What do you make your art with?

[Okido]

For analog artists, this could be a specific kind of pencil, marker, paint, pen, or even a certain type of paper you prefer. For digital artists, this could be the program(s) you use, the tablet you may have, and the brushes/settings you like to work with. Feel free to share your recommendations for others if you like!

I've been using CLIP Studio Paint PRO for the last few years, though before that it was MediBang. My tablet is a Wacom Intuos S that I've had for a looong time now (I could never use any kind of screen tablet, they're just not for me). And I recently had to change up my usual brushes when an update got rid of 'em all a few months ago, so I'm still trying to find an ideal lineart pencil again... ^^;

 

[toastghost]

i tend to sketch traditionally, then line and color digitally. as for the program, i use ibispaint. it isn't perfect, and recently it kinda feels like it's worse, but at least it's free.

 

[DawningWinds]

Primarily digital, though I do traditional every once in awhile.

Working in digital, I use photoshop and a Huion pen tablet. My brushes of choice are near exclusively standard issue hard round pressure size, hard round pressure opacity, and the soft equivalents of those, though occasionally I use like a splatter brush for effects on a background, in addition to sometimes using the smudge tool for the occasional effect.

Working traditionally, regular pencil and coloured pencils is it-- I'm not prone to care much what brand. I also own a few inking pens but I've long since lost those unfortunately.

 

[chocovelvetcake]

Both! I make traditional and digital art.

For traditional art, I usually just draw on a piece of paper or in a sketchbook/notebook and for digital art, I would use my own middle finger and some drawing apps from the Google Play Store, such as Autodesk Sketchbook and Ibis Paint on my phone since I can't afford a drawing tablet.

 

[JollyYoshi]

Traditional artist. I would definitely love to be better at digital art to draw anime characters in a more anime style.

Though, I don’t find doodling and sketching that fun with digital art. I also find the abundance of tools in digital art a bit overwhelming though I should probably just learn how to do it sometime.

 

[escolopendror]

Started with digital art in 2018 with Paint Tool SAI, been using it since then until I switched to Clip Studio Paint earlier this year. I still use my Huion which I bought back when I first started digital art :')

 

[Viridian Beedrill]

Both, but mostly traditional. I can paint, but I'm better at pencils or pastels. I've been doing predominantly pencils for a long time now because it's gotten hard to find a time a place to make a mess with pastels (and just to be clear, by "mess", I mean literal chalkdust mess). Pencils you can do pretty much anywhere as long as you have a flat, hard surface and decent lighting. Pastel is also a long process, so when I want something in color I usually do digital. I use a Wacom tablet and an open-source drawing software called Krita.

Also, I agree with JollyYoshi; it's hard to doodle digitally. When I draw digitally I need to already have something in mind or have drawn it by hand and scanned it in as the base.

 

[QuietDragon]

I adore both!
Traditional art with a mechanical pencil, pens, markers (used to be regular/kiddy ones, but now I have alcohol-based art markers/copics!) or coloured pencils or even Crayola crayons... mixed media is also fun!
Digitally, I mostly draw on my phone. Used to draw on my iPhone, I just finally made the switch to Android (got a Samsung!), and the screen's a lot bigger, so it's going to be easier to draw, I think!
My really old art on computer is mostly MS Paint! I love using a mouse. I have a harder time with a tablet, fff. I love pixel art (typically using MS Paint on computer, on the phone, it's 8 Bit Painter), oekaki, openCanvas...

 

[Dreary_Rowlet]

I rarely finish my art work on traditional, and I tend to spend more time drawing on digital. Started drawing digital back in 2021 with MS paint and Pixilart.com, I nowadays use Firealpaca to draw though

 

[impervious_gakko42]

I prefer pencil on paper because it gives a sort of resistance that screens lack. Also I hold my pencil weird, so I frequently make unintended smudges while drawing digitally.

 

[Lot the pikachu]

before, it was both traditional AND digital... but right now, it's just digital

 

[Blanc]

I also find the abundance of tools in digital art a bit overwhelming though I should probably just learn how to do it sometime

I highly recommend Paint Tool Sai as your beginner software! It’s very simple to use yet very intuitive at the same time! It’s also inexpensive (iirc 25 USD?) for an art program! Check it out if you ever decide to take the plunge!

And wow! A lot more traditional artists than I thought! I’ll go ahead and make myself the black (or perhaps white? lol) sheep in this area. I drew traditionally while I was in primary school ANY moment I could. I used Copics back then! Expensive little things… But when I went home I would draw on my Intuos 5 tablet, and my first program was Photoshop CS6… (the last photoshop that came out before adobe switched to subscription, actually. I hoard the disc.)

At some point I swapped to Paint Tool Sai because I just didn’t like the feeling of CS6’s brushes for drawing. It was amazing for editing though. Stuck with Sai for about a healthy 7 years or so before making the final swap to Clip Studio Paint EX and I haven’t look back since. I can still draw traditionally, of course, but I rarely do that unless its a doodle somewhere, a card to a friend or some other. Since my art is much more ‘digitally’ career focused now I put all my focus there.

Oh! And I swapped tablets going into uni. I now work with my extremely dear and beloved Wacom Cintiq Mobile Studio Pro (what a mouthful). It’s the perfect size and I love it soooo much! I wear a glove when I draw so my hand doesn’t smudge on the screen or catch, and I use the default nibs. I have other types I could try, but I’m allergic to change.

prefer pencil on paper because it gives a sort of resistance that screens lack.

We are opposites! I really like the glassy feel over the texture of paper now, but there is a warmth paper carries for sure, I think.

 

[escolopendror]

I highly recommend Paint Tool Sai as your beginner software! It’s very simple to use yet very intuitive at the same time! It’s also inexpensive (iirc 25 USD?) for an art program! Check it out if you ever decide to take the plunge!

As someone who's been using SAI for years: if you can't pay for an art program try Medibang! It's pretty similar and completely free

 

[Dubious Disc]

I've been using GNU Image Manipulation Program since the beginning, it's not too advanced as far as art programs go but I'm used to it (and also too stubborn to change). I do sometimes wish I had better brushes though :P I use a Huion tablet without a screen, it's a super basic model but it works for me. I prefer using a non-screen tablet, the texture of the surface just feels better to work with.

I very rarely draw traditionally, if I'm away from my tablet I'll sometimes draw in a sketchbook with whatever I have on hand (99% of the time just mechanical pencils lol) but for the most part I reserve traditional art for class work. Graphite drawing pencils are my best and only friend, I don't like working with color.

I'm actually the opposite of Yoshi and Beedrill in that I prefer doodling and sketching digitally, mainly because it's easier for me to fix mistakes. On paper if I'm trying to draw and I mess up a proportion or something, I have to go back and erase and redraw, while digitally I can just select and resize or delete and keep going. maybe i am just lazy lol

 

[sleepwick]

started out both traditional and digital, but now it's mostly just digital aside from the occasional time i decide i want to use my leftover sketchbook space from my old college books. usually it's just sketching stuff out in pencil but occasionally i paint(i don't really like painting that much though)

for digital stuff i use clip studio paint either on my laptop or ipad, or sometimes ibis paint on laptop bc as much as i love everything on clip studio sometimes i feel the layout just doesnt work very well on there with how i like to have it while i draw..i like drawing on my laptop a lot more recently with my tablet bc it was a nice return to my roots after using my ipad for so long to not have a screen tablet.

As someone who's been using SAI for years: if you can't pay for an art program try Medibang! It's pretty similar and completely free

also as someone who used to use medibang before i had money to pay for art programs i can 100% recommend it as well! to be fair i can't really even name that many things i got out of clip studio that i actually use that medibang didnt have aside from like...how easy it is to find custom brushes