Digital Painting Tools

[granite spruce]

Krita or clip studio paint. (Or any other tool). Im starting out and want to stick to one software.

[halcyon elk]

i suggest starting with krita tbh. they work similarly, and i think krita has better overall computer performance when it comes to drawing and complex brushes. CSP probably wins in the amount of features, animation capability, and exterior software compatibility. you can use photoshop brushes with CSP, but there’s some caveats that i don’t totally understand with krita.

you also can use krita for free, which is the best price of all. but i won’t lie to you and say CSP isn’t worth the price. i have used both and both are very good.

so yeah my take is to start with Krita, learn how it works and all that because thats zero dollars you’re spending. and if want more, then look into CSP. i started with CSP, but i now primarily use Krita simply because i like how it works

[granite spruce]

I see, thank you for this well written reply. I’ll start with krita then, do you have any tips or some specific knowledge with it?

[halcyon elk]

nothing super specific except for the function of the eraser tool. don’t imagine it like a separate tool. imagine it as your brush tool, and you are toggling eraser mode

whatever your currently selected brush is, when you push E (or whatever else you might bind as your eraser) it will retain the same brush shape, save for the size of the brush. the eraser toggle can be resized independently from the regular brush

[granite spruce]

Oh thats interesting, so if you have a graphite brush the eraser will mimic that texture?

[halcyon elk]

OH, two more things that took some getting used to but i have found invaluable:

resizing your brushes quickly by holding shift, and dragging your cursor/brush up and down

scrolling on your mouse if you use it will zoom in and out on the canvas, not pan across the screen

[halcyon elk]

its funny because there are blending brushes that do nothing but smudge, and they do the same thing regardless of whether eraser mode is toggled

[granite spruce]

Any brushes you recommend?

[hasty coyote]

Best to google it but the deafault brushes are genuinely good

Start experimenting w them urself u will find one which you like

https://www.davidrevoy.com/article953/krita-brushes-2023-01-bundle

Heres a good brush set i installed it

Their textures r quite nice

[halcyon elk]

yeah i agree the default ones are very effective. there is only one fella that i have looked into for other brushes. i like the Rakurri V2 set

[granite spruce]

I see, ive just been using the base one because I didn’t know what to choose.

[hasty coyote]

Very very generally speaking paint tools are better for smooth transitions and blending
Rougher or (solid) brushes are better for layering and blocking in

[granite spruce]

By the way how do you color and render on digital? Is it just different brushes and messing with oppacity? I had a hard time making colors feel right. (I should also watch some videos on just coloring)

[granite spruce]

I don’t quite understand the terms but ill search them up.

I dont have much experience besides an art class in pre college

[hasty coyote]

If you put paint brushes on top of each other they kinda mix w each other but hard brushes dont do it

Paint for blending and hard for

Like layers

[halcyon elk]

rendering is a totally different skillset when doing it digitally. any knowledge you have of color theory or shape theory and all that will help greatly, but it is a different process for a lot of people

[granite spruce]

Oh I see, pencil/brush esentially?

[halcyon elk]

i personally like trying to render on a single layer. it helps me feel more like i'm physically painting

[hasty coyote]

Yes or any brush named flat brush or round brush

[granite spruce]

Ok, I’ll try to make use of layers. That is I think a good function of digital art but ive only been using it to separate guidelines.

[hasty coyote]

Working on this rn same layer
I dont think rendering w pencils is same as digital

[granite spruce]

For shading/lighting do you get a lighter or darker brush and just paint over or is it a different process?

[hasty coyote]

Painted the whole thing with same color and went over with the darks first just added the entire shadow

and then a lighter shadow

Then light at the end

[granite spruce]

I think I understand a little more of rendering now.

Thank you both for this conversation.

[hasty coyote]

Ping me if u make any artworks!

[halcyon elk]

same bro i wanna see that shii

[granite spruce]

I only have sketches for now, but I’m working on a fully finished piece. Planning on applying what I learn to it.

[granite spruce]

@hasty coyote @halcyon elk Hi I finished this some time ago, and I remembered the help from you two. Hope you've both been doing well!

[halcyon elk]

thats so fire bro! i’m glad something i said was useful to you ♥️ glad to see you came up with something really cool, too. this looks sick

[hasty coyote]

Rendering for the light looks nicee🔥