Tools for Digital art/comics, what's yours?

[noenoh]

At the begginign, it was all analog tools (paper, pen, brushes, ink, etc), only the company or the newspaoper I worked with had scanner back then and they printed everything.

later, I had my first pc and camera to do mixed media (take a pic of the drawing and work on it with PS or openCanvas and mouse)
Later, in a new job i bought my first second hand wacom (this model) and still was doing mixed media for a while till I managed to get more art programs or play with digital only. But the pen was broken XD so all the time I fought with really crappy lines.
Then finally I could get my dreamed wacom cintiq 13 (yeah it wasnt easy to get one in my country back then) so Im still taking care of it like a treasure xD Im still using PS, but now also using SAI, CSP (othres I use for fun are MyPaint, OpenCanvas, Medibang), yeah I have my scanner.

[gabriellabalagna]

I started out traditional. Tried a pen tablet, but it was way too hard to use, so I sold it. I got a wacom with a montior, but it always had a lot of problems, so I sold that too. I currently use an iPad Pro and Procreate.

I like the iPad Pro because it's portable, doesn't need to be attached to a computer, has decent battery life, the colors display well, it's light weight, and there is no lag with the Pencil.

I like Procreate because it's simple to use, the buttons don't take up the whole screen, it has simple time lapse recording, and is a one time purchase.

The drawbacks are...
- when I do split screen to bring up references, the screen feels kinda small
- file sizes/layers are limited
- have to use my phone to play background music on YouTube
- have to draw comic panels and balloons by hand
- takes longer to do text
- have to transfer files to my laptop to upload/backup

[Massiel_Solis]

Gotta give the Huion Kamvas love, its great!

[Massiel_Solis]

Same! Lots more Huion users than expected. Though I love mine, I have been wondering if my next upgrade( when/if I can afford it) will be a Wacom...but I cant go back to a none screen tablet. so that would mean a Cintiq or Wacom one...hmmm

[Massiel_Solis]

This is amazing! I have been looking into some Wacoms and this being the most affordable display tablet its encouraging to know it works well.

[Shanny8]

I was using a Wacom Intuos Pen & Touch medium tablet, but now using a Huion Kamvas 22" screened tablet(larger screen, cost less than a Cintiq)...still gotta get used to it(like not being able to "erase" with the other end of the stylus).

I toggle between Clip Studio, Photoshop, and Illustrator to make my pages. I pencil & ink in Clip Studio, then toggle between CSP and Photoshop to color(PS for most of the main colors & gradients, CSP for certain SFX and textures)...I letter my comic in Illustrator, then merge everything in PS.

I use the Lightroom/photography package for Photoshop from Adobe- $10 bucks a month. It doesnt hurt my pockets...I've been using a (ARRR) version of Illustrator, but I picked up Affinity Designer last year; it's the closest comparable vector program to Illustrator and you can letter with it plus create logos and other design work as well(regular price is $50- I got it on sale for $25/updates are free). If I start learning Designer, I could make the switch...the only reason I've been hesitant is that in getting advice about the program from pro letterers, one of them had their pros & cons about Designer.

I have CSP and Procreate on my iPad- still getting used to working on an area that small...I dont care for Procreate- dont like its interface. CSP on iPad is a little stripped down, but still works like I need it to.

[liaroger]

Does it really crash that much?
It's been running smoothly (for the most part) for me since I first installed it, and any bugs I encountered along the way were eventually fixed with an update ... like, is this confirmation bias on my part or am I just stupidly lucky?

[sorible]

You might be lucky, I used Krita for a few months and I still have it downloaded but it was supper buggy and kept crashing. That was the only reason I stopped using it but I still think it's one of the better free programs out there.

[skicoak]

Surface Pro and Clip Studio Pro is all a growing boy needs! Lol

[angie_draws_things]

Y'all make me feel high maintenance. I start with medium tooth paper and use a mechanical pencil with blue lead (with older scanners, blue lead didn't scan). When I need erasers, I use some Japanese Mono erasers because they work the best imho. I like pens of all sorts--microns, ballpoints, even sharpies.

I scan in images with a flatbed Canon scanner, then use either Photoshop or Painter by using a Huion tablet. (It used to be Wacom, but the price was too high for the amount of trouble the tablets gave me as their quality decreased)

I also have an iPad, but haven't gotten the hang of Procreate well enough yet.

I occasionally start drawings in Photoshop, but I just prefer the feel of a pencil on paper.

[liaroger]

Huh, I guess I am lucky then. It runs very smoothly for me (and I hope I didn't jinx it).
But I've heard that it's a bit hit or miss, it's amazing for some people and unusable for others and especially buggy on Apple computers apparently ...
Well, personally I love it and I hope the devs continue working on it so it works for more people. ^^

[Llyrel]

Started off with pencils, fineliners, markers (Copic, Winsor & Newton, Ohuhu and... Flying Tiger ) on a Ohuhu marker sketchbook + watercolors (Winsor & Newton, MozArt Komorebi) on Arches paper. Eventually moved to digital art due to pandemic restrictions and difficulty finding the supplies I needed.

Nowadays I use Procreate on a 12'9'' iPad Pro, Photoshop for textures, overlays and special effects, and Clip Studio Pain/Affinity Designer for the lettering (CSP for the page format, Designer for the vertical format). For a long time, I kept sketching stuff traditionally and then inking it digitally. Recently, I switched to (almost) full digital art, at least for the comic, and I'm planning to redo the first few pages digitally for consistency reasons.

I'm a traditional artist at heart and I'm actually much faster when it comes to work traditionally, but alas, costs + stores being nearly costantly closed for well over a year forced me to find alternative solutions. I'm slowly starting to get more confident with my digital tools, though, and I have to admit that working on landscapes using perspective tools in Procreate is a breeze compared to having to draw everything by hand

[hakei]

I use XP Pen drawing tablet and Clip Studio - I actually first bought an iPad but for whatever reason, it just didn't click with me (maybe I should have just gotten the Pro but too late now ).

Eventually I do want to get better at drawing with the iPad because it'd be so nice to work wherever, even if I'm travelling.

[euzalea]

Software:
Clip Studio Paint
Photoshop
Sometimes Sketchup for backgrounds

When I do experience art block, I pull out my sketchpad and just draw loosely. If I like the sketch, then I scan it so I can continue the work on my computer.

For my tools, I mostly use my Huion Kamvas 22.
I had a wacom intuos that came with the free clip studio paint program and I really liked it, so I upgraded the Pro version to the EX when they were on sale lol (I upgraded to EX for comic and the unli-cell animation feature)

[MrTwennysebben]

I feel like a digital dinosaur...

I use a Wacom Intuos Pen & Touch Small with a copy of Manga Studio 5 (yes, the previous version of what would become Clip Studio). I've heard rumors that all I'd have to do to switch to CSP is to use my registration number from MS5 and it would let me upgrade for free, but considering the fact that I still only know how to use maybe 20% of the features of Manga Studio in the first place I don't see the appeal of switching to a program with even more features for me to never learn. It's not like I'm making any money off of this hobby so I don't see a reason to spend more money on shinier toys.

[RedLenai]

I draw on a PC, using a XP-Pen Star G640 tablet
I work with Clip Studio Paint, I help myself by making the backgrounds on The Sims 2.

[jeffanime1]

I use a huion kanvas tablet
and CSP for my software.

[MeltingCORE]

I use CPS and a Bamboo tablet! For the longest time I used Paint Tool Sai and my mouse. (I know, I know.) The switch has helped me take my art a lot further. Now I get why everyone loves drawing tablets.

[Mallory]

A newer Wacom Intuos Pro Medium (gift from family - I used to use an older one for years). For Engram, I draw it entirely in Medibang... I own CSP but just, like... I dunno. I don't like it as much as Medibang and Paint Tool Sai. Medibang's correction feature on the brushes kinda sucks a little, but I guess I've gotten used to it.

I have an iPad mini + pencil for some sketching and rough work on the move, and I use either Procreate or Medibang, but I always ink + color on PC. Better for my posture and my poor pinched nerves.

[Birbmagadon]

Depends. Working with a canvas bigger than 4000x5000px always fucks me over after a little bit. For regular stuff, if you don't have too many projects open at the same time, it's fine for the most part. Lastly, using text tool is a no no because it makes everything go kaboom.

I don't really care because I never use the text tool (I have another software for that) but it bothers me not to be able to work on giant canvases because it's super useful when one wants to print the artwork, etc. So yeah, perhaps you just work with smaller canvases or avoid the text tool, which is why you have no specific issue