What is Reddit's opinion of LayerPaint HD?

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Krita is available in Linux (Crostini) and also has an Android version. I don't think Crostini passes pressure events but the ChromeOS Android support does. Also LayerPaint HD is an Android app that's designed more like a desktop app and works very well in the ChromeOS Android layer.

Those are the two I use, though I use Krita's Linux version via Crouton (not Crostini) so I can run a real X11 session and get proper pressure support.

> I feel most comfortable with the Chrome Canvas web app (for an amateur). The only essential thing missing is a way to rotate the canvas.

No, it's missing something else that's very important for digital art: pressure sensitivity. That's the biggest benefit of using an art tablet and Canvas doesn't support it at all. You're only slightly better off than drawing with your fingers on a phone screen with it.

This is a problem with art programs on ChromeOS in general. Unless Crostini added pressure support and I haven't noticed, you're basically stuck with Android apps if you want to actually use your device properly. I found this extremely annoying considering I got a Chromebook Plus v2 with a built-in s-pen (wacom-based pressure-sensitive pen) and found that, despite being a built-in feature, ChromeOS can't even use it properly outside of Android apps.

LayerPaint HD can import and export PSD files. I don't know how complete it is at it, but it's been good enough for basic transfer to/from the application. Been using it for years, first on a Galaxy Note Pro 12.1 and then later a Chromebook Plus v2, plus a couple Galaxy Note phones, and it's been fine for active pen support on all of them. It's also one of the most desktop-app-like Android art applications I've seen, and should be pretty comfortable to use right away as a result. You can get the free version to test but you'll be forced into the lame phone-sized UI with that one, while the HD one lets you switch between large-screen and small-screen modes.

If you're willing to step outside the Android/ChromeOS comfort zone, you can also use Crouton to install a Debian or Ubuntu chroot and install tools like Krita, MyPaint, and Gimp. My CBPv2's pen works out-of-the-box with Crouton if I start it via xorg server, using libinput for pressure handling.

If you're interested in drawing specifically, check out Layer Paint HD and Medibang Paint. Haven't spent much time with MediBang, but it seemed decent; that said, Layer Paint is amazing. I paid for it years ago and it's still one of the best options if you want something that feels like it's more comparable to a desktop application than a stripped down mobile app.

> I used Ibis Paint and I have an IPad Pro with an Apple Pencil

Not really familiar with the Apple ecosystem, but it looks like that program does support pressure sensitivity. If available, you might have to play with settings, brushes, or pressure curves if possible to get something that works for you, though. It's a shame that Android's LayerPaint HD isn't available, because it's really close to desktop applications in features. Closest thing I've seen on Android that's also available for iOS is MediBang but I don't know much about it, since the Android version didn't work right on the Chromebook I got to replace an old tablet.

Really, though, I just want to be able to run Krita on my CB and phone along with my desktop. It's one of my favourite applications.

> Thank you for the feedback! I really appreciate it. I’ll make sure to take your points into consideration the next time I draw. [...] t’s been a long time since I’ve gotten criticism like this! <3

You're welcome, and I'm glad my input was taken well. I prefer providing constructive criticism to adding another "great job!" but I often wonder if I should comment or not because, while constructive criticism is a good thing, it's hard to give it unsolicited and not seem rude about it.

If you're interested, my comments in this thread elsewhere might be helpful as well. You have hardware that will let you take advantage of pen pressure to vary your strokes, so it's relevant here as well because it was mostly about how to use varying line weights to make artwork more interesting, which builds on what I was saying here. Making it so more pressure creates thicker strokes, by linking pressure to brush size, is a great way to get more natural looking line work and do thinner/thicker lines without a lot of setting twiddling.

> I’ll probably redraw her again one day because when I finished the line art, her expression and pose did look a bit dull but I didn’t feel like redrawing it at the time

Try very quickly blocking out roughs in some way so that you don't feel a need to commit to something you aren't happy with. Just a few lines to establish pose and motion can be enough, or some basic shapes like circles and tubes, or if you like a painting approach, taking a blocky brush and building some rough greyscale shapes imitating form. Doesn't matter how you do it, though usually smaller thumbnails are better than a large canvas for this, since the idea is to quickly lay out ideas so you can discard bad ones, or iterate on good ones until you're happy and ready to do something more concrete.

The early thumbnailing and sketching are probably my favourite things to do, followed by inking. I find them to be the best times to just relax and have fun with it, and the parts in between and after (turning the rough into something better, and colouring/shading) to be more stressful.

Layerpaint HD. To me it's the best.