HAI HELLO !! You’ve probably answered smth like this before- but what program/brushes do you use ? I’d love to try them out !
I'M SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY! It took me a while to track down the brushes I use, since they've been removed by their creators, and I looked for alternatives and other things so I wouldn't leave you empty-handed!
I use Clip Studio Paint Pro. I bought it on Black Friday a few years ago, and before that I used SAI 2.
There are millions of free brushes (some even free initially and then paid) that are worth checking out on the Clip Studio Assets platform. I do spend money to buy Clippy brushes to get lots of patterns, textures, and try new things. I check the Assets at least once a week to try new things and organize them by use.
But the reality is that, just like when I work with traditional materials, at the end of the day it doesn't really matter what you use, but rather that you research what you need. That way, even if you have different things, you already know how to modify them to make them perfect for you.
For example, my thick strokes aren't aesthetically pleasing; it's because my hand shakes a lot and I have shaky hands. So I discovered that I need a lot of stabilization, and also that I find it fun to draw with beveled edges.
So every time I find a brush I like, I tweak its settings to suit my style! And that's how you get the results you see.
I don't have much practice with coloring techniques yet; I just go by my gut feeling and intuition, honed over years of practice and observing what I like. Ideally, I'd invest in learning techniques, but I don't have much time.
Look at artists you admire, learn from them—it's the best way. Even though many artists don't like to admit it, that's how it works.
I hope this helps! And don't give up! The world deserves your art <3 Never doubt it:
This is the brush I used for line art, but it's been deleted by its creator, so I'll share another one I sometimes use as a replacement, and it works for me. I'll also show you the settings I used. I set the stabilization almost to maximum and change the brush tips.
For commissions, I usually use the basic clip art tool, which is this nib. I use it for shadows, highlights, everything.
And when I can experiment, I use other nibs for shadows, highlights, and other textures. Sometimes I'd like to offer that in my commissions, but if I take any longer than I already do, I'd get killed, haha.
So I usually save it for special occasions, or I try to practice with them in my private drawings.
Here are some new discoveries I made for shadows and other things! And also an example of everything people can find in Clip's Assets! Some cost money, but there are also many free ones that are really good.
It's still a good investment. If you can spend money on a game's gacha, in the end it's cheaper for Clip to invest in it and have good tools to work with.
