Are you a traditional artist wanting to transition to digital art? It isn't as hard as you think! Check out this FAQ for digital art advice for beginners.
What’s the difference between traditional art and digital art?
Tools and Affordability
- Traditional art refers to artwork made with physical mediums like canvas, pencil, wood, and so on. The tools you use can add a unique dimension to your artwork. It’s easy to start drawing with a pen and paper, but high quality materials can be costly, making traditional art relatively expensive to pursue.
- Digital art uses computer software, graphics tablets, and other digital techniques and technologies to make art. Whether it be a PC with a pen tablet, an iPad, or even your own smartphone, you can start drawing on basically any device nowadays. The initial cost of getting these devices and programs can be high, but it’s more cost-effective in the long-run.
Ability to Share Your Work
- Traditional art is harder to share widely (such as on social media) without digital conversion like scanning or taking a photo of it with your phone.
- Digital art is easier to share with others online. Using technologies like cloud storage, you can create artwork and share it across multiple devices.
Ability to Make Mistakes
- Traditional art requires careful planning and precision, as mistakes may be difficult or impossible to correct.
- Digital art is a lot more forgiving and convenient. Many beginners are attracted to digital drawing software because you can undo your mistakes, easily copy parts, adjust colors, and incorporate different materials into backgrounds and design.
Learning how to draw: Effective practice techniques for digital drawing
Now you know how digital art compares to traditional. But which one is best if you want to learn how to draw? Actually, there’s not much of a difference. For both traditional and digital art, the best way to improve as an artist is: practice, practice, practice!
If this is your first time drawing, try practicing with a reference. Consider the anatomy of your favorite comic book character, or look at the colors and composition from a photograph you took, and try drawing it. Drawing from reference is an enjoyable and productive form of practice.
Once complete, take a step back and compare your artwork with the original reference. Adjust if anything looks off, then rinse and repeat!
You will improve your drawing skills much quicker by sketching the whole subject in its entirety first, instead of drawing only certain parts like the eyes and hands over and over.
Another thing to focus on is familiarizing yourself with your chosen art software, like Clip Studio Paint, Procreate, or Photoshop. Make it a goal to experiment with a new feature, brush, or effect, each time you open the program. There are also tons of free tutorials and courses online to help you both improve your drawing skills and the use of your software.
What are the traits of a successful digital artist?
Traditional art skills carry over to digital, too. It’s essential to understand basic art principles like color, composition, and anatomy, even in the digital realm. However, nobody starts off at a professional level! When starting out, it’s important to simply enjoy drawing and experimenting with digital techniques. Continuously drawing for three months is a good first step. Additionally, drawing the same pose again after a few months have passed is a fun way to show how much you’ve improved!
When you feel stuck, try joining an art community like ArtStation, pixiv, or Cara. You can get a lot of useful feedback and inspiration from other artists.
PC, Tablet or Smartphone: What’s the best device for digital art?
What device or set-up will work best for your digital art depends on several factors, such as budget, complexity of the artwork, or how often you plan to draw on-the-go. Think about what is most comfortable and convenient for you to use.
Drawing with a computer
- PCs are great for digital art because of their bigger screen resolution and processing power. You can zoom in on all the fine details and create some complex work once you become more confident drawing digitally. However, for best results, you will need a pen tablet or pen display.
- Pen tablets are flat devices you connect to your computer and draw on with a pen-like stylus. Pen tablets are affordable and good for starting out, but require a little hand-eye coordination because you are not drawing directly on a screen or paper.
- Pen displays are pricier, but their built-in LCD screen makes for a more intuitive drawing experience. If you’re serious about digital art, it would be good to invest in a pen display.
- Wacom, Huion, and XP-Pen are popular manufacturers, and each have a variety of sizes and models to suit different budgets. We recommend the Wacom One series, which comes in both pen tablets and pen displays, each bundled with the Clip Studio Paint drawing app.
Drawing with a tablet
- Tablets work just like pen displays, but you can bring them with you wherever you go! While they have smaller screens and memory than PCs, there are a lot of powerful tablets out there, so you can still draw a lot with them. If you’re serious about drawing on a tablet, consider getting a stylus.
- iPad: The latest Apple Pencil Pro boasts a lot of convenient features to help drawing on your tablet feel as smooth and natural as possible.
- Galaxy/Android: Samsung Galaxy Tabs already come bundled with the S Pen stylus (flagship versions only), making it cheaper and more convenient to start drawing. For other Android tablets, there are an unlimited number of compatible stylus options for you. You can also add accessories like grips to make your stylus more comfortable to hold for long periods.
Drawing on your smartphone
- Chances are, you already have a smartphone! Just like tablets, phones are great for drawing on the go, and you’ll only need a stylus (or your finger!) to get started. If you’re away from your PC or tablet, you can use your phone as practice.
- However, not all phones support pressure-sensitivity. Since you can’t easily control the size of your lines, it can be challenging to create complex art. Luckily, you can connect an external pen tablet to some Android phones and use it like you would with a computer! (Learn how to connect a Wacom One tablet to your phone.)
For more on digital devices and apps, check out this article!
Final thoughts
It’s only natural that people who have just started digital art would have concerns over its difficulty compared to traditional drawing, and how late/early it would be to start drawing digitally. But, keep in mind that everyone’s a beginner at first. Don’t pressure yourself too hard, and take that first step into the world of digital art!
Created by: Nile Inc.
Writer: Ishida Wakako (いしだ わかこ)
Illustration: Andy♂
