[ArachosiA]

Hi, I recently stumbled onto this website and am amazed at the quality of the artwork I've found here. I myself am a traditional artist, currently lacking any sort of motivation to create art. But I must say what I am seeing here is inspiring, and I think I would like to test my abilities in the digital art medium. I have a problem, though; I have no experience with any digital art program (outside of MS Paint...haha). So, my question to you is this: which digital art program is the best? Also, is digital art a difficult medium to learn? Finally, will I need a tablet or will a mouse suffice? Thanks for any help.

[Impaler]

Asking which program is the best is sort of like asking if acrylics are better than watercolors. Photoshop and Painter both have their strengths and weaknesses, brought out by the way you work. For straight up natural media simulation, though, Painter wins, and it's cheaper by 300 bucks. Photoshop does have a nice brush engine, however, and a wider suite of image adjustments.

It's more natural to draw with a tablet, but they're sort of expensive. Find a friend with one first before you decide on an investment.

Try downloading ArtRage! for a taste of digital art. It's free, simple, somewhat powerful, and it'll give you a good idea of how digital art "feels" before you go and put down any chunk of change.
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QED, sort of.

[Jin]

Hi,

Both programs are powerful, the best, and together they provide a great combination of capabilities for any artist, Painter for painting (and many other features) and Photoshop for image editing and color management.

With these two programs and a Wacom tablet, you'll be all set to do just about anything you want.

Read about Painter on the Corel Painter IX website. Click all the links and read everything. There's a lot, but you'll learn a lot too.

Corel Painter IX Website

On the first page of the Corel Painter IX website, lower right side, you'll see a graphic that says, "Wacom Pen Tablets, the perfect compliment to Corel Painter IX". Click that graphic to read about good deals on buying both Painter IX and a Wacom tablet together. To go directly to the page that tells you about buying both together:

The Perfect Partner Bundle


Good luck, and I hope you'll soon a new Painter IX user. It's a wonderful program, my all time favorite!


Jinny Brown
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