Resources

These are tools and resources that I use for drawing. Not expert advice.

I love experimenting with different existing tools and technology even if I already have a setup I'm comfortable with.

Information on this page last updated on: .

What's on my desk? (digital)

Software Purpose Remarks
Clip Studio Paint 1.0 (Desktop) do le drawing thing
Unique strengths
  • My go-to for quick image editing.
  • "Reference layers" let you fill base colours instantly.
  • Hassle-free timelapse recording.
  • Life-saving auto backup into cloud.
Weaknesses
  • Limitations on animation frames.
  • Lack of support for saving animations with transparency. Workaround: export as an animated sequence and work in Krita instead.
  • Text tool is a disaster in every version
  • Mobile edition is subscription-based.
Krita Can do everything that CSP does, but for free If you are already familiar with raster software interfaces, Krita's will not be daunting. Considering that it's FOSS, it is a lot more extensible than CSP.
PureRef Gather reference images -
Google Drive Archive past drawings, backup storage -
Obsidian.md Notetaking Organise OC content. I use the dataview plugin to gather all the birthdays and blurbs in one place.

Hardware

Hardware Remarks
XP-Pen Star-06C Pen Tablet A second-hand tablet that a random schoolmate was giving away. None of its drivers work smoothly so it is probably outdated.
Some random US$15 bluetooth 12-key numpad More hotkeys outside the tablet for Clip Studio Paint. Changing key bindings within the raster software is preferred. Additional remapping of keys can be done with HIDmacros. Example by David Revoy on his blog

Traditional

Tool Purpose
Sakura Pigma Micron set Lineart

Honourable mentions

Stuff that I may have used in the past.

Software Purpose Remarks
ibis Paint X (Android app) My go-to for doing digital art before getting a tablet. Still useful for lineart extraction from sketchbook to digital. -
Adobe Photoshop Bloatware that formats text using paths and precise calculations.
Typesetting guides
Blender 3D-modelling FOSS. Use for modelling 3D backgrounds to be used in drawings. Impossible to utilise without a GPU. -

Other useful links