]

I use a wacom intuos. I started out using medibang which is free, though there is a premium version, but now I use clip studio paint.

Usually I'll sketch out my drawings before scanning them and inking them on either my mac or laptop. Sometimes I'll ink traditionally, before scanning it and then use the trace bitmap feature on inkscape for a crisper lines.

[daeygurart]

I use an XP-Pen Artist Pro 12, and Clip Studio paint!

I want to invest in something bigger, but right now it's perfect.

[GumshoeComix]

I use a gaming laptop, Clip studio and my current tablet is a Huion H610
My bf is getting me a new one (Xp-Pen Artist 15.6) for Christmas, that's portable, and I'm super excited.
Protip the main websites have options to finance a tablet monthly so you don't have to cash out 100+ bucks at once

If this is gonna be your first tablet I would recommend something simple and durable
Ex. you can get a stylus for your phone since you already have a drawing app on there.

and keep in mind there's plenty of people who make perfectly good traditional comics, you don't NEED to be digital to make a comic. It's not the tools that make the art, its the practice
Though I understand the want to have a tablet, and start a project. arts still supposed to be fun, no need to monetize your life.