Ramblings of an Artist #1 (Patreon)

It’s time for the very first ramblings of an artist where I talk about random things that may or may not be of interest to you because sometimes, I have to talk about the things I feel connected to or enjoy in some way. It may also be stuff I’m working on which may or may not relate to art. 

This time, I discuss my setup in terms of hardware, software and what I use to create art. I get asked about this a few times way back. I’ll probably give you a brief look at my history which hopefully, will be interesting.

Let’s go all the way back when I was poor awkward boy sloshing through life. This was before my first computer so I drew things on paper like any kid would, crayons optional. I didn’t use anything special or professional. It was simply school notebook paper and a cheap ballpoint pen. I would also use those cheap mechanical pencils and premium Pilot ballpoint pens, when I could afford them. I used ballpoint pens because I could use them to shade by applying certain pressure onto the paper. At one point, I started using drawing pads bought from a local office supply store.

In comes my first computer, a 486 running windows 3.1. I was fortunate enough to buy a copy of CorelDraw 4 probably from the same office supply store. It had CorelDraw and Corel Photo Paint. It was a vector and raster life for me minus anti aliasing with nothing but a mouse. Yeah, it took a lot of time. Seeing how I was an awkward boy with no social life or console video games, I had some of that to spare. Sometimes, I had to smooth out the edges pixel by pixel. That was fun. Eventually, I got my hands on illustrator 10 and photoshop 6. At that point, the only drawing I did on paper were sketches. They were scanned using my old bulky hp scanner. 

My main computer and internet capability improved over time up until the college years. I had an idea that was probably not very thought out. I thought about creating a webcomic base on video games. At that time, I had a terribad job and I used what I earned to make another not very thought out decision. I spent nearly 1k on a Wacom Cintiq and what did I do with it? It sat next to my computer tower for a while because I thought using mouse for creating my art was still the way to go. The Cintiq line is the drawing tablet with a screen on it. I never learned how to use a tablet without a screen. That is unfortunate for me and my wallet. 

Fast forward a bit and I finally picked up the Wacom to create my Chrono Trigger comic and I gradually stepped away from using the mouse to fully using a tablet. It started with Manga Studio 4 and that became Clip Studio Paint. It’s been 8, maybe 10 or more years now. My drawing setup really hasn’t changed much other than my drawing methods. My Wacom still works. Monitors just keep on ticking. It may be time for a new one just in case. 

That’s my setup and a bit of history of how I got here. If you have read up to this point, thanks for reading. If you are an artist yourself in some way, let me know what your setup is or what tools you use or used in the past which helped you get to this point in your life.