Digital Art Software - Creating Art Without Making A Mess
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Learn about some interesting digital art software!
With price being the last thing you should be worrying about, the next thing you should consider is what type of art you want to make. If you're looking to edit images, sketch or draw on the computer, or do a fully rendered digital painting, you should look into some of the 2D software listed below. If three dimensional art or animation is your thing, I've got software listed for that too. The choice is yours, and the possibilities are endless!
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Why Digital Art?
Art supplies can be expensive. Digital art allows you to create art without having to purchase pens, markers, paper, brushes, canvases, or any of that stuff, and it has the ever wonderful UNDO function! You can create and modify art on the computer in ways you simply can't do very easily, or at all, with traditional media.
Adobe Photoshop
It's virtually impossible to talk about any kind of digital art software without hearing about Adobe Photoshop. It's quite possibly the "king" of art programs, offering a huge range of features and tools for drawing, sketching, painting, photo manipulation, etc.
If you can dream up any sort of image, Photoshop will provide the necessary tools to make it happen. That is, as long as you have the skill to use the software properly. It does have a bit of a learning curve due to the more advanced features like creating custom brushes and actions, and it takes some trial and error to learn the proper settings for each tool to actually achieve the results you want. When you get past those hurdles, however, the only limit is your imagination.
With support for layers, excellent graphics tablet support, tons of filters available for use, a plethora of free user created brushes/actions, some amazing plugins, and web communities all over the internet, it's easy to see why I call Photoshop the "king" of digital art software. The biggest downfall to this software, however, is its hefty price tag. Weighing in at ~$700USD, the program is FAR from cheap. It is, however, industry leading software used by professionals across the globe, so it's understandable that the price is so high.
Photoshop In Action
Amazing art created in Photoshop!
Photoshop How-To Books
Photoshop on Twitter
Open Canvas 1.1
Record and share your art with others!
The biggest feature of this program, however, is the ability to save your creation process as an "event file." This is largely one of the best features I've seen in any art software because it allows you record your entire drawing for you to re-watch at a later time. You can also share these event files with other users and allow them to see your drawing process. The same can be done with theirs. If you find someone's art that you admire, simply download the event file and watch their entire process. It's an excellent way to learn some new techniques!
Download your copy and give it a try! It's FREE!
Alchemy
Quickly throw out concept/abstract art.
Alchemy is an interesting piece of software that is great for creating concept art, especially of humanoid characters or anything with symmetry across an axis. There are a variety of truly unique drawing methods available in this program. The simple Mirror function is useful for the previously mentioned symmetrical/humanoid characters. Anything you draw on one side is instantly mirrored across the axis to the other side. It's very handy!One creation tool I had never seen anywhere else is the "Mic Shapes" tool. This tool actually alters the stroke based off the sound input from your headset's microphone. The changes in tone and volume cause the lines you draw to grow as the sound increases and provides a truly randomized line.
Pull shapes is another awesome tool that I would like to mention here. This thing will pull random shapes (thus the name) from a series of pdf files in the software's shapes folder. These shapes can be whatever you can think of, and the program comes with a selection of bones, circular patterns, and bones, as well as some other neat shapes for you to work with.
There's a ton of other features to this software, but I don't have the space to write about everything here. You'll just have to check it out for yourself. The software is available for free at Al.chemy.org, and the site has an active forum where you can post questions or art and check out the awesome work of others.
Apophysis
Create stunning fractal art!
Fractals are an interesting form of abstract art, and I've seen some truly awe inspiring works from the user community. Most of the software for this type of art (at least the ones I've seen) is sort of expensive. That's the good thing about Apophysis. It's totally free!Apophysis is a program that is used to create and edit fractal "flames." It includes a handy feature called "Mutations" that allow you to apply random edits to your base flame and can result in some truly spectacular images. Once you learn the ins and outs of the program, the flame editor will allow you to fine tune your settings and really pull out exactly the image you want.
If you're interested in checking it out, the software can be downloaded at the Apophysis project's Sourceforge page.
Blender 3D
No, it doesn't make smoothies...
I personally call this the king of free 3D software. It has all the features you could ask for rolled into one package. This piece of software will allow you to create 3D models of anything you can imagine. After creating those models, you can then unwrap the image for texturing and paint the texture within the software itself. Bones can then be created and linked with the model to allow for animation. Animation or still images can be rendered out using the internal renderer, and there are a selection of external rendering software available across the web.The program DOES have a bit of a learning curve, though, and the interface can be terribly confusing or intimidating for a newbie. Thankfully, there's a lot of help to be found online. Just do a quick Google search for some tutorials, and you'll find plenty.
If you're interested in 3D graphics and don't have the cash to spend on the professional software (It's dreadfully expensive!) you absolutely MUST grab a copy of Blender!
Blender's Awesomeness on Display
Animations, model reels, and even short films all created with Blender!
Teach Yourself Blender 3D!
Daz Studio
Free Posing/Rendering Software
Daz Studio is a free 3D application that is very similar to Poser. It allows you to import pre-built models, pose them however you'd like, and render the scene. This lets you quickly create artwork without having to know all the technical details of 3D modeling.
There is a paid version of the software that includes some extra content and features, but for the most part, the free version will do everything you want. The Daz 3D site has lots of galleries you can browse for inspiration, and the store has several free models you can pick up. It also has a huge selection of models and props available for you to purchase and use in your scenes.
That leads me to the biggest drawback that I have with this piece of software. While they do provide you with the free models to get you started, and the ones provided are of a good quality, all of the best stuff is purchased through their store.
If you're fine with that and don't mind buying the extra props and goodies for your collection, you won't be disappointed with the assortment they have available. Everything from new character models to clothing to background scenes to place your characters in is available in a variety of styles ranging from the stone age to the distant future.
Microsoft Paint
Great for pixel art!
If you're afraid to install any of these awesome programs for whatever reason, or perhaps you're not allowed to install new software on your system, there's still Microsoft Paint. This program usually comes pre-loaded with all Windows machines, so it should be on hand if you decide you want to use it. For those of you using non-windows machines, I'm sure there's a similar alternative for your operating system as well.As I mentioned in my intro text, Paint isn't the best program around. It's very limited in features. There's no layering, no smooth brushes, no filters or special effects, and the software's JPEG compression is absolutely dreadful. It IS great for making pixel art, however. You can use this to create all sorts of pixel scenes/characters.
While it may be limited, a creative mind and a lot of patience can result in some awesome images. Ever wanted to create a sprite for a video game? You can do that with paint! Want to do a pixel city? Paint can probably do that too. You never know what you might come up with, and since it's probably there for you to use to start with, there's no harm in giving it a shot, right?
Masters of MS Paint
myPaint
Kinda like Painter...but free!
This awesome little program is an open source painting software that allows you to mimic a variety of real world painting techniques. The program provides some backgrounds that also mimic real world drawing materials, such as standard lined notebook paper, graph paper, and some cloth canvases. The brush simulation is very nice, and pressure sensitivity with graphics tablets appears to work quite well. 
A campfire scene painted with myPaint.
Your Paints Made with MyPaint
![Kaine [Nier Gestalt / Replicant] (c) Square Enix<br />
Fanart by me, Hayashi Nomura<br />
<br />
Program Used: MyPaint](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zxeLSW1Miks/0.jpg "Drawing Kaine (Nier Gestalt) with MyPaint")
Graphics Tablets
Like using a pencil on your computer
What, exactly, is a graphics tablet?
A graphics tablet is piece of hardware that allows you to use an included pen to draw on the computer. The tablet itself has a "working area" that picks up the motions/touch of the pen and moves the cursor on the screen to match the movements of your hand. Some tablets also include a wireless mouse that can be used by placing it on this area and moving the mouse like always. A few of the more expensive graphics tablets actually act in much the same way as a touch screen monitor, allowing you to draw directly onto the screen.
One of the coolest features of a tablet, aside from being able to draw on the computer just as easily as drawing in your sketchbook or on a canvas, is that they have varying levels of pressure sensitivity. What this means for your art programs is that you can use the pressure of your strokes to adjust various things within the program. With it, you can alter things such as the size and opacity of your brushes on the fly without having to stop and manually adjust each of those settings. This allows you to greatly speed up the drawing/painting process.
All graphics tablets aren't created equal, however, and some don't offer a lot of the better features. Tablets created by Wacom are probably some of the most widely used, but certain models are terribly expensive. Here are a couple of my recommendations, with prices ranging from budget models up to top dollar equipment.
Tablets on eBay
Got a favorite piece of digital art software? Let everyone know about it!
I've listed several programs that I like and would recommend to anyone who was interested in making art on the computer, but I haven't scratched the surface of everything that's out there. Have a piece of software that you love but isn't included here? Perhaps I've left out a program that you feel absolutely NEEDS to be part of this list? Leave a comment and let everyone know what you think!
by reshind
I LOVE creating digital art! I can load up a piece of software and get lost in my own little world. It's such a good way to settle my nerves and win... more »
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