# Poll: What do you use to draw your art?



## Jaki-Kun (Oct 12, 2008)

...So honestly, I just want to see what everybody else uses before I try to draw *anything*, but I think this would also work nicely as a poll. Also, me being a noobie artist, I could use some advice on what to use and more importantly, how to use it, so... let the poll begin!


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## Evee (Oct 12, 2008)

I use pencils and ink it on a4 or maybe bigger.
then scan and digitally colour it on photoshop or oc =]


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## X (Oct 12, 2008)

i sketch (terribly) then i scan onto my pc and do digital linework on it (looks a lot better afterwords). and then i color on the pc.


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## Shark_the_raptor (Oct 12, 2008)

Jaki-Kun said:


> ...So honestly, I just want to see what everybody else uses before I try to draw *anything*, but I think this would also work nicely as a poll. Also, me being a noobie artist, I could use some advice on what to use and more importantly, how to use it, so... let the poll begin!



Paper and pencils.  For coloring- Colored pencils.  I am a traditional artist.
-gasp-

If you want to use colored pencils to color, use Prismacolors.  They are some of the best of the world.


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## iBurro (Oct 12, 2008)

If you really are just starting out, get a pencil and a piece of paper. Then draw. A LOT.

I mainly use photoshop since I don't have a scanner, but I also draw in sketchbooks when bored or waiting for something. Sketching everything around you is good practice, and helps you develop your own style by looking at the real object instead of a second-hand source.


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## Jaki-Kun (Oct 13, 2008)

Hm. So is that what people normally do? Draw something, scan it, then add the final touches in Photoshop?... That's smart.
And uh... iBurro, you kinda hit the nail on the head, there. I really am just starting out to draw, but I wanted to wait and see if most people drew on the computer or used just pencil and paper before I went and developed my own style and found out I could have done something to improve it. :/
Anyway, thanks for all the input, guys! This topic is developing rather nicely!


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## Quiet269 (Oct 13, 2008)

Mechanical pencil and pen.

Soon I will have a tablet ^_^ and will see how that works


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## ArielMT (Oct 13, 2008)

Pen, almost always.  My current av ("Self-Taught") is one of the very, very few exceptions where I used only a pencil.  After inking, I use colored pencils if doing traditional work or the Gimp if doing digital coloring.


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## iBurro (Oct 13, 2008)

I can understand that; but for me, at least, it was a lot easier to learn to draw traditionally than have to deal with digital. XD
Mostly because traditional is so portable; you can literally take it almost anywhere, and as long as you have sufficient light you can probably doodle something. 
It's also a good idea to know the rules of drawing before you break/bend them (i.e. get your own style). That's why I suggested drawing from real life, so that you can learn realism (how it works) and apply it to whatever stylizing you wish. ^^

Hopefully that makes a modicum of sense. x-x There are plenty of good books out there too, don't hesitate to use them.


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## Nanakisan (Oct 13, 2008)

I use Paintshop Pro X

i'm a vectorist and semi-artist with brushes and gradients

i draw too but they are very ugly.


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## darkdoomer (Oct 13, 2008)

Traditional mostly, then, a little incursion in photoshop6, gimp or painter9 for coloring. 
sometimes i try to do digitally-inked stuffs, add some animu-like cel shading but i'm never proud about the final aspect of the drawing.


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## Dragoneer (Oct 13, 2008)

Wacom Cintiq w/ Photoshop

or

Sketchbook with H2 + HB pencils


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## Grimfang (Oct 13, 2008)

My bamboo fun tablet and photoshop, or opencanvas with some buddies.

I'm terrible at drawing on paper, hah. I should really practice that, but digital art is so much fun.


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## Kittiara (Oct 13, 2008)

Mechanical pencil on whatever kind of paper, OpenCanvas and Wacom Intuos tablet for digital.  I have some nice art supplies lying around, like Micron pens, but I rarely use them except for schoolwork (same goes for charcoal and colored pencil).  Sometimes I use acrylic paint.

Basically I use whatever, whenever, though I love digital art. :3


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## Ahkahna (Oct 13, 2008)

cardstock paper
technical pencil *clickity!*
micron or copic technical pens
winsor newton ink and a brush or nibs
prismacolor and copic markers
sometimes acrylics or watercolors

*dance*


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## Talvi (Oct 13, 2008)

You can do art on the Home Computer these days? Gee whizz, what a world!

Seriously though, I wouldn't even know where to begin digitally


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## Quiet269 (Oct 13, 2008)

Talvi said:


> You can do art on the Home Computer these days? Gee whizz, what a world!
> 
> Seriously though, I wouldn't even know where to begin digitally


Just pick up a tablet and download Open Canvas or GIMP or any other art program you can find (hell some people use paint!) and just start drawing.

The cool thing about digital stuff is you have a much cleaner end product, and your paper space is near infinite (just depends on what your comp can handle) plus you can add canvas space any time you want (encase you want to expand out further later) and with most art programs you can utilize layers to do your coloring, so you never have to worry about accidentally messing with your original line work while coloring. 

etc, etc, etc


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## Talvi (Oct 13, 2008)

Hmm yeah it's inevitable that i'm going to have to learn and experiment with it soon, but it bothers me a little that it's just on the screen...something in the flesh is more personal to me. Oh well, that's how it goes.


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## RailRide (Oct 13, 2008)

Tactics as follows...

(1) Mechanical pencil, then:
--ink with paintbrush (size 2 round point) or:
--ink with tech pen (Micron or Staedler) or:
--Ink with gel ink ballpoint (upcoming experiment)
--Scan and ink digitally via Micrografx Picture Publisher (an ancient Win95-era Photoshop competitor)
--Scan, ink and color with an (ancient) educational version of Flash 4 (if I ever get around to installing it) 

(2) Scan inks, then:
--color in Micrografx Picture Publisher, or
--color in Deneba Canvas (now ACD Canvas) if a vector image is desired
--color in OpenCanvas 1 (only tried this a couple of times)

(3) Draw from scratch digitally (rarely-- only twice in the 300 pics I've posted here)

I've been using a tablet as a primary pointing device since Windows 3.1 was still in widespread use, but artistically it's still just for coloring and touch-up. A tablet big enough to make drawing 100% digital pieces a practical matter costs way more than I want to spend (and more than a lot of prople can afford) on such a device, and the majority of hobbyist artists using tablets use them the same way I do--to work on scanned lineart. 

---PCJ


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## Anbessa (Oct 13, 2008)

ye hardware:

0.35mm mechanical pencil with HB mines
0.35mm mechanical flush pen (Rotring Rapidograph with rechargable tank; the original ink pot lasts years, really)
0.5mm inkpen Faber PITT
brushpen Faber PITT (and also a small set of sepia markers of the same brand. they work well, although not really very long, but are cheap)
coloured pencils by Faber (polychromos) and soem no-names for additional colours
watercolours (no-name), aquarel (Rowney and Caran d'Ache) and some no-name acrylics
my brushes are mostly bought from modeler shops, because they are shorter than artists' brushes and not as expensive. but they only go up to size 6 if ever. thus, if you liek to work in small scale, hit a modeler shop.

ye software:

sketching paper oxygene-bleached of the 120g/mÂ² variety, normally in A4 format (a bit smaller than legal letter), rarely on A3 60g/mÂ² if the customer wants something _large_. , also A4 sketching paper of the unbleached variety. as for brands I take what I get and feels good enough to work on. I recently bought a nice heavy block of paper made of 90% bamboo, which actually lives up to the manufacturer's praises (good for pencil, aquarel, ink, and acrylic).

first of all, practise on paper as much as possible. what you can accomplish on paper you can repeat, rehash, tweak and abuse digitally as well. a lot of traditional artists go crazy when they find out what modern digital painters can do. 
you can also practise using a good, reliable ball-pen. you won't be able to rease or correct, but that is the crux and the beauty of it: you take what you get. also, no need to shapren your pencils. ball-pen can create wondrous pictures with all kinds of ink tricks and crosshatching.
if you draw on a block of paper, slip three or four pages of cheap copy paper underneath the first sheet you're drawing on. that way you avoid pressing any lines into the next sheet, and the softer surface is more comfortable for your hand.


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## ArielMT (Oct 13, 2008)

Quiet269 said:


> Just pick up a tablet and download Open Canvas or GIMP or any other art program you can find (hell some people use paint!) and just start drawing.



Kivwolf is one of the best Microsoft Paint artists whose works I have ever seen.  He's on both DA and FA.


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## Quiet269 (Oct 13, 2008)

Talvi said:


> Hmm yeah it's inevitable that i'm going to have to learn and experiment with it soon, but it bothers me a little that it's just on the screen...something in the flesh is more personal to me. Oh well, that's how it goes.


 *shrug*

they do have ones where there is a screen that you are drawing on, which is kind of cool, but super expensive


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## Journey (Oct 13, 2008)

A peice of paper and a writing utencel of some kind doesn't have to be fancy (though refain from using your own blood unless that the kind of afect your going for)


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## ClosetMonster (Oct 14, 2008)

I draw on bristol board (sometimes regular ol' copy paper) with a mechanical pencil, then ink with Micron and/or Faber-Castell (sp?) pens.  Afterward, I scan it (black/white @ 600dpi) and add grayscales on the PC.

I've got an intuos, but haven't gotten the hang of it yet.  Plus, I like having an actual hand-drawn original.

-Slight rant-
Does anyone else hate the new trend in mechanical pencils toward the "side click"?  I find it gets in the way for pencil control, and always try to find an older Pentel Pro with the traditional top-thumb click.


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## Meze (Oct 14, 2008)

I'll use mechanical pencil, pens & paper, or my Wacom and Photoshop - depends on my mood, really. 

ClosetMonster - If you have trouble finding top-click mechanical pencils, check out Staedtler's pencils. I use one of their .5s (not to mention their technical pens for inking) and it's probably the nicest pencil I've ever had.


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## ClosetMonster (Oct 14, 2008)

Thanks, Meze.

I used to use Staedtler's lead holders way back when we drafted on the board (showing my age), but haven't tried their mechanicals.  I'll give 'em a try.


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## Runefox (Oct 18, 2008)

Almost exclusively, I use the following setup:

Logitech G9 Laser Mouse / NEC MultiSync 90GX2 19" glossy LCD (1280x1024)

Lines: Inkscape (current version 0.46)
Colour: Paint Shop Pro 7.02

It takes me many hours to get anything done, but it looks decent. In comparison, pretty much everything I hand-draw looks disproportionately bad in practically every way. It has something to do with the way I learned to hold a pencil, I think (I hold mine straight up as though I'm left-handed).


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## Asmiro (Oct 19, 2008)

I generally doodle with mechanical pencils that use .5(x60mm) sized lead. I'm not that good, but it's what I use.


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## lawsuite (Oct 19, 2008)

I actually got interested in art not by drawing, but using sculpey.

As far as 2d goes, it really all depends on what mood I'm in, I may feel like the plain old pencil-ink-colour format, I may just do solid ink silhouettes, or make something entirely sharpies, crayons, charcoal, highlighters, or oil pastels, even wax pencil on glass if I feel like it. Sadly, i'm too afraid of messing up my scanner to scan in anything that isn't all neat and tidily soaked into my paper.


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## Anbessa (Oct 19, 2008)

lawsuite said:


> I actually got interested in art not by drawing, but using sculpey.
> 
> As far as 2d goes, it really all depends on what mood I'm in, I may feel like the plain old pencil-ink-colour format, I may just do solid ink silhouettes, or make something entirely sharpies, crayons, charcoal, highlighters, or oil pastels, even wax pencil on glass if I feel like it. Sadly, i'm too afraid of messing up my scanner to scan in anything that isn't all neat and tidily soaked into my paper.



if you have a halfway decent digital camera you can photograph them using bright sunlight on a clear day, preferably between 10:00 and 14:00. this works as good as a decent scanner, and you won't have to worry about messing your scanner up. you would need something to work over the images (lighting, contrast and so on), and please, don't forget to size them down, most cameras create a file the size of a wallpaper by default.


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## Chex (Oct 19, 2008)

It's much easier to start on paper, then go digital. At least, that's how I see it. I used to use Prismacolors and just a regular old pencil, but then I got my tablet, and I stopped drawing traditionally.

Until I got a boring job, then I drew more. xD;

I currently own a Wacom Bamboo, and use Photoshop CS2, but I also have Alchemy, OpenCanvas and Painter X.


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## NerdyMunk (Oct 19, 2008)

Mechanical Pencil.


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## Coug (Oct 19, 2008)

In digital,I usually use photoshop 7.0 and Open canvas,recently,Sai as well.
I have Bamboo fun tablet 

In traditional I like to use colored pencils and watercolors together,acrylics sometimes.I use 4B pencil and B one for sketching/BW works. I hardly do traditional picture though.


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## Furryhart (Oct 20, 2008)

I use a .5mm, .7mm and a .9mm drafting pencil, colored pencils and a .25mm drafting pen with archival ink.


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## Dreamaria (Oct 20, 2008)

I use:

- Bristol board or cardstock (printer paper for sketches)
- Light box
- .5 Mechanical pencil
- Pens
- PrismaColor or Micron inking pens
- Prismacolor colored pencils
- PrismaColor markers
- Acrylic paint
- Watercolors
- Gel pens
- Fake blood (for make up around Halloween time...it looks just like real blood when it dries)
- Paint markers
- Photoshop CS2 for scanning/touch ups/ sometimes coloring


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## Dyluck (Oct 20, 2008)

I use a Wacom Graphire tablet.

I also use pencils a lot.

Also, pens, charcoal, markers, coloured pencils, et cetera.


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## nachoboy (Oct 21, 2008)

i just use either a ballpoint pen or some pencils. i think my favourite kinds of pencils are 4B or 4H. they're both so much fun.


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## MiMaru (Oct 21, 2008)

The tears of small children and a quill of a Bald Eagle.

No really, just mech. pencil, lined paper and Photoshop CS2, just starting digital work though. =3


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## Diego117 (Oct 21, 2008)

Staedtler .05 mechanical pencil, Micron ink pens, paper (size and type doesn't matter much unless I'm inking), Photoshop CS (Hopefully CS4 this Christmas).


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## Nylak (Oct 22, 2008)

Wacom Intuos3 tablet, from sketch to finish on Adobe CS1.  Can't seem to use anything else anymore.  I doodle in a sketchpad with .07 mechanical pencil and a kneaded eraser and inking with a cheapie ballpoint RSVP pen when my laptop isn't handy, but it pisses me off with its inefficiency.


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## RainsongGryphon (Oct 23, 2008)

Anything I can get my paws on, really.

Includes:
0.5mm mechanical pencil (because sharpening's annoying)
Derwent 3&4H pencils (because mecahnical HB leads are equally annoying. ;p )
Mid-level watercolours (better than crayola, but still in 'cake' form.  Never said I was good at them, though. >.>)
Acrylics
Coloured pencils, both regular and prismas (fun to mix, can't seem to really use either individually for some reason)
Micron pens, usually 005 and 03s.
Paintshop pro 7.  Learning this has been... interesting

Might get a wacom sometime in the future, as CGing things from a paper sketch gets... interesting, and not in a good way.


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## Blondi (Oct 23, 2008)

Mostly mechanical pencil, and after that, ink.


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## Trapmagius (Oct 23, 2008)

MS Paint all the way, and a trusty mouse. It starts off looking absolutely horrible, with just lines and circles everywhere, but a few hours later it looks vaguely shaped like something. It takes a lot of time, but it ends up looking pretty good. Yay patience...

Beats my pencil drawings by far... unless you fancy angry middle-aged men with wild hair, bloodshot eyes, huge bulging crotches and pounding veins everywhere.

I've found doing stuff digitally be far more forgiving if you're heavy on the hand... with eraser marks and "groves" in the paper... eek.. >.<;
But to each his own~ I'd say the good old pencil > scanner > digital colouring thing is probably the best solution for most people. :3


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## Beeboi (Oct 25, 2008)

I use a Staedtler technical pencil (mechanical pencil, that is) and a kneaded eraser.  For sketching, get the finest lead you can, .05 or .03 mm.  The finer, the lighter and sketcher the lines.


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## M. LeRenard (Oct 25, 2008)

#2 Pencils, ballpoint pens, nib-pens with India ink, and Crayola brand colored pencils.
If I had money, I'd upgrade my materials a little bit, but I don't, so I won't.


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## jinxtigr (Oct 26, 2008)

I use those orange plastic mechanical pencils, Pink Pearl erasers, Pigma Microns for inking, and a big assortment of Cotman pan watercolors for coloring. I tried digital art very hard, with my little Wacom Bamboo I still use as a mouse, but I couldn't get anywhere with it- I need the traditional media. Everything in my art is actually on the paper and I like it that way... you can get a lot of mileage out of digital art concepts like radiosity, albedo etc.


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## Hollow-Dragon (Oct 26, 2008)

I use a mechanical pencil for sketches, and GIMP for digital work.


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## bluewulf1 (Oct 26, 2008)

whatever's closest to me


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## MayDay (Oct 27, 2008)

Mostly Lyra drawing pencils (I'm old school) I fiddled around with mech pencils for a while but one thing I learned about mech pencils is that it's hard to draw fur with them (tip is too thin).


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## bluewulf1 (Oct 27, 2008)

currently, i use 2HB for normal drawing, hb for shading , and mech for small details


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## Torrijos-sama (Oct 27, 2008)

MS Paint, Pen, Pencil(Mechanical, and Prismacolours), Markers(sharpies), a scanner, and Gimp.


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## greg-the-fox (Oct 28, 2008)

My major methods are pencil drawing and drawing with a tablet. I'm terrible at sketching with a tablet, which is why I like to start with a pencil sketch. But I consider myself pretty good at digital painting.


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## conicer (Oct 31, 2008)

I use normal #2 pencil on a letter sized piece of paper (or napkin), then scan it on a flatbed scanner.  I'll ink and color in GIMP with a tablet.

Really, try out all kinds of mediums and see what's most comfortable for you to use.


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## Cmdr-A (Nov 1, 2008)

Sometimes .5mm mechanical pencil and sketch pad or newsprint paper to doodle about on but never finished works

Wacom Graphire 4 6 x 8 tablet with OC 4 plus for finished works, mostly a digital artist myself.


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## dragonofdarkness13 (Nov 4, 2008)

Pencil to sketch , ink to line , Kneaded rubber eraser to clean it up , then either scan & color in OC or the gimp .... or I use colored pencil


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## bluewulf1 (Nov 4, 2008)

I use an hb pencil,2h, hb mechanical, and currintly i use prismacolor pencils.


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## Kuro-chan (Nov 4, 2008)

I use a number of things; mechanical pencil for lineart, nib pens to ink. Then I use Crayola coloured pencils, or copics, or I scan it in to the GIMP and colour it. Sometimes I draw right in the GIMP (but it's a hassle with the way I draw) using my tablet PC.


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## FeralHusky (Nov 5, 2008)

Depends Fireworks for icons and Open canus for drawings, my computer can't handle photoshop


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