Digital Artist Workshop - Tips, tricks and advise for Kiwi's by Kiwi's

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harbleglarb said:
Wacom have dominated for a long time and they're kind of the Adobe of tablets. high price but fairly high quality and their competition still lag on certain features. they're good but i'm glad they have competing companies getting more attention. unfortunately i have yet to tru the alternatives.
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The companies are all Chinese though, I don't trust them for anything.
 
cactus said:
The companies are all Chinese though, I don't trust them for anything.
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yeah, i noticed that when i was looking a bit further into it. i think there's one that isn't from mainland China (i believe it's Gaomon that's from Taiwan), but otherwise the big names are Chinese.

personally i don't like it but we're so limited for choice that, as an artist with a fairly limited budget, i don't see much choice. i'm sure that Wacom themselves source parts from China anyway though, so the only thing you're avoiding by using them is Chinese-made software.

(damn it, i just saw my typo in your quote but i seem to have lost the edit button on that post)
 
cactus said:
The companies are all Chinese though, I don't trust them for anything.
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I was on the market for a display tablet a few months ago and ended up buying a Huion, but I did manage to find a different brand called Gaomon that was Japanese (EDIT: I'm dumb it's also Chinese) . Obviously can't vouch for them but it is out there and relatively affordable.

710HpTcKyoL.jpg

This is their PD1560. 15.6 inch display and goes for somewhere between 300-400. Plenty of japs on Ebay selling used ones for cheaper though.

On the side does anyone have more tutorial / reference pic libraries? Especially for plants and fungi. I have some old tumblrs for fashion and stuff if anyone wants those.
 
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if any here haven't already please download Pureref, is awesome. You can download it from their site and use it for free or donate whatever you want, paying for it is optional.
Another great addition if you ise Photoshop is coolorus color wheel, is a million miles better than the default colour picker and has many options like gamma masks and different color harmonies. Its like 15$ if you wanna buy it.
I also recommend getting a keypad where you can customize your hotkeys, is specially useful if you use a lot of custom actions. Something like this will do. Its just a nice addition to the workflow.

cactus said:
The companies are all Chinese though, I don't trust them for anything.
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i have used a huion kamvas tablet monitor for months and is pretty great, it fills all my needs pretty well. It has it perks, like you need to calibrate it well first before using it for the first time as it tends to be darker and warmer by default and it could have a higher resolution but is the best bang for the buck ever, i love it and i hear xp pen is also pretty good. A cintiq is still the better choice ultimately but is like 1000 bucks more expensive and honestly is not worth that huge price difference for what it offers. For that money i'd rather stay with the huion and just get an ipad on the side for live painting on procreate or just spend that on artbooks or anything else really.

M'aiq the Liar said:
On the side does anyone have more tutorial / reference pic libraries? Especially for plants and fungi
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You can try going into library genesis and try to find books about the subject you are looking for. Look up in google botany books with lots of pictures and illustrations and see if you can score them in libgen.
Pinterest tend to be a better image search engine than google images and even nature documentaries you can look on youtube can be useful.
 
Bamboos still exist. And I just refuse to support the Chinese, I don't care if their tablets are cheaper, I will not give them my money (directly anyway, not much else I can do when it comes to companies sourcing their labor from there). I do own an Intuos 5 and I love it, I plan on saving for a Cintiq if I can get myself drawing more often.
 
Adding onto the tablet discussion. I have a small Wacom intous that I periodically use for 3D sculpting. Must've cost £60 tops and has last me about 4 years now. If anyone is lurking the thread wondering about tablets, I'd recommend a cheap screenless tablet to get a feel for using a tab before you splurge on ones with a screen. Sometimes it's all you need.

Also remember to get new pen nibs for them when they wear down or they start scratching your tab. My Wacom came with a few spares out the box that you can stash in a compartment
on the back of the tablet, dunno about the other brands/models tho.
 
Autistador said:
Adding onto the tablet discussion. I have a small Wacom intous that I periodically use for 3D sculpting. Must've cost £60 tops and has last me about 4 years now. If anyone is lurking the thread wondering about tablets, I'd recommend a cheap screenless tablet to get a feel for using a tab before you splurge on ones with a screen. Sometimes it's all you need.

Also remember to get new pen nibs for them when they wear down or they start scratching your tab. My Wacom came with a few spares out the box that you can stash in a compartment
on the back of the tablet, dunno about the other brands/models tho.
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I personally used no screen tablets for years, there was never a point where i really got used to it or felt comfortable, for me it was always a chore but a screen tablet did the trick and was a relief for me, is still not quite like traditional but much closer for me to feel more comfortable. Other people i have met actually are the other way around, they got used to the non screen fast when they started and would never let go, one guy i met would not even draw non-digitally at all and only used non screens and he was a pretty professional guy to boot, so i agree is a highly personal preference, theres no definitive answer that fits all.
 
LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV] said:
I personally used no screen tablets for years, there was never a point where i really got used to it or felt comfortable, for me it was always a chore but a screen tablet did the trick and was a relief for me, is still not quite like traditional but much closer for me to feel more comfortable. Other people i have met actually are the other way around, they got used to the non screen fast when they started and would never let go, one guy i met would not even draw non-digitally at all and only used non screens and he was a pretty professional guy to boot, so i agree is a highly personal preference, theres no definitive answer that fits all.
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yup, it's all down to how you started and what you're used to. also how quickly you adapt to the differences.

i started using a non-screen tablet before screen tablets were even a thing (or at least before they were something the general public could buy and use for art). so i didn't have the option early on, and ended up getting used to working with a non-screen tablet. at this point i think i could get used to a screen tablet but it would take some adjustment, even as someone who started with and continues to do traditional art.

i'd like to give screen tablets another chance but as of now i don't have nearly enough desk space for one.
 
I personally preferred screen tablets because I am not exactly used to not looking directly at what I'm drawing. Despite having used a mouse for a few years before that, oddly enough.
 
IceGray said:
I wonder if Medibang/ArtStreet could be put on the list, since it's a cross-platform art software that has a cloud service. No subscription fees though.

You might like it for the ability to transfer between tablet and PC alone. Free to boot.
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Medibang is my primary program moving from a SAI crack in like 2016.
The cloud system is great because it means new updates to certain controls (like added blurs [gaussian, motion]) and new pens to use, etc.
It's great for manga with presets for pages and having the tools for panels on top of the cloud materials like manga bgs, tones, word bubbles.
Being cross-platform is cool, but I've yet to use the phone version, so can't comment.
Still, it's a free platform I would absolutely recommend. The "free" part is paid in some ads that show up in a small window at launch sometimes (like for amazon) but they also advertise contests (for art and manga) within their services and beyond as well as linking to various helpful tutorials for beginners on the startup popup.
 
Not sure if I should edit this in to the previous post because it is completely unrelated, but I woke up thinking some artsy Kiwis might benefit from learning about the HP Instant Ink service, if you're interested in printing out your work to turn into merch, display, whatever.
I got a basic HP OfficeJet printer for $60 a few years ago and it recommended the program in the description. I was hesitant at first with some of it, but it is honestly fantastic.
Instead of paying for ink, you pay per page on a subscription basis. You can try out beginning with their actually-really free 15 pages per month (naturally extra fees for extra pages) and 50 per month for 2.99, which can rollover to 100 bonus if you don't print (and two other tiers but w/e). The printer connects online to their service to see how many pages you have left, visible on your account page, and you can hook up your Paypal account for really easy payments.
Whenever the ink is about to run out, they automatically mail you new cartridges to use, for free, with the option to mail back the old cartridges to them in an enclosed baggie.
I would definitely say to give it a try, as there's no real commitment.
With it, I was able to print out all my materials for a con booth on the absolute cheap, with some 100 stickers and 1000 pins made, and generally good quality prints/keychains on different kinds of stock.
Can't imagine the cost if it was traditional ink buying, with the sheer amount of color and saturation... Plus, you can get on people's good sides by being the person they send all their crap to print because it's pennies on the dollar. :gunt:
 
Sorry about not updating the OP in a bit. Been busy. 🙂

IceGray said:
I wonder if Medibang/ArtStreet could be put on the list, since it's a cross-platform art software that has a cloud service. No subscription fees though.

You might like it for the ability to transfer between tablet and PC alone. Free to boot.
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If you get me the links for each of these I can add them to the OP no problem! (I just don't want to google the wrong ones)

マチコ先生 said:
Not sure if I should edit this in to the previous post because it is completely unrelated, but I woke up thinking some artsy Kiwis might benefit from learning about the HP Instant Ink service, if you're interested in printing out your work to turn into merch, display, whatever.
I got a basic HP OfficeJet printer for $60 a few years ago and it recommended the program in the description. I was hesitant at first with some of it, but it is honestly fantastic.
Instead of paying for ink, you pay per page on a subscription basis. You can try out beginning with their actually-really free 15 pages per month (naturally extra fees for extra pages) and 50 per month for 2.99, which can rollover to 100 bonus if you don't print (and two other tiers but w/e). The printer connects online to their service to see how many pages you have left, visible on your account page, and you can hook up your Paypal account for really easy payments.
Whenever the ink is about to run out, they automatically mail you new cartridges to use, for free, with the option to mail back the old cartridges to them in an enclosed baggie.
I would definitely say to give it a try, as there's no real commitment.
With it, I was able to print out all my materials for a con booth on the absolute cheap, with some 100 stickers and 1000 pins made, and generally good quality prints/keychains on different kinds of stock.
Can't imagine the cost if it was traditional ink buying, with the sheer amount of color and saturation... Plus, you can get on people's good sides by being the person they send all their crap to print because it's pennies on the dollar. :gunt:
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So if I'm reading this correctly; it has no to low cost for people who want to use it for casual use, but is also fairly cheap for people who would use it to the fullest?
 
can anyone in the know suggest programs for 3d sculpting/modelling? it's something i'm interested in but i'm not sure where to start program-wise.
 
WXY said:
can anyone in the know suggest programs for 3d sculpting/modelling? it's something i'm interested in but i'm not sure where to start program-wise.
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Well Blender is free, is a good option if you are short on cash and want to do things legally but if you don't care about money or just pirating the software then the best option would be between Maya or 3ds. Honestly any of those you choose would be just fine, they all do the same thing and only have different interface, i like Maya the most.

Zbrush is super easy to learn and is very intuitive for sculpting. Basic knowledge of maya(or blender or 3ds) and zbrush would be enough to do quite a lot. Then you can start including things on top of that like Keyshot (for materials), Marvelous designer (clothes) and substance painter.
 
LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV] said:
Well Blender is free, is a good option if you are short on cash and want to do things legally but if you don't care about money or just pirating the software then the best option would be between Maya or 3ds. Honestly any of those you choose would be just fine, they all do the same thing and only have different interface, i like Maya the most.

Zbrush is super easy to learn and is very intuitive for sculpting. Basic knowledge of maya(or blender or 3ds) and zbrush would be enough to do quite a lot. Then you can start including things on top of that like Keyshot (for materials), Marvelous designer (clothes) and substance painter.
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i was trying the demo for zbrush and.. well. i guess my PC isnt up to scratch? :lit:
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Token Weeaboo said:
Sorry about not updating the OP in a bit. Been busy. 🙂


If you get me the links for each of these I can add them to the OP no problem! (I just don't want to google the wrong ones)


So if I'm reading this correctly; it has no to low cost for people who want to use it for casual use, but is also fairly cheap for people who would use it to the fullest?
Click to expand...

I could hand you Medibang's link: https://medibangpaint.com/en/ (the site [and program] are available in multiple languages)
Art Street (https://medibang.com/) is their posting/contest platform, haven't used it tho.

But yeah, HP InstantInk surprisingly is not too-good-to-be-true as far as I've experienced, having, of course, the usual printer hiccups like alignment and running the cartridge cleaner (which go toward page count).
Some cons might be that you need a specifically compatible inkjet printer, ink shipping can take a little over a week, the inevitable overage fees (though a dime per page is the cost at my library anyway), that "per page" includes even one period on an extra page, and that in the ToS there's inevitably some stuff about "personal data" sharing (e.g. address, printer serial) with the retailer and "remote monitoring" (e.g. types of documents printed [pdf, jpg, doc]) but if you aren't bothered by any of that, enjoy.
 
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