Art 2

Do you do digital art? What program do you use? My digital art program of choice is Clip Studio Paint. I have been using it for five years and I am very happy with it. My very first art program was Kid Pix in the late 90s and early 00’s on a gray-blue Mac bubble computer running Mac OS 9. (For anyone else from this era, remember the game Bugdom?!) Then, Mac OS 10 had a default art program, but sadly no more Kid Pix, so I didn’t draw on the computer for a while. Then around age twelve, I started trying to draw on the computer again with a mouse. It took a long time, and I noticed other people were using these wild things called Wacom tablets. 

Around fourteen, I got a Wacom pen tablet and fiddled around for it for years. Unfortunately, I had been given virtually ZERO art education up until that point, when I started teaching myself. There was already Youtube, and a small handful of art tutorials, so I was able to learn some things. But whether by not taking it seriously enough, or just didn’t know, or it was hard to access, I never made contact with any sort of fundamental art education. It didn’t have to be fancy, I just wish there was a simple version of basic illustration skills. However, I did learn the technical side of art programs. I used Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. 

Despite having two artistic parents, I received ZERO support at home. At eighteen I bolted to New York City, but I did not pursue art academically or professionally. However, I dabbled at home, still using Photoshop/Illustrator on the computer and Procreate on an iPad. However, my partner introduced me to new programs such as open-source GIMP and Krita. Despite initial discomfort spasms, I found them joyful and refreshing. The only con was that they lacked a handful of features, such as filters and brushes. 

During some indentured servitude in my early twenties, I decided to pursue art seriously immediately after at twenty-four. I also wanted to take the scary plunge into animation. I tried a wide variety of animation programs, including Clip Studio Paint, TVPaint, OpenToonz, ToonBoom. Maybe this is when I found Clip Studio Paint. 

Now we’re nearing the present and since 2019 I have using Clip Studio Paint to draw and animate in. The program has since expanded, but not it is not overwhelming. I highly recommend it for manga, comic, and cartoon style art. When I need to quickly sketch an idea and don’t want to turn on the whole thing, I use Apple Notes. Recently CSP added a simple version to address this need. 

What I like most about CSP is that it is clearly made for artists. Unlike Photoshop. I do not feel stupid using it. Photoshop always gave me an unwelcoming feeling, like I didn’t belong in it. Why did I stick to it for so long?  But in CSP, although I still don’t understand all of the features, they are not scary to get to know. It feels like a very safe application, meaning you can revert the settings back to default quickly and feel secure that something totally weird is not likely to happen and if it does, it is easy to reverse. Yes you can do that in PS, but It’s a totally different vibe. 

It’s great!  I also highly recommend their official tutorials and webinars. I have learned so much from those, and I still go back to them over and over again to make sure I am doing things the best way. The animation feature is awesome and clean, zero complaints. For an intermediate level like me, currently focused on just drawing the animations, I am very happy. My other choice is TVPaint but it is expensive. There is also a need for a quick lightweight program. 

Lastly, I use CSP EX with an annual subscription on an iPad 12.9” 3rd generation and Apple Pencil 2. The screen is covered with a ELECOM Pencil Feel screen protector. I would also like to try out the rough texture version. My handbook of choice for CSP is Learn Clip Studio Paint by Inko Ai Takita and Liz Staley. Hopefully this was fun, relatable, and helpful! 

Happy arting,

Asya