The Best Resources for Digital Painting (HUGE List!) - Paintable (2024)

Tools don't make an artist... but they definitely help!

This graphics tablet is Wacom’s primary offering for hobbyists, and is most recommended for beginners. Wacom Intuos has an active area of 6.0″ x 3.7″, has 4 Express keys, and comes with a precise, 4k pressure-sensitive pen. It is also one of the most affordable tablets in the market. Don’t be fooled by the price – this is a fantastic tablet and we highly recommend it!

If you have a bigger budget and are keen becoming a professional digital artist, then the Wacom Intuos Pro is for you. This is Wacom’s graphics tablet made for professionals, with an active area that’s larger than the Intuos at 8.7″ x 5.8″. It comes with 8 Express keys and an 8k pressure-sensitive pen with tilt response.

If you’re on a budget but want a Pro tablet, consider the XP-PEN Deco Pro. It’s got more “bang for it’s buck”. You can get the 11″ X 6″ for a fraction of the price of Wacom and still get 8 shortcut keys and 8192 pressure level. It’s got tilt response and the pen doesn’t need to be charged.

This is a smaller and more portable version of the gold standard of all display tablets, the Cintiq 22HD. It boasts a full HD resolution, a 13″ display, and superior color quality. It has one of the most accurate pen display technology, and also features an intuitive interface that lets you swipe and zoom your work with your fingers

The iPad Pro provides a portable, laptop/desktop-free experience, which makes it perfect for artists who want to be able to paint anywhere and everywhere. It has a beautiful 10.5″ Retina screen, and is compatible with the pressure-sensitive Apple Pencil. It’s biggest advantage is that it runs Procreate, which is fast becoming one of the world’s most popular painting apps.

Huion once again offers great value for money with its display tablet, the KAMVAS GT-191. It has a 13″ display, 5080 LPI resolution, 4 Express keys, and an 8k pressure-sensitive pen with tilt recognition. Selling at half the price of a 13″ Cintiq Pro, it is one of the most affordable display tablets in the market.

Krita is a free, open-source alternative to Photoshop–and we’ve heard good things about it! It’s certainly not as powerful as Photoshop, but its interface is strikingly similar. For beginners on a budget, Krita will help you get used to brushes, layers, layer masks, and palettes. But if you’re into professional work, Photoshop is still more suitable.

Coolorus is a color wheel plugin for Adobe Photoshop. It helps you save a lot of time by keeping track of your palette, and even helping you create color harmonies. For a quick overview, check out this guide. Students of our Academy also get a special discount on Coolorus, and can find even more training on it!

Lazy Nezumi helps you draw smooth, beautiful lines on Photoshop–if your computer runs on Windows. Aside from line smoothing, it also allows you to modify your pen’s pressure curve, allowing you to create an effect that is most natural to you. For more infos, check outthis tutorial.

Hej Stylus is the pen stabilizing and line smoothing app for Mac. Similar to Lazy Nezumi, Hej Stylus also allows you to modify your pen’s pressure map. You can even save different pressure settings as presets and switch whenever you want to. For more infos, check outthis tutorial.

If you want to keep proper perspective in your paintings, you should use grid lines. Perspective Tools makes it insanely easy to allows you to create grid lines in just one click, and has a number of other really useful features to help you easily create perspective in your artwork.

Many beginners struggle with painting body parts such as hands and feet from different angles. If you’re one of them, then the Handy App is for you. Lightweight, fast, and incredibly easy to use, Handy helps you paint different body parts in different poses, angles, and lighting.

Anatomy 360 is an app for modelling poses from different angles and light directions. It’s not quite as intuitive as the Handy App, but it certainly has more features – giving you advanced control of the lighting and perspective. You can even create line sketches of the model in just one click. If in doubt, get both apps!

If you’re looking for just one, all-encompassing set of professional brushes, invest in this. It includes high quality brushes that replicate virtually all traditional media, including oil, watercolor, graphic pencils, and airbrushes. It’s a little pricier at $59, but worth every penny.

If you’re into painting portraits, then you should download our very own free portrait brushes! Created by our lead instructor David Belliveau, these Photoshop brushes can help you paint life-like hair, beard, and skin details in minutes instead of hours!

There are many free brush sets available online, but this set by concept artist Houston Sharp is one of our favourites! You’ll find lots of great brushes for recreating the look and feel of traditional media.

Photoshop

Procreate

Krita

NOTE: You can also import most Photoshop brushes into Krita (here’s how) – though you may lose a lot of the functionality.

This book is a must read for all painters–digital or traditional. Color and Light by James Gurney is an excellent resource, full or examples and explanations of how lighting affects color. Color and light seem to be one of the most challenging concepts for art newbies, so we highly recommend this book for beginners.

Looking for a little inspiration? The Art of Loish is a great pick for those who want to develop their own world-class style. This beautiful book by the famous digital artist Lois van Baarle (aka Loish) tackles how she developed her distinctive style, from her childhood all the way through to her professional career. Soak up the many great tips, lessons, and breathtaking inspiration.

With tutorials from world-class artists such as Charlie Bowater and Derek Stenning, this book is as must-have for anyone who aspires to be a concept artist. Aside from the top-caliber artists and interesting selection of topics, this book is also a visual delight in itself with its beautiful art prints.

This course takes you through the complete process of creating your first digital portrait: right from the first sketch, down to the final detail. Learn all of the essential steps and paint your best (or first!) ever digital portrait in just one week.

Finally – an affordable alternative to Art School! If you want to learn the right way and not waste years on trial and error, then consider enrolling in the Digital Painting Academy. Get access to hundreds of videos and dozens of courses. Network with other ambitious students, and get instructor feedback on your work every month!

Looking to go professional? This bootcamp for aspiring digital artists will transform you from a total beginner into a competent artist in just 6 weeks. Master advanced skills and get experience working as a professional artist, with an extra healthy dose of support and accountability to guarantee your results!