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Imagine if baking bread was a skill any person living independently in their own house needed to have at least a passing familiarity with, so there were endless books, blogs and websites about how to bake bread, but none of them seemed to contain the most basic facts about how bread actually works.

You would go online and find questions like "Help, I put my bread in the oven, and it GOT BIGGER!" and instead of saying anything about bread naturally rises when you put yeast in it, the results would be advertising some kind of $970 device that punches the bread while it's baking so it doesn't rise.

Even the most reliable, factually grounded sources available would have only the barest scraps of information on the particularities of ingredients, such as how different types of flour differ and produce different results, or how yeast affects the flavor profile of bread. Rice flour, barley flour, potato flour and amaranth flour would be just as common as wheat flour, but finding sources that didn't treat them as functionally identical would be near impossible. At the same time, websites and books would list specific brands of flour in bread recipes, often without specifying anything else.

An unreasonable amount of people would be hellbent on doing something like baking a full-sized loaf of bread in under 3 minutes, and would regularly bake bread to charred cinders at 700 degrees in an attempt to accomplish this, but instead of gently telling people that their goal is not realistic, books claiming to be general resources would be framed entirely around the goal of baking bread as fast as possible, with entire chapters devoted to making the charred bread taste like it isn't charred.

Anyway, this is what landscaping is like.

▫️25 floral doodles▫️

Top 8 apps for 2D animation

Hello amazing people!

After the success of our Top 12 alternatives to Photoshop for digital painters and illustrators article, a few questions regarding animation programs appeared in our inbox. There are many, many apps to animate today: in this list we included 2D animation programs only, but these are the best of the best.

Formerly known as Flash, Adobe Animate helps you create interactive web-based content for games and ads using powerful illustration and animation tools.

Pros: user-friendly interface; many, many features; customisable layout

Cons: there are so many features that a few may remain hidden; it may get sluggish with big files (performance depends on the running machine); limited audio tools

Paid

Animation Pro is an app for iPad and it works like any powerful animation app!

Pros: drawing features; layers; lip-synching feature; affordable

Cons: the interface can look confusing to a beginner

Paid

Illustration or animation, CLIP STUDIO PAINT may be the answer to your needs. This program is powerful and full of amazing features and tools for the professional artist - and it made the top ten in our Top 12 alternatives to Photoshop for digital painters and illustrators list.

Pros: several illustration tools exclusive of the program; powerful

Cons: limited audio tools; limited script tools; limited technical support

Paid

Certainly one of the most used programs in the industry, Toon Boom Harmony is a powerful animation program for professional artists. It’s been used for well-known series and films, such as Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name, Rick and Morty, The Simpsons and The Princess and the Frog.

Pros: powerful tools; smart colour palettes; features for character artists; many tutorials

Cons: not easy to use; pricey

Paid

Moho Pro (Anime Studio) is a 2D animation software for professional artists distributed by Smith Micro Software.

Pros: advanced animation tools; user-friendly interface; compatibility with vector programs (ex. Illustrator) for import/export of files

Cons: N/A

Paid

We’ve already talked about OpenToonz, an open-source animation program (see this article).

While this version is the program customised by Studio Ghibli, Toonz was created by Italian Digital Video S.p.A., which distributes other important programs: Toonz Premium, Story Planner and Toonz LineTest. 

Toonz is used by important studios, such as, of course, Studio Ghibli (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away) and Rough Draft Studios (Futurama, The Simpsons).

Pros: open-source; powerful tools

Cons: not easy to learn; hidden features; “old” interface

Free  

Pencil2D Animation is another open-source program for beginner and professional artists.

Pros: simple, user-friendly interface; 

Cons: minimal features

Free

Another well-known animation program is TVPaint Animation. Perfect for frame-by-frame animation, this is a powerful program and may even be considered Harmony’s rival. Notable productions are Song of the Sea, Zima Blue and Kitbull.

There are two versions of the program, TVPaint Animation Professional and TVPaint Animation Standard.

Pros: powerful; many tutorials

Cons: pricey;

Paid

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As always, let us know what you think of these apps and what we missed. We still hope you’ll find this list useful!

Thank you and peace out,

G&M

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Other articles:

10 inspiring and helpful YouTube channels for digital artists

6 inspiring Art Podcasts for digital artists

Top 12 alternatives to Photoshop for digital painters and illustrators

!! thank u so much! The way i draw lace is like…so time consuming but i usually use three different methods interchangeably

One of the major factors of lace is that it must maintain this very floral quality to it, which often relies on noticeable curves. Though a lot of lace contains straight lines here and there, the curves should always b the most significant! 

Hey, could you tell me how you make linart a different color without having to erase and redraw? I've seen it happen on a couple speed paints and on some of your sketches but no idea how to do it myself

(this is a wip sketch i have) |(this is also the art progam SAI)

1. have your original layer(i usually use red for my sketches)

2. create a new layer

3. click the Clipping Group tab, a red line will appear next to the layer this is applied to

4. then just add whatever color your changing your sketches/lineart to and voila! as simple as that! i hope this lil thrown together tutorial helps!

This guy won’t leave

Lego Swimming Pool Layout

Top 12 alternatives to Photoshop for digital painters and illustrators

Hello there!

Yes, we haven’t done this in a while… but our inbox and chat are swamped with questions on the subject, so this article was very much needed.

it’s a simple list of art apps, but we know you love those :D

Enough with the intro, here it is, a list of twelve art apps you may want to check out.

ArtRage is an art program for beginners and professionals. With its minimal interface, it’s easy to keep the essential tools at hand without stealing space from the canvas. Panels can be moved around and tools can be customised. We all know how important it is for digital artists to be able to modify brushes!

Pros: easy to use; friendly interface; essential tools from professional apps available; available for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac

Cons: it may get sluggish with big files and when using big brushes, but performances also depend on the running machine; limited selection of editing tools if compared to Photoshop - ArtRage is more of a painting program rather than an editing one.

Paid

ArtRage Lite is a different version at a cheaper price, mostly for beginners, but also for professionals if they need the essential.

Now free, Sketchbook is the famous app created by Autodesk for various platforms.

Pros: clean, friendly interface; easy to use; professional features; autosave feature

Cons: lack of official tutorials; doesn’t offer as many tools as other apps (it’s down to the essential); paid subscription in Adobe style for Enterprise License

Free and paid

Black Ink is a powerful little program few actually know, but there’s a reason: this isn’t your classing drawing app. What’s cool about it is the vast selection of special brushes, completely non-realistic, and definitely able to boost your creativity.

Pros: vast selection of customisable brushes; excellent performance

Cons: not very easy to use; non-intuitive interface

Paid

This is probably the most complete software for painting, drawing and animation. It was originally known as Manga Studio, but with its updates and addition of features, it became Clip Studio Paint. 

This doesn’t say much about the quality of the features themselves considering the affordable price (if you haven’t used the app yet, that is), but among graphic apps, this one is the top seller.

Pros: professional features for illustrators; layout tools for comic/manga artists; 3D reference models; customisable tools; various sales with special prices

Cons: the interface may not appear intuitive at first; the program may lag (again, performance also depends on the running machine)

Paid

GIMP is the famous open source image editor originally created for GNU/Linux and available for OS X and Windows. 

Best known as Photoshop’s main competition, this is a manipulation program for both beginners and professionals who love design.

It offers many professional features, making the program a powerful tool.

Pros: professional editing tools; supports different formats; supported by different platforms; active community

Cons: in spite of the simple design, many options are hidden and it takes time to discover all the features; slow startup

Free

Krita is an open source painting app created by artists for artists.

Pros: easy to use; intuitive interface; great brush workflow; brush stabilizer; customisable brushes; general good performance; very enthusiastic, although small, community

Cons: it may be slow or even crash depending on the running computer and the app’s version; very few editing tools compared to Photoshop

Free

MediBang Paint is a free and light app for drawing and painting, perfect for manga and comic creation.

Pros: vast selection of brushes; cloud sharing; friendly, minimal interface (non-desktop app); also available for iPad, iPhone and Android

Cons: requires an account to use all features; non-intuitive interface (desktop version)

Free

Mischief is a sketching app with essential tools, useful for brainstorming and ideation.

Pros: infinite drawing canvas; friendly interface; easy to use; cheap pro version

Cons: few updates; offers only the essential (but that’s the point); no editing/adjustment tools

Free and paid

Corel’s jewel, Painter is the most famous software that offers digital tools able to give a traditional feel to brushes and canvas.

Pros: different selection of media; many professional features; PS-friendly

Cons: certain brushes may work slow; not easy to use at first; the software may crash (this is the most common report); pricey

Paid

Paintstorm Studio is a professional software for digital painting. It’s focused on the use of brushes and blending, which makes the software a little gem in the digital painting field.

Pros: good brush workflow; brush stabilizer; “close gap” feature; customisable interface and tools; professional features; affordable price

Cons: non-intuitive interface (desktop version)

Paid

Procreate is the powerful drawing app for iOS. 

With the very sensitive Apple Pencil, Procreate is so easy to use that many artists chose the iPad over the most famous graphic tablets.

Pros: friendly interface; makes it easy to organise files; excellent brush workflow; customisable brushes; video recording; affordable price

Cons: hidden features; only available for iPad

Paid

SAI is a simple app for artists who want to focus on painting and drawing. 

It’s well known for its good pressure support and its essential tools for manga artists, but SAI can be used by any kind of artist who wants to paint.

Pros: easy to use; friendly interface; light software; customisable brushes; tons of (non-official) tutorials

Cons: limited selection of tools, even basic ones; limited canvas sizes and uses; it might crash from intensive work, especially with big canvases and brushes; supports only RGB colour mode; lack of support

Paid

HONOURABLE MENTION

Many call this app an advanced PaintTool SAI, and for a reason. FireAlpaca offers almost everything PTS has and more.

Pros: friendly interface; brush stabilizer; lineart selection; customisable brushes

Cons: no colour slider; limited brush control; although more advanced compared to PTS, the features are quite basic.

Free

We hope you’ll find this list useful. 

If you think there are other apps that should have made this list, don’t hesitate to let us know!

Thank you and peace out,

G&M

Other articles:

10 inspiring and helpful YouTube channels for digital artists

6 inspiring Art Podcasts for digital artists

7 amazing Photoshop extensions and tools for digital artists

Basic sketching tips

IG: @mitchleeuwe