#i'm trying to learn how to use csp since i got a drawing tablet for christmas and it came with two years free of csp

[draconic-distress]

[meanbossart]

Hey, I was wondering if you had any starter tips for digital art? I'm a traditional artist and have been for years, but I was recently given a tablet and clip studio. I am having SUCH a hard time getting anything to look right: shaky lines, flat/too soft pieces, just an absolute childish mess every single time. I see all these gorgeous digital pieces and have NO IDEA how to get there.

Heya!

So, it's been a very very long time since I transitioned from traditional to digital art, but I DID do proper traditional for a few years; we're talking ink pens, color pencils, markers, watercolor, fancy papers, the works. I did some acrylic painting too but only monochrome (and before anyone asks, these works no longer exist so I can't share them) all that to say that I do have some experience with the former and definitely felt the learning curve when I changed to a tablet.

To get the unhelpful advice out of the way first: It's a different and unfamiliar medium, and there is probably nothing significant that you're "missing" about it except time and exploration. There are pillars to digital art just like there are in traditional art, but when it comes to personal process everyone has their quirks and habits - you gotta mess around and find what works for you. I suggest looking up tutorials and speedpaints on youtube even if you know all the basics or if the style you see doesn't appeal to you; just watching how others do their thing might help you figuring out how you would like to do yours!

Now, for the more practical advice:

-I don't know what kind of tablet you got, but assuming it's a non display, that's an extra hurdle you have to get over in developing the eye-hand coordination necessary to use it. This feels very alien at first but it shouldn't take longer than a few weeks to feel completely natural.

-On that note, if there is a significant size discrepancy between the tablet and the screen you are looking at, that might mess you up. Try adjusting the size of the CSP window so it fits the size of the actual drawing surface you are using more closely.

-Every drawing tablet's pen has pressure settings that can be tweaked to your liking, I for one always make it a little softer than the default.

-BRUSH STABILIZATION! That's a setting every individual brush (and almost every tool, I believe) on CSP has. It does as advertised: stabilizes your brush strokes. A lot of people like this set between 8-20 depending on the brush, and it can make a huge difference to the way you draw.

It is usually always visible in the tool properties, but if not, you can toggle it on through the "sub tool details" menu by clicking the little wrench symbol on the bottom right.

Hopefully this has been helpful at all. Good luck!

[ambrosialdesire]

how much more does csp slap than procreate? wanna know if i should buy it

hmmm i haven't used csp pro as much recently cause of how busy i am, only for achelous's banner and the new references for my ocs, but if you're currently using procreate or any other drawing app that doesn't have a complicated-looking interface, the interface and controls for csp can be difficult to understand. there's kind of a learning curve to get over, i had to look up a youtube tutorial on how to edit the interface to my liking when i first bought it lmfao but the brushes are SUPER nice with all the different textures, and the blending is so interesting to learn how to use since i rarely use the blending/smearing tool in procreate cause i have a difficult time understanding how to use it. the pieces i made so far come out crispy clear on my phone when i send it, which is personally amazing cause i always zoom in and inspect each little detail to see if i missed anything. AND YK HOW IN PROCREATE WHEN YOU BARELY ADJUST THE LINE DURING TRANSFORMING, IT BLURS TO SHIT???? IT DOESN'T REALLY DO THAT AT ALL FOR CSP, THAT SHITS GENUINELY A BLESSING. also i found out how to kinda use the 3d models, so i can do more dynamic poses AND practice my anatomy. genuinely, i really find csp quite an upgrade from procreate due to how many features it contains, BUT i still enjoy using procreate.

i don't have csp on my ipad and as much as i want to for accessibility purposes (i don't have the ability to bring my drawing tablet on me all the time + the wires are a hassle to set up, just imagine setting up in public when you already don't like being in public spaces for a long time, esp with what you draw 😭), you got me immensely fucked up if you think i'm doing a subscription instead of a one and done payment like procreate and csp on my laptop. procreate is mad convenient, i can doodle whatever i want with it, even while taking notes at the same time if i am using it for notes. i use gumroad to find most, if not all my brushes and it's so fun shopping for them like the csp brushes. i'm also super used to how each brush i use works cause i've been using it for nearly 4 years now, and ik how to work around certain elements to my liking, esp the liquify tool cause the liquify tool on csp lags and sometimes does not "listen" to what i'm trying to do with the drawing. i feel like procreate is sorta beginner friendly for digital art, ik other people say otherwise cause it is pretty lackluster compared to other professional digital art programs, but that's just what i think. also i like speedpainting process videos, i just watch them whenever i want to and remember what i was thinking or feeling during a particular moment in it.

all in all, i heavily believe that it's just personal preference on what feels the best and works right for you, because i went through many different drawing apps/prgrams before i finally settled on csp, procreate, and sai (on occasion lol). you also gotta make a heavy financial decision on csp if you're choosing to do either the pro or the ex version, but i'd wait until the discounts come out again if you choose to purchase csp. i think there's the free trial for csp to see if you rock with the interfaces/controls as well before settling on one or the other ‼️‼️

i ain't a big professional or particularly nit-picky on what i think is overall the best, i simply love making art with whatever media i'm using 🙇‍♂️

[chuya-chuya-blog]

I made a Cara account. I'll link it soon. I don't really like having too many social media accounts, but I like how simple and quiet the app is, and I don't relish the decision from Meta to use our images for AI no matter what. You basically can't opt out, either. Still, Instagram is a big one, and there is so much networking to be done there. I really can't pull away from it just yet, but I think Cara is a promising alternative.

I'm also learning the benefits of 3D tools on Clip Studio. However, mine is the little tablet that could, and for certain huge or really intricate models, it slows the app down or closes the app completely. I plan to make use of what I can to ease the process of manga making, but I probably won't be able to use the big models that I was excited about.

Before, I was drawing perspective grids by hand on Ibis Paint and using the radial rulers as a way to snap to vanishing points. I know the concepts of perspective, but when looking at a blank page,it was hard to visualize what was necessary for the scene. In Clip Studio, they have assets you can use that make visualization and placement easier. I first discovered this with a free 3D grid that someone made in the asset store that sets up a grid for you and allows you to move the horizon line and vanishing points wherever you need it. I'm technology handicapped, haha, so the tools Clip Studio came with for that were frustrating me, and this grid made it easier. (Side note: if you don't have Clip Studio, there are free 3D perspective grids online with the same concept.)

Having a whole grid set up made it so much easier to visualize the scenes I was trying to make. This became even more useful when I found out every 3D object already has its own perspective grids built in that you can draw with. So I can insert an object, set up a camera angle that I'm going for, and turn on the grid to help me draw anything else I need for the perspective. I'm really excited about this. I already know I want to trace the objects, but as long as I can get it into the proper perspective, that alone should be a game changer for me.

The thing to remember is that in a scene, not everything exactly goes to the same one or two vanishing points. There can be multiple points, they just all have to be on the same horizon line. I did NOT learn this in art classes. I thought everything HAD to be on the same one or two vanishing points. Nope, some objects can have their own vanishing point altogether. This is only for the first two types of perspective. I dunno what happens when it's three point perspective.

With that in mind, the new 3D tools I'm using have shown to be very helpful. I was strictly a traditional artist, but I drew my manga digitally because it was convenient to not have to erase an underdrawing. But there are so many more tools that make the process easier for me, especially since I don't have assistants. Even without the 3D models, there are still some really cool things CSP can do. My current favorite is the vector pen and eraser, where it'll erase anything up to an intersection! That was incredible news for someone like me who was drawing backgrounds and erasing the extra lines manually, while being super careful not to hit the lines I intended to keep. I don't care how traditional of an artist you are, you cannot deny how convenient that is. Yes, there are tools and brushes that encourage pure laziness, but there are some tools that just GOT IT. The vector pen and eraser is one of them.

My next tool to try is the automation function, which can ease your workflow by executing a list of commands you would usually do over and over. In Ibis paint, I had a file that I set up with my folders and layers named, organized, and ready, with tones set at the perfect opacity I always used. I would then duplicate this file over and over for every page I needed. I assume automation is similar, and I can't wait to use it.

So I hope my future manga pages will come out ever better with the help of these little handicaps of mine, a crutch I allow myself in place of the assistants mangaka normally have. I may use a small grass brush to make my process easier, but why would I draw something over and over that will essentially be overlooked by readers anyway? You prove nothing by doing that and it just adds to anxiety and burnout. You should focus your energy on things that matter and if you need a crutch for it, then so be it.

[da3drat]

helloo i'm here to ramble again~

idk if anyone finds me talking about my art interesting at all lol but if not its under a cut and it's helpful to me and also!! kind of fun lol. so I might do this anytime I have a lot of thoughts on a drawing !

okay. oh my god. where do I even start with this. I CAN'T BELIEVE I FINISHED IT. AGH. I really can't explain how proud I am just to have a finished comic in front of me. I've been drawing and storytelling all my life, and I've been trying to make comics since I was like 8 years old. And I finally finished one. cries.

Lets seee.. I think my favorite parts of this are the hands- I spent a lot of time on them lol- and the page layouts! My favorite comics are the ones that get really creative with panels and page layouts, and I tried my best to do a little of that here. I swear I re thumbnailed each of these pages at least 3 times from initial concept to completed page. The last two got WAY more than that lol.

I think the weakest point is, unfortunately, the entire 3rd page. Conceptually it works but I don't think the execution is all that great. Maybe if I wanted sketchy lines like that I should have gone with fewer strokes of a heavier weight line? Also just the angle and the anatomy of the whole thing was...............rough. I definitely hit a point where I just got sick of looking at it and called it good.

And I think thats okay! Honestly I went into this with the mentality that it was going to be full of mistakes and inconsistencies and that was going to be fine, and thats the only reason it got finished at all. Where's the lighting coming from? Are the character models consistent? Backgrounds? Who cares! I do hope all of that comes in later projects (especially backgrounds, I looove intricate backgrounds) but again, I'm just happy to see a finished work here. :))))

Oh uh and the content. Idk I don't have any self critiques on that part lol I had a blast with this. I love drawing these two, I love the toxic mess they have going on, I love comparing Meri and Nerevar and their places in Almalexia's life.

The next idea I have for them is much more dialogue and action heavy >:) (pls do not expect any movement on this for a few months lmao)

Oh and I guess technical critique. DAMN. I LEARNED A LOT DOING THIS. So fun fact starting this comic is the first time I have done a start to finish digital piece in like. wow. maybe over 10 years. I just don't do digital art really, there's always been some kind of disconnect between my hand and the screen that makes it look off. But I guess thats gone now??????? I learned a lot about CSP while working on this lol, and also got much more acquainted with my tablet. I decided to use being able to scale/transform parts of the drawing to really focus on understanding my weaknesses- particularly on drawing more than one character to scale in frame and arranging features somewhat symmetrically on a face. (If you look at my art you can see that the right eye is routinely higher than the left. TT-TT) And I think it helped? It definitely gave me some ideas on how to work on the multiple characters problem, not so much on the facial features problem lol.

Okay! Thats super long! Bye bye!