ILLUSTRATION KNOWHOW Drawing and Painting Software
In this day and age, we have a large variety of digital drawing and painting software, but do you know what your options are? In the third part of this series, Alina Manolache guides us through some of the alternatives.
I would like to present a few of the more popular options out there and hopefully spark your interest towards one or more of them. All options presented can open a shared file type (PSD is the standard), so you can even mix and match different programs for different parts of your illustration process.
We will look at each software from the perspective of a working illustrator and consider the following factors: The price (as of the time of writing the article), the platforms it’s available on, if it has blend modes, and if it supports CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Key). I will also mention what kind of learning resources they have and if there’s anything that makes the software special or different from the rest. My absolute favourite software and the topic of today's article:
Clip Studio Paint: best known for features that simplify and streamline the creation of comics, manga and webtoons. There are two versions of the software: the Pro version, which has most of the features you would need to create digital paintings and the EX version, which has a few additional features that help with comic creation and animation. For a list of differences, you can check their documentation here:
Developer: Celsys
Price: around 39 GBP for a perpetual license for the Pro version and 170 GBP for their EX version. They also offer a range of subscription options, from smartphone use (up to four devices) to their premium plan. For example, the single-device plan costs 3.49 GBP per month for the Pro version and 20.99 GBP per year, while the EX version costs 6.99 GBP per month or 59.99 GBP per year. You can find the full range of their offer here.
Platforms: it’s available on Windows and macOS, and it can be purchased with a perpetual license, a time payment or with a subscription. The software is also available on iPad, iPhone, Galaxy, Android, and Chromebook with a subscription-only payment type.
Free trial: they offer a minimum of 3 months free for most platforms, and the iPhone has an hour a day free.
Blend modes: it has a large range of blend modes. A list of them all can be found here:
CMYK support: it doesn’t support working directly in CMYK, but you can proof your work by selecting the colour profile of your choice and seeing how the artwork looks with that colour profile. You can also embed ICC profiles within your image when exporting.
Clip Studio Paint default illustration interface
Learning resources: it has a large range of official tutorials on their website. Additionally, many creators have developed both written and video tutorials.
Speciality: Their speciality is, of course, the tools that help with comic creation. They have everything from creating comic pages and panels, to text bubbles, easier effects creation, screen tones and a well-developed text tool.
Additionally, they have a very robust perspective tool, and you can even import 3d models, pose them and trace over them, or just use them as a reference.
They also have natural colour mixing, but it is more limited compared to Rebelle 7, as you can only use it on the same layer.
Another interesting and potentially useful feature is the addition of vector layers and brushes, which can help with lineart, for example.
Additionally, they have a very robust perspective tool, and you can even import 3d models, pose them and trace over them, or just use them as a reference.
They also have natural colour mixing, but it is more limited compared to Rebelle 7, as you can only use it on the same layer.
Another interesting and potentially useful feature is the addition of vector layers and brushes, which can help with lineart, for example.
Next time, we'll take a look at another popular software: Procreate.
* Header image: collaboration by Ell Rose & Tita Berredo
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Alina Manolache's love for fairy tales, watercolour painting, and animals is readily apparent in her first book Little Red is Making Friends, which she wrote, illustrated, and self-published. In her debut work, the visually stunning illustrations combined with her storytelling evoke undeniable feelings of joy and compassion.
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Tita Berredo is the Illustrator Coordinator of SCBWI British Isles and the Art Director of Words & Pictures.
Contact her at: britishisles-ic@scbwi.org
Ell Rose is the Illustration Features Editor of Words & Pictures.
Find their work at fourfooteleven.com
Contact them at illustrators@britishscbwi.org
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