Digital Art??

[LunaMoonCustoms1212]

So I am am a student artist, and have done traditional art my entire life. I was wanting a change and thought of digital art. Not knowing really what to buy, I starting reading and found out that Wacom tablets were some of the best. I went to Best Buy yesterday, and they had one for 70 USD (I don't really want to spend more than 100 dollars, because I'm not really sure if I will even like digital art) but it didn't include the painting feature. The only other one they had was 300 USD, and I don't want to pay that much.

I also don't know if I should buy a new program with the tablet, or wait and see what it comes with.

Any suggestions? Not sure what to do, and I would love to see what you guys have to say 

[moving to Arts Corral ~ Kiwi]

[shelvesofwhimsy]

So I am am a student artist, and have done traditional art my entire life. I was wanting a change and thought of digital art. Not knowing really what to buy, I starting reading and found out that Wacom tablets were some of the best. I went to Best Buy yesterday, and they had one for 70 USD (I don't really want to spend more than 100 dollars, because I'm not really sure if I will even like digital art) but it didn't include the painting feature. The only other one they had was 300 USD, and I don't want to pay that much.

I also don't know if I should buy a new program with the tablet, or wait and see what it comes with.

Any suggestions? Not sure what to do, and I would love to see what you guys have to say 

So I only have so much knowledge on this, but I would look into programs before tablets. I know photoshop is the most popular, so maybe get a trial period of Adobe Cloud and try drawing with just the mouse/keypad to get familiar with the program (if you're not already) before you dive in full force. I know many artists love digital art, and most use adobe.
After that I would recommend getting a Wacom tablet. They are the most popular and well known, and you may be able to find a used one on amazon or ebay or even craigslist. I'm not sure what the "painting" feature is, but most people use the brushes on photoshop for the different textures.
And Like you said- I would avoid spending too much $$ before you know if you'll like it.
Traditional vs digital is very different, but digital will help you sooo much in the job market.
This may not be the most helpful, but I hope its something

[LunaMoonCustoms1212]

So I am am a student artist, and have done traditional art my entire life. I was wanting a change and thought of digital art. Not knowing really what to buy, I starting reading and found out that Wacom tablets were some of the best. I went to Best Buy yesterday, and they had one for 70 USD (I don't really want to spend more than 100 dollars, because I'm not really sure if I will even like digital art) but it didn't include the painting feature. The only other one they had was 300 USD, and I don't want to pay that much.

I also don't know if I should buy a new program with the tablet, or wait and see what it comes with.

Any suggestions? Not sure what to do, and I would love to see what you guys have to say 

So I only have so much knowledge on this, but I would look into programs before tablets. I know photoshop is the most popular, so maybe get a trial period of Adobe Cloud and try drawing with just the mouse/keypad to get familiar with the program (if you're not already) before you dive in full force. I know many artists love digital art, and most use adobe.
After that I would recommend getting a Wacom tablet. They are the most popular and well known, and you may be able to find a used one on amazon or ebay or even craigslist. I'm not sure what the "painting" feature is, but most people use the brushes on photoshop for the different textures.
And Like you said- I would avoid spending too much $$ before you know if you'll like it.
Traditional vs digital is very different, but digital will help you sooo much in the job market.
This may not be the most helpful, but I hope its something

Thank you very much, I will start looking into programs, and I had never even thought of looking into used tablets, I'll have to check eBay.

Thank you very much for the advice 

[Tulips]

I'm not really into digital art myself so I can't give advice beyond that I have a hand-me-down Wacom tablet that I enjoy using when I do.

I don't know what the situation with Adobe Photoshop is anymore, I heard you have to pay a monthly subscription or something?
If you use Mac I can recommend Pixelmator instead, it's a bit more budget price and still has the most useful features comparable to Photoshop. If you're using Windows I know next to nothing when it comes to advice lol.

Have fun!

[banditpony]

I would recommend an intuos over a bamboo for artists. It has more sensitivity and tilt, which is super useful for an artist. It'll be less frustrating, and it'll be able to mimic how you naturally draw/paint.

What kind of program you use... depends on what you want to do.
Corel painter and Autodesk SketchBook Pro come to mind for alternatives to digital painting-- but still good for professionals. Both are really fun to use. Photoshop has a weird learning curve when it comes to mimicking some traditional stuff.

There is only a subscription for adobe if you are using creative cloud. You can buy an older version of Photoshop that will work good enough. (I wouldn't go any lower than CS4). Although the brushes in CC are really nice with a tablet.  The reason for the subscription is to keep with the most up to date versions.

That said. I use photoshop daily for my work. I would struggle finding another program doing all that it does for me.

[kestral_kitsune]

I went almost exclusively into Digital as soon as I got a tablet and learned how to use it. I will never be able to afford a cintiq those are in the 1k$ range but I can dreaamm . bamboo is a good starter tablet, but yes I would agree more to an Intuos over that, my first tablet was a Graphire4 which the new intuos pen and touch basically replaced lol.
Depending on what tablet you got, you should have some codes for software, mine came with codes for artrage which is a rather nifty painting program and  sketchbook pro. I also use Paint Tool Sai which is a more affordable program than Photoshop, but it doesn't have a lot of features that Photoshop does. I do have photoshop but my computer is dumb and doesn't recognize the tablet half the time lol.

[LunaMoonCustoms1212]

Okay, thanks for all the suggestions. I have a lot to think over   

[Baby Sugarberry]

Seconding the 'explore some digital art software before you grab a tablet' advice.

There's GIMP, Fire Alpaca, as free options, and SAI (no Mac version sadly) is far, far less expensive than subbing to Adobe.
I wouldn't hand Adobe any money now that they've hopped on the subscription fee bandwagon - why pay for something over and over and over again?  Unless you're a professional graphic designer or otherwise making a living with art, CS is overkill 99.9% of the time.  It's like having a formula 1 race car to make grocery store runs.  Sure, it'll get the job done, but the learning curve is hellish and the gas milage non-existant. 

Check out the second hand market, you can often pick up a used tablet that's got a few years on it for a lot less money than a new one as many artists upgrade regularly or find out they want more levels of pressure sensitivity or options.  Be aware there is a fairly significant adjustment period where you have to retrain your brain to look at the screen while you draw rather than your hands, which can feel pretty weird and awkward at first. 

[Bekuno]

I have a Wacom Intuos pen & touch tablet. I love it to death, but it's also the only tablet I've ever used. It's less than $100 so it fits your budget.

Digital wise I only use Paint Tool Sai. Sai costs $50, and doesn't work on Mac. I understand it better than photoshop.

Paid programs:
Clip Studio Paint
Manga Studio
Sai
Photoshop

Free programs:
Fire Alpaca
Krita
GIMP (I've been told this program has the same powers as photoshop if you know how to use it)
My Paint

[Crystal-Sushi]

I personally use a Cintiq (which allows you to draw directly on the screen) but they're crazy expensive and I only have mine due to being a student of animation. On the flipside, my favoured drawing program, Fire Alpaca, is free to use and I prefer it over Photoshop due to how 'natural' the pen feels vs PS, where it feels a bit 'stilted'.

[cannibalism]

the 70$ wacom you were talking about is a small intuos, and it's what I use, and i love it! i thought i wouldn't like it because of bad problems with wacoms before, but this one has a detachable usb cord that is totally awesome and its only a micro-usb port, so if you ever lose the cord, you can just replace it with an micro-usb cord, like a phone charger.

as for programs, i highly recommend SAI which....can totally be found for free. don't bother paying for it.

Link removed as per site rules -- many thanks, Griffin

Its a very simple really-good starter art program, very visually intuitive. another good one is firealpaca, though its only for macs. also really easy and good.

[rolllerblades]

A bamboo tablet is a pretty cheap jumping off point for someone just starting off in digital art, and if you're lucky you might find a bundle that comes with free art programs

Photoshop CS2 is available for free download from adobe's website. FireAlpaca is also free and is really user friendly. SAI isn't too expensive and not hard to find for free anyway, but it's not the best for painting.

One program that I'll hype up the wall is Manga Studio. It often goes on sale and is "photoshop if it was made by artists." Basically take photoshop and scoop out a lot of the photo manipulation features your average artist will never use and replace it with more useful things like a 'ruler' tool, easy to install brushes, and a neat little animation feature

oh, and there's also another free program called krita, although I've never used it nor knew anybody that has

[Sochy]

Hello darling! : )

As somebody who had a lot of tablet, let me say something. Buy something simple and cheap at first and later move to something more expensive.

I have a lot of friends that buy expensive first tablet, try digital art and ending nearly never touching their tablets again because they were like "well, I dont like this at all"

There is something true, expencive tablets like intous and good bamboo models have more Pressure Sensitivity and replacement parts.

My first tablet whas a Manhatta, the second one a Digipro, the third one a Genius and the current one a Wacom Bamboo (I cant remember the model, but I think is a "Create" model.

For free digital programs you can use FireAlpaca, Kirita and Photoshop Cs2 (Free download on their page).





   

[ZennaBug]

I have a Wacom Bamboo that I don't use very much.  It works great, but I have really struggled with digital art.  I'm planning on upgrading my iPad soon though, so I think I may get the Pro and Pencil and try that on for size.  Even if I don't use it as much for digital art, it's still a useful tool.

[True]

I thought they stopped selling the bamboo line, and it was more or less replaced with the intuos line?
Either way, I have a bamboo and it works well, I've only ever had wacom tablets. HOWEVER they might be the biggest name out there in drawing tablets, but they aren't ALL that's out there.

There are many other brands to try for lower prices, I have friends who refuse to use wacom, and have found much success in other brands. I feel like tablets are something you just have to try first to really find what fits.
Personally I love the "paper" feel of the bamboo and intuos tablets, it makes me feel like i'm drawing on paper with a pencil.