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Artrage?
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Apart from the occasional pencil sketch, almost all of the the stuff I post here(including this) is done in ArtRage. This one was done with the standard thick oil brush and smeared around with the palette knife. The texture is just one of the default papers. The great thing about the software is that it doesn't just look like paint but behaves like it too and all the texture stuff just happens without you having to worry about it.
As for Photoshop, I don't have the modern version, the last ones I used were CS2 and Elements 5! :) But I do remember (back in the day) using a set called "Ditlev Fine Art" that had a decent canvas/paint texture. It wasn't the same as the stuff you can do these days but I recall being able to make some interesting marks with them.
You can indeed ask. :)
This (like almost all of my pics) was done on a PC with a Wacom Bamboo tablet and my software of choice is ArtRage. They recently relased a new version of that but I'm still using version 5 and I'm happy enough to not pay for an upgrade.
50 Dollars. Excellent natural painting app.
60 Dollars. Hard to beat at that price. Professional software.
25 dollars, presets, layers, export to PSD. Infinite vector canvas. Recently acquired by The Foundry.
It's done with a computer AND a tablet!
I use a Wacom graphics tablet that connects to the computer and comes with a pressure sensitive pen. As well as using it for painting and drawing it also works as a normal input device that can be used instead of the mouse.
For software I like to use ArtRage because it produces the look and feel of real paint.
And the question of "How?" ... Just practice and patience and the extra effort to try not to get too annoyed when it all goes wrong.
I would rather suggest https://www.artrage.com/ in this case. It a true paint system, if you have a pentablet of some sort. Affinity photo can certainly do paint, and its pretty good even, but its more geared towards Photo retouching and stuff, and Artrage just has a better system if you really want to paint.
ArtRage does support the first generation of Wacom styluses, there's no real difference in the stylus API and when we improved the support in ArtRage for iPad 2.0 last year it applied to all possible Wacom styluses.
Older styluses may not work so well with newer iPad models, but that's a different issue! The problems you're seeing are mostly to do with iPad technology outpacing stylus technology, as the other poster said.
(and it's awesome to come across ArtRage users! Glad to hear you're enjoying both the Android and the iOS versions)
In case it helps:
https://www.artrage.com/manuals/artrage-mobile-editions/artrage-ipad/stylus-support/
It is painted in ArtRage. I would normally post a video to show it but this one didn't quite go to plan which resulted in me doing a bit of a rage-quit earlier without saving the recording. :)
Thankfully I did save the picture and a few hours later was able to fix it up a bit better. I really should be more patient.
ArtRage Desktop has recording and playback. I'm not sure that ArtRage Touch from the appstore has this feature, though. In case you're not sure, yes, you can install apps from sources other than the appstore on the Surface.
Thank you for the insight :) Artrage isn't vector based, but it is extremely fun cause of all the combinations and different mediums/intruments you can try, and it's good at it.
Good luck in your journey. Don't you just love the wheel on wacom? :)
Are you looking exclusively at apps from the app store? There's a vast difference in what can be done in an app vs a full desktop program, which is why you're running into the 'neutering' issue. Basically, apps work better on touchscreens, but they're a lot more limited.
For example, our ArtRage Touch app is just a mobile app, developed for RT devices that couldn't install desktop programs, but you should now be able to run the full desktop program without problems in Windows 10.
For an idea of the difference in features, see https://www.artrage.com/product-comparison/ (Touch is under 'Mobile'). Other drawing programs will have the same sorts of issues/differences.
However, ArtRage does NOT do microtransactions or ads. We don't believe in them at all, the worst our programs will have is a link to (separately) purchase the full version in the demos (there are free demos for both ArtRage Touch and ArtRage 4). We did consider charging people for extra paint once, but once we all stopped laughing, we decided to save it for April Fools ;D
You could definitely paint on effects over the top (though it's probably less fun than smushing paint around), or print out finished images and add clear acrylic gel - check out the very end of this interview, we have an artist who does exactly that: https://www.artrage.com/artist-feature-mikhail-karetin/
The 3D lighting direction is, unfortunately, tied into the way the paints and texture work at a very fundamental level. We might be able to change the direction at some point, but not right now.
It is possible to export layers as 3D channels for other programs. Not sure if that helps, in your case, but it might be another option!
Thank you!
Ah, so AncientEther was getting a upgrade discount? Thanks for the link to Lite. I also found a page that shows a comparison of features between the two versions, for others that might be interested. https://www.artrage.com/artrage-lite/features/
As long as I have your attention, any plans to expand the Impasto features? I like to paint in real life. But I tend to do heavy impasto effects. From the YouTube videos, it seems I do much heavier than this program can handle.
I like to use paint that can be sculpted up to a quarter inch high or so. I love to use clear gels, as is or with a light touch of color. This creates a thick translucent effects that catch the light as you walk by. Not to mention I like modeling paste, texture gels, and such. I am thinking I really need a cross between a 2D art program, and a 3D modeling or texture mapped program. Maybe Artrage3D.
Seems there is a untapped market as I have not seen another program do this.
There's an additional upgrade discount and Steam's discounts are a bit funky sometimes.
If ArtRage 4 is too high, we also have ArtRage Lite on our website which is a bit cheaper at $17.90 (during the sale). It also includes a 50% upgrade discount to ArtRage 4, so you can use that whenever you like later.
If you're still interested in ArtRage, we have a free demo here: https://www.artrage.com/demos/
And some information on buying from Steam vs. our site:
We always go on sale on the main site whenever we go on sale on Steam, so you'll always get the same price whichever option you use.
Steam automatically updates, non-Steam lets you manually download ArtRage from our member area as needed. And whichever option you use, unfortunately locks you into that store only for upgrade pricing as we don't have a way to cross licence purchases, so that you can get the discount on the other store if you ever upgrade to ArtRage 5 or 6 one day (we offer a 50% discount when upgrading to the latest edition from an older one).
- ArtRage
- Sketchbook Pro
- Corel Grafigo --- dating myself here, v1 showed a lot of promise, esp. for being free
You could just use ArtRage - its cheap @ $50 (demo is free) and is great for getting realistic painting affects. Its definitely something that you wont end up using just once. and anything you made would be "one-of-a-kind" and yours, not someones Texture or PS Brush https://www.artrage.com/
Dude they aren’t the only ones to do this.
Artrage’s free trial also does the same
There are NO free demos for Paint Tool Sai
And you can’t even legally use photoshop without a monthly subscription so thee that
In fact most software isn’t free to use unless you include freeware but that’s a different story
Try ArtRage if you want true painting experience, I remember trying it few years ago and I loved how simple it is, it's like Microsoft Paint but with so much abilities but unfortunately it's a paid software. You can download trial version to see if you like it or not: https://www.artrage.com/demos/
For a 13 year old I recommend Artrage. Really cool little painting program, less complicated and cheaper than corel or adobe's programs (I also use those, but for fun sketching I often go back to artrage). Lots of easy to use "real" paint effects, tracing options, pinning of a reference photo in the corner, layers etc.
Looks like they have a demo you can try before you buy. They also have a light version which is a lot cheaper than the full one. (I've got the full one (upgraded last year as I bought one of their earlier versions years ago which I really liked) so not sure how different it is but I'd imagine it'd be fine for someone starting out.)
Thank you! It's only $39 but it's pretty worth it after you learn how it works. When you make a new painting you want to make sure you up the pixel value otherwise the default amount makes for a low resolution image
This is done with ArtRage. Most of the texture comes from the canvas grains and the way they influence the way the paint blends, it all happens naturally without you having to worry about it or contrive it afterwards, all of which makes the process a bit more instinctive than other software.
Thank you.
It's painted in Artrage and I record all the brushstrokes using the built in Script function. Then I playback that script and capture the screen with a little app called Cafe Recorder.
I'm sure there are better ways to do it but I really hate video editing and this method lets me do it without too much fuss and only takes an extra 20-30 minutes after I've fInished painting.
> Check out this. I think this sums it up pretty well. https://www.surfaceproartist.com/artrage
Info on that site is at least 2 years out of date. Also, the big issues he mentions seem to have been solved recently.
https://www.artrage.com/product-comparison/
They also seem to have made UI improvements for tablets.
I will have to try it again, so that I may add it to my list of recommendations.
All the brushes/blenders I use are basically the default ArtRage tools.
A lot of this painting was done with the watercolour tool using both the wet and dry options (the first allows the colour to mix and the other creates those layered overlapping washes which add those nice pigmented fringes if you increase the thinner setting.) When adding details that require more control (like the eyes in this case) I always go to the airbrush (which is just like the most basic round brush with no gimmicks.) And for adding a bit more texture to the fur I used a few dabbed strokes of a worn bristle brush which is one of the Custom Brush presets plus a few pencil lines to show the direction of the little hairs.
And finally for blending, I've said before and will say again, the ArtRage palette knife is my favourite tool in any software. The dry version smears the "oil" paint around in a way that's satisfying and expressive, but for this pic I mostly used the wet version which is like adding drops of water to the paper/canvas and with a few tweaks of the settings it can also add a bit of varied texture too.
Thank you.
It's painted in ArtRage.
For the screen-capture I'm currently using a little tool called Cafe Recorder. There are probably better ones but I like that because it's really easy to use in a one-click kind of way. The only downside is that it saves in an awkward mpg format, so I have to convert it to an mp4 using VLC before trimming it in that crappy Windows editor.
It's all a bit of a chore (and I'd prefer to use that time making the painting better) but it's been interesting to try something different for the New Year.
This, and almost all my paintings, are done with ArtRage.
It has some great traditional-style tools that give the textured look of pencils, oils, or watercolour and the palette knife is the best blender I've seen in any software.
ArtRage Version 5
Windows 10
ArtRage is a digital artist’s studio with a full range of familiar tools that look and work like the real things. It’s a canvas for thick, expressive oils and delicate watercolors, a sketchpad with a full set of pencils, and a sheet of paper with a stack of wax crayons all in one.
My sister is taking architecture apparently this is one of softwares they're gonna use it's a bit out of budget so this would help a lot if you can help me
THANKS!
I suggest thinking about buying tools directly from the creators' websites - if they have a shop. Why? Because your favorite tool creator won't have to pay a huge cut to Valve. Sorry for being a heretic.
Here are some of my experiences:
- GameMaker at some point in time told users that updates to Steam versions are being distributed slower than on their website. I don't know if that still is true.
- PD Howler 11 has announced an update to version 11.1. Even for Steam users. For some very weird reason they require users to wait weeks or months before receiving a standard product update they distribute for free otherwise. I am very mad at them and I've been waiting for several weeks now and still they don't update their Steam distribution. That's some really crappy update mechanism. Links:
From their site:
> If you wish to switch to a non-Steam edition, you can order from Dan or Phil directly.
And I have to ask: Why should I care about who Dan or Phil are? And why do they think they are entitled to sell the same damn piece of software twice to the same person?
- ArtRage 4 was on Steam, version 5 does not enter the Steam store:
- https://www.artrage.com/artrage-5-will-not-steam/
- I am just guessing, but seeing how incredibly cheap this cute piece of art software is, I guess giving Steam a huge cut is just not viable. I don't blame them. I feel sad they have to sell their software at this low price right now.
This is a very radical suggestion, but it turns out that version 4.5.10 is available here: https://www.artrage.com/
And there's even a free download that's fully compatible with Windows 10: https://www.artrage.com/demos/
I'm not a concept artist but I manage artists/projects and pretty much every artist I've known (which is hundreds) uses Photoshop along with a Cintiq. It's the industry standard setup. With that said, you could also check out Corel Painter and ArtRage. I've heard good things about them. But if you ever want to work at a studio, it's probably best to master Photoshop since that's the software they're most likely going to want you to work with. But if you're planning to work as a freelancer from home, you may have more control over your software choices.
You might also want to take a look at Sketchable, in the app store. The free version only has one tool enabled, but you can get the rest of them for about 10 dollars. The app is easily worth that for me - it's really optimized for tablet use. Also check out ArtRage, one of the best natural media art program out there.
Another small utility you should look at, similar to RadialMenu, but which is still being worked on, is Tablet Pro.
That's normal - a large brush can overlap several gridlines, so it isn't visibly distorted by any single line.
Here, you can see an example in this FAQ: https://www.artrage.com/faqs/wobbly-weird-lines-artrage-4-5/
ArtRage will have an iPad Pro update out soon, and the current version will work on an iPad Pro. It has all the features you mentioned, including zoom reset (two finger tap to get back to original zoom and location) and a full range of layer blend modes (plus a unique watercolour blend mode).
The Pro update will have canvas rotation, larger canvas and brushes, and support for split screen and the Apple Pencil (you can currently use the Pencil by turning Palm Rejection off, but it won't have pressure or tilt until we add app support). The only reason it isn't out yet is because we've been thoroughly testing all the changes (and had to wait for the devices to be shipped to New Zealand!), but it's nearly done.
ArtRage is a realistic media app, specialising in painting, so it's a bit different from Photoshop and Procreate. It does have all the standard digital stuff like layers, transform and colour picking, but the main focus is the paint mixing, canvas textures and 'realistic' tools. The ink pen and airbrush tools are generally preferred by Photoshop users, as they're the most similar to the brushes there. If you're not sure if it's what you're looking for, you can try the free Windows/Mac demo to play with the tools (obviously the iPad app is a bit different, but the painting tools act the same way and you can compare the features here: https://www.artrage.com/product-comparison/ ).
One feature that's quite handy for multiplatform users is the Scripts function, which lets you record your painting process then replay it at any resolution in the desktop version without losing quality.
Sure - go here https://www.artrage.com/product-comparison/
ArtRage Touch is a mobile app, so the overview on the main tab will give you the general idea. For more detail on the exact features, browse to the 'Mobile Editions' tab for ArtRage Touch, and either of the Desktop tab for ArtRage 4 and ArtRage Lite.
But basically, Touch is a mobile app designed to run inside the Windows 8 Metro environment on tablets, so it supports gestures, and has all the basic painting tools, as well as things like tracing and references, but has a limited canvas size, lacks things like keyboard shortcuts, and all the more advanced features like custom brushes, text, grids, that sort of thing (some of it is memory intensive, some of it just won't work inside that particular 'code' environment). It's more like the iPad or Android app, basically, hence the big price difference. It's not going to be developed much further.
But there are free demos for both Touch and 4, so I recommend trying those if you're not sure.
I'd say yes, but I'm obviously biased :D
The main stuff you'll get when upgrading:
64 bit support (giant canvases! faster speeds!) and better support for Windows 10 & OS 10.11
A bunch of new features like Grids, Symmetry, Cloner, Pattern & Gradient Fill, non-linear transform, some additional settings on the painting tools (e.g. bristle stiffness for Oils), Scraps and Views (extra canvas and extra 'views' of your live drawing that you can pin up like references), some better UI stuff, live tilt support for Wacom styluses, and a few other things like a colour adjustment and a noise filter, and the option to import canvas patterns.
Also if you're upgrading from Studio, you also get all the extra stuff from Studio Pro, like sticker spray and script creation.
There's a full comparison here (check the 'previous desktop editions' tab): https://www.artrage.com/product-comparison/
If any of that sounds like stuff you'd use, then it's probably worth it. If not, then it's not.
If you're still not sure, there's a free demo you can try: https://www.artrage.com/demos/
Art Rage 4 has a free trial (limited saving and exporting) that you can try out. Not sure it can do Bob Ross type magic white or even good dry brushing, but it might be worth checking out.
https://www.artrage.com/demos/
For the full $45 price you might be better off getting a box of acrylic though.
If you'd like to try ArtRage before making up your mind, we have a free demo of ArtRage 4 here: https://www.artrage.com/demos/
The version included with the tablet is ArtRage Lite - most of the differences are more advanced features that you won't notice until you go looking for them, and you can view a full comparison of the differences here: https://www.artrage.com/artrage-lite/features/
ArtRage Lite can also be upgraded to ArtRage 4 whenever you like, at a 50% discount on ArtRage 4.
Tablet-wise, the main differences are size and the touch feature. Size is partly a matter of preference and one of the main factors in different prices.
A small tablet is more portable, and cheaper. A large tablet lets you use your whole arm instead of just wrist movements. But because you can zoom in onscreen, there's no effective difference in drawing capability.
You'll have to learn the hand movements and coordination for any tablet you get, and re-learn whenever you switch sizes or shapes, but there's no real difference in learning curve between sizes.
Touch: Is great if you use it, but a lot of people leave it turned off because it's annoying (I certainly do!). The whole surface becomes an active area, which can cause problems if anything touches the tablet unexpectedly.
We didn't change the cursors in the update, and always offered three different kinds; it's possible that you've accidentally switched (or your preferences were reset when updating).
To change cursors, press 1, 2 and 3 or go to Edit > ArtRage Preferences > Cursors.
There's also further info here: https://www.artrage.com/faqs/change-cursor/
(If that doesn't explain it, something else is going on and we'll need a better description of what you're seeing).
It's a little hard to tell what's going on here, as it depends a lot on the tool and the settings, so I'll cover both options.
1. Is it the tool settings?
Are you using the Felt Pen for the smaller lines? That doesn't use pressure in quite the same way as the other tools.
To check whether Pressure is working for you at all, try using a few different tools - something like the oil brush which should show the difference nice and dramatically.
If it IS working, and you want the Felt Pen to respond to pressure, increase the Softness in the Settings (a Hard felt pen just won't spread out when you push down).
2. Is pressure not working?
If you can't get pressure to work with anything, then there's something odd going on with the tablet drivers. Try the following:
- Change the input settings in ArtRage. Sometimes ArtRage is getting conflicting information and only a certain combination of options will work.
Open ArtRage and go to Edit > ArtRage Preferences > Input Settings.
a. Make sure that Wintab is ON and Precise Tablet and RealTime Stylus are turned OFF. b. Restart ArtRage and test. c. If that doesn’t help, turn Wintab OFF and RealTime Stylus ON d. Restart ArtRage and test
If the stylus does this in other programs, or if the ArtRage settings do not fix anything, try the following:
2) Check your tablet drivers are up to date. These can cause all kinds of strange problems.
To update your tablet drivers. a. Uninstall your current driver first (> Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs) b. Restart the computer c. Download and install the latest version from www.wacom.com
If this doesn't help, contact us directly with details about the problem you are seeing and we'll figure out what is happening (we do check here, but not all the time, so if you want a fast answer, our official support is the best option https://www.artrage.com/support/ ).
I made this image in ArtRage and messed around with Spoonflower's tools until I was satisfied.
How did everyone else's turn out? Post them here! I'd love to see them.
Definitely make sure you have the latest driver installed. After updating your drivers, check the input settings in ArtRage to make sure it's using the right type of input from your tablet.
Go to Edit > ArtRage Preferences > Input Devices Turn off ‘Use Realtime Stylus’. Turn off ‘Use Touch Input’. Turn ON 'Use Wintab'.
Then restart ArtRage and see what happens.
If you're still having problems, you can contact us directly for assistance here https://www.artrage.com/support/
A MonoPrice tablet is a great starting point for someone looking into using a graphics tablet.
Here's a thorough review from a few years ago that you may find useful:
http://frenden.com/post/31659364200/the-little-monoprice-graphics-tablet-that-could
I have the unit described in the review - about $60 on Amazon currently - and was very satisfied with the feel of the pen and the pressure sensitivity.
As for a program, I recommend ArtRage ($50) - https://www.artrage.com/