Digital Drawing Tools: A Guide to Choosing Digital Drawing Accessories
Art has been around as long as man has. It has evolved to incorporate different styles and ways of making it. For all types of artists, today's art world involves the use of a wide range of digital tools.
Some artists make a living out of their work and therefore, may seek out more sophisticated tools. For hobbyists, their artwork may be more about personal gratification. Some digital drawing tools are essential for both parties
Digital drawing tools
We'll discuss these tools and their application in this article.
Computer
Regular computers don't always fit the demands of digital art. Companies have created different models to incorporate digital drawing accessories and features that allow artists to do their work.
Some of these features include:
- Doubling up as laptops and tablet
- Screens with a 360 degree flip to allow different viewing and drawing angles
- Stylus pen
- LED lighting for working in the dark
- Powerful processors
- An ability to integrate with programs like Illustrator and Windows Ink
Keyboard and Mouse
Mice used in drawing often have OTG adapters, making them compatible with a range of devices like phones and tablets. Other features include:
- Customizable dials
- Specific key lighting
- Ability to select brush size
- Keyboards with palm rests
Tablets
Tablets are part of the best digital drawing tools for artists with the market providing a host of different specs. Some come with a stylus pen for drawing intricate patterns and symbols. Others have screens while others don't. Some of the special features include:
- Bright retina displays
- Wide screens sometimes over 12 inches to provide large canvasses
- Stylus pencils sensitive to touch and tilt
- Anti-glare glass surfaces
- Powerful processing engines
- Cables for transfer of work to other storages
Drawing Software
The software makes the experience easier and is made to fit with different IOS. You can draw anything from the first line to an end project and save the work in different forms like JPEG, GIF, or PDF.
Corel Painter is a full featured digital art software that is loaded with everything you need to create your digital drawings. Some of the features found in drawing software are:
- Basic and advanced tools. Basic tools include canvasses, pencils, ink, brushes, etc.
- Export and import features for transfer from one gadget to another.
- Templates to aid specific outcomes
- Built-in effects that affect gradient, coloring, shadowing, and filtering.
Notebook
An artist's notebook contains blank pages used for practicing rough ideas and the following additional uses
- Play around with inspiration
- Record ideas
- Revisit old ideas and add content
- Track ongoing and old projects. Can also act as a reminder for unfinished projects
Online notebooks work differently depending on different devices and have specific sophistication that helps artists. Here's a list of top online notebooks.
- Canson Universal Sketch
- Leda Medium Sketchbook
- Leuchtturm1917 Sketchbook Master
- Moleskine Sketchbook
- MOO Hardcover Notebook
- Piccadilly 8-in-1 Sketchbook
- Strathmore Sketch Pad
Fonts
Artists apply different fonts to convey different emotional aspects. The digital space has free and paid fonts. 1001 fonts is a type of free font website. Some sites also help artists in identifying fonts from paper so they can use them in their drawings.
The current digital drawing font technologies provide scalable outline fonts. You can plot analog font letters with a mouse or stylus to form an outline of curves and straight lines. These outlines create a new font that you can install into your device.
Examples of technologies in use in the market today include PostScript, TrueType, MicroType, etc.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, digital drawing tools work best under the guidance of a creative mind and themes. While tools make painting less messy and halve the workload, inspiration and continuous learning are irreplaceable.