So, art as a hobby and job can be expensive; but if you know a thing or two, it can be a lot cheaper.
**This is mainly for digital art, but a tip or two can be used for traditional art!!**
Sometimes, those wooden mannequin things donât work. They suck, like a lot. An alternative could be dolls! Iâve made a post before on this, but you can take any doll and use them as a reference to make poses! Especially ones with joints- that way you can bend them however you like to pose how you want! Barbie has some âMade to moveâ dolls, and has new diverse body types!
I love using dolls, because they have hair (For hairlines/styles), a factory face (For anatomical placement), and thereâs so many companies, with so many different styles and proportions of dolls; if you wanted to play with your anatomy for different styles! Another thing is- you can dress them! If you donât know how a shirt would lay, or how a vest would fit- put your doll in one! Donât know how a logo would stretch on a shirt? Slap a graphic tee on your doll! Donât draw women? Thereâs boy dolls, and action figures! Thereâs so many posiblilities!
My top two are both free, and easy to use! Medibang Paint - All purpose! You can do pixel art, any size canvas, comics/mangas, and add strokes to the outlines of art.
Autodesk - Mostly all purpose! It doesnât have a premade comic option, but that doesnât mean you canât make them still! The smallest canvas size is 250X250, if you download fonts, you can use them in this app, and you can organise your art by naming them and sorting them in labelled folders!
Both are free, and both need an account to use to their full potentialâ which is also free!
KEEPING THE CANVAS CLEAN:
Weâve all seen those listings for art gloves. But what if you donât have $10-$50 for one? What if you draw with short sleeves and rest your wrist-forearm on your tablet/paper? What if youâre left handed?
Simple: COSTUMES!! Go to a store and hunt down some gloves! I suggest looking for âOperaâ gloves! Theyâre long, which keeps my arm from messing with the screen, and usually really cheap! As long as theyâre made of polyester, theyâll work fine!
I bought one, and cut off the middle, pointer, and thumb sleeves. If you know how to stitch, you can stitch the edges to keep them from unraveling. Or use fabric glue. If youâre left handed, you can comfortably fit in the left glove and ditch or donate the right one!
Thereâs plenty of art dupes online for far cheaper. I bought a micron pen for $1 off wish and it was honestly really nice! If you do some research, youâll be able to find some cheap alternatives in no time!
As for a stylus, you can always opt for the dollar store stylus/pen! Theyâre cheap, last well enough, and write lol. But if you look online, sometimes you can find places that sell bulk styluses for cheap! That way youâll have 99 back-ups if your 1 breaks! Or you can save up and buy *ahem* The Blackweb Active Stylus! Theyâre $20, light, with a fine tip, and material nub, and also rechargeable!
Room planners, dollhouses, your home, google imagesâ all are great places! I have an app called RoomPlanner, its free, it has basic furniture and appliances, you can set up your room in 2D, view it in 3D, set your height, your angle, and move around in your room!
I like room planner, because in 3D, you can colour everything! So if you need to distinguish two walls from each other, or counters and countertops- you can paint them all random colours! The app also includes shading! Itâs an open world ordeal too, so in one save you can make multiple rooms for different drawings!
You can also use a doll house if its big enough- or use a cardboard box with doll furniture instead! If you donât like either, just take a picture of your own room, or search âroomâ on Google images!
If you have any tips to add on, reblog with it or comment it! Help someone lol