Day 1 – And so it begins…

This challenge was brought to you by the YouTube algorithm. Seriously, I am not entirely sure what caused me to go full steam ahead down the art channels rabbit hole, but here we are… starting an art blog with no actual experience in drawing or painting… or writing a blog…

_{Evident by my beautiful line work.}

Ok, well, technically, I do have some experience from taking Drawing and Color Theory classes about 15 years ago, but I think the only thing I have retained from either of those classes is a handful of pencils and a few bottles of acrylic paint. It’s safe to say those skills went the way of the dodo long ago. Fortunately, there’s no better day than today to get started on my one-year journey! So, let’s get started!

Getting Started

I have decided to focus primarily on digital art to begin with. I know that may be a bit controversial to some, but it just made the most sense to me because that is sort of my end goal anyway, and I know it’s going to take time to learn the software anyway so it’s probably best to just get started right away. Plus, I just don’t have a ton of room for art supplies at the moment so digital just seems more practical.

My initial thought was to get started on the app called Procreate. This is what so many people I saw on YouTube seemed to use and recommend, but unfortunately, I don’t actually have an iPad that will run it and using it on my phone just seemed a bit awkward and limiting.

This meant it was time to go down yet another rabbit hole of what tablet I should buy. I looked at iPads, Androids, Windows tablets, and more. I looked at various cheap drawing pads before going to Wacom’s site and remembering I actually bought an Intuos Pro years ago for photography and stuck it in my closet, never to use it. Seriously it was still in the box and still had plastic on it. A quick driver install and we were good to go!

Software

But what software was I going to use? Truthfully, it seemed like an absolute nightmare figuring out where to start. I looked at videos, tier lists, comparisons, and tutorials. Most people seemed to just use or recommend Procreate, which wasn’t really an option at this point. I started looking into other options like Krita and Rebelle, but most were outside my price range. I don’t want to spend any more money than I have to on this venture yet, so I needed a good, cheap, alternative without any real negatives that will impact my goals.

That’s when I finally saw it, my beacon of hope, the absolutely terribly named bundle on Humble Bundle:

The updated Corel bundle with the current versions of CorelDraw and Painter. For a measly $30 investment, I am on my way to finally becoming the best artist in the world!

As soon as I figure out how to use this software… and tablet… and pen… and how to draw a line…

This may take a while.