As a little kid with a school binder filled with lined paper, I had entire worlds, stories, and characters running through my mind that came out through my art. Once my family got hold of a first-gen iPad, I made the switch from traditional to digital artwork with Adobe sketch and just my finger.
Once I got serious about art, I got a Wacom Intuos drawing pad to finally move to PC. However, I was met with a lot of frustration when it came to the learning curve of using a full digital art application on PC. The first application I had was Corel painter essentials that came bundled with the Wacom Intous drawing pad. It took a lot of trial and error to get used to looking at a screen and not my hands when drawing. When you just want to draw, it can be frustrating using a new tool. But You have to keep drawing in order to learn. I never stopped drawing, even when it didn’t turn out how I wanted it to. I just started again.
I started to get the hang of it. Experimenting constantly with different brushes, art processes (sketch, rendering, color blocking, layer order) and just using different programs to see which one fits you best is what will get your digital art to the next level. I must stress, using paid programs doesn’t always make your art better. I recently bought Clip Studio Paint, it’s a great program, but I just like the layer effects in Krita a bit more, because it works for my art style and I’m familiar with it. In time, maybe I’ll learn more about Clip Studio Paint, that’s just part of the process.
Also, your digital art style might not be exactly the same as your traditional art style. You’ll learn to adapt to each media you are working with, which may result in some various differences between your style depending on the media. I do several different styles depending on what I’m working on.
I have my traditional art style that is heavily detailed:
Then I have my digital sketch style:
My digital comic style:
My digital painting style (fully rendered):
You shouldn’t put yourself in a box when it comes to learning art. You can be skillful in more ways than one.
At this point of drawing for over 10 years, I know my artwork is good. Even when you know what you’re doing, some people out there will question your gift. Sometimes other artists will question your work. Some critiques are helpful; others are not critiques at all. You will learn the difference as you connect with others online or IRL. As a Christian creative, I’ve learnt to rebuke those people that operate with negative spirits. Its critical to not let your adversaries interfere with your assignment.
I started drawing digitally on PC in middle school, now I’m in my 20s. That should give you a timeline at how long I’ve been going at it. Now, I’m shifting toward not obsessing over the art itself, but rather to tell a story.
If you look at the media out there, a lot of them do not have “perfect” or “complete” artwork. They focus on telling their story. For me that’s what I want to do. Some of you may not want to tell a story. Overall, I will say to that is that whatever you do, do it diligently.
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