Paper Cricket Gallery

Illuminated Illustration and Design by Cell0113. Also includes references, resources and tutorials. Commission Information under Links, Pinned Post to be added.

[vincentbriggs]

Friend was getting frustrated at hand sewing because the polyester thread was twisting a lot, so I gave him some cotton thread and he went wow this is so much better. now I'm wondering if perhaps a lot of the people who hate hand sewing have never tried it with a well behaved thread. If you've only ever hand sewn with polyester thread try cotton or silk, or linen with some beeswax! (And read this blog post with more advice.)

[dollsahoy]

I have given similar advice in regard to machine sewing--cheap polyester thread creates varying levels of frustration that nicer polyester thread does not, and I wonder how many people who have problems with machine sewing are actually dealing with uncooperative thread.

(I discovered this on accident, when I switched from my usual Saba or Gutermann thread to a no-name 2/$1 store brand thread that once was my main thread, thinking it was nothing more than a silly act of nostalgia, but, no. All of the issues I used to have sewing knits immediately reappeared. I switched to a better thread--in a worse color match--and the problems vanished. And I'd thought the problems with sewing knits had gone away because my sewing skills had improved! Nope! It was spending more money on thread!)

[smallerplaces]

This is giving me flashbacks to the time in the 2010s when I thought I'd save time and money by picking up some cheap off-brand thread at the convenient SAS Fabrics (a discount mill-end store). I went from having no trouble sewing a nice seam to have endless and varied problems.

That also reminds me that at some point, I'll need to side-eye the current thread stash, as all but two spools are from my mother's stash, so they are a minimum of six years old, probably much older. Here, therefore, is a link on how to test if your thread is too old. (It's one thing I don't buy at estate sales!)

Is my sewing thread too old to use?

Even though you may think that buying a large box of vintage thread on sale sounds like a like your saving money, it may turn out to be quit

[vincentbriggs]

I like old thread, but I do always pull on it to make sure it's strong enough! I figure if it can last for decades in a garment there's no reason a properly stored thread can't last just as well on the spool. And the weaker stuff is great for hand basting, so I keep it too, as long as it's a decently smooth cotton. (At my first tailoring job I learned that you can actually buy specially made hand basting thread that's designed to break easily so it's easier to pull out.)

But oogh, yeah not the cheap fuzzy stuff. If a bunch of secondhand thread comes with any of those thin cheaply made spools that have that very visible fuzziness they get tossed immediately. Serger thread is the only stuff that's allowed to look like that!

[papercricketgallery]

Remembered that I can post art here.

Have a Genie getting squish hugged by sleepy OC (he was looking after them after they passed out from magic fatigue, and they unconsciously koala'd him).

Also, can you tell I am struggling with figuring out how to draw Genie? I have an entire sketchbook layout of just trying to figure out his shape language based on concept art and screenshots of the 1992 movie.

Help.

[eeveekitti]

the fight comes sooner than you think...

[starri44]

nkt another.. please. ..mercy on my soul

[theelectricdreamsofddx]

Hey, wanna make music? Yeah? Got a buncha money? No? Well that's perfectly fine, check this free stuff out:

Vital - A powerful wavetable synth, my personal favorite VST synth, very easy to figure out creating new synth sounds, with the help of the plenty of tutorials that are out there for the plug-in. (There are paid versions but they are completely unnecessary to get 99% of the features of the plug-in.)

Synth1 - A classic piece of synthesizer software.

Pendulate - An interesting, chaotic synth that you can make weird little sounds with.

Native Instruments' free plug-ins - Various cool VSTs, including the Komplete Start pack.

The Free Orchestra - A set of orchestral instruments for Kontakt Player (see previous link).

BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover - More orchestral stuff! This one has its own player so you don't have to download a separate VST to use it if you don't want to.

Magical 8bit Plug - A chiptune plug-in, intended for producing sounds like that of 8-bit systems like the NES and Master System.

Genny - A synth VST made to emulate the soundchip of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive.

MT Power Drum Kit - A nice rock n' roll style drum kit plug-in.

This guy's weird VST collection - 6.4 gigabytes of weird VSTs, including some you might know, like Delay Lama and MeowSynth!

sforzando - A free player for soundfont files.

Musical Artifacts - A resource I mainly use to find soundfonts, on which you can find other various things as well.

Kilohearts Essentials - 30 effect VSTs including reverb, delay, compression, pitch shifting, transient shaping, ring modulation, phase distortion, and more.

Xfer's freeware VSTs - Exactly what it says on the tin, including the one and only OTT compressor.

Illformed - The good ol' dblue Glitch 1.3, Crusher, Stretch, and TapeStop.

Hysteresis and Fracture - Two interesting glitch effects, one being a delay and the other being a buffer.

Codec - A cool digital audio degradation effect.

Le Phonk - A slick distortion plug-in.

MAIM - An effect that mimics the sound of MP3 compression.

Soundly Shape it and Place it - One is simply an equalizer VST, the other is an effect that emulates a speaker (ex: a radio) and a space (ex: a cave).

Fresh Air - An effect that adds high end information to your sounds, to provide brightness.

ValhallaSupermassive - A combo reverb and delay plug-in that sounds quite big.

UnplugRed - A collection of various interesting VSTs, most of which have free versions.

Chowdhury DSP - I can't personally speak for all of these but their tape model effect is great for some lo-fi style effects.

TAL-Chorus-LX - A thick sounding chorus, good for "retro" sounds too.

Polyverse Wider - A great effect for widening sounds up, really simple too with only two controls.

Freesound - A good audio file resource, mainly for foley recordings.

Cymbatics Dubstep Starter Pack - A little sample pack with some good drum and synth samples.

fishmonger drum kit - A pack of samples from the album 'fishmonger' by Underscores!

WangleLine's sample packs - Free samples put out by my awesome mutual WangleLine!

aaand I might as well include this set of drums I made a while back :P

As for DAWs, it's been a long while since I've used anything other than FL Studio (not counting Audacity, which I still occasionally use for specific purposes), which, while being the only one I can directly recommend, is paid. However, I've heard good things about Reaper which has a "free trial" that you can technically use forever, akin to WinRAR. Additionally, I've also heard some good things about Waveform Free.

[uboatheflesh]

Don't forget the GOAT for turning any sound into a beautiful drone paulXstretch

and I mean ANY sound

[iamoutofideas]

Digitally Preserving Classic Synthesizers through Emulation

these guys have been emulating just about every synth from the 90’s/2000’s for free. installation is a little bit finicky but not too hard to do.

[eeveekitti]

the fight comes sooner than you think...

[bennyboybenniest]

Time to LOCK the fuck IN

[Proceeds to never lock thee fuck in]

[doodlemancy]

hello fellow artists. google has fallen. pinterest/duckduckgo AI filters don't work. do not despair; here is a list i made of places to find reference images without having to sift through piles of worthless garbage. (for future editing convenience i am just linking my blog post on dreamwidth.)

✨ good places to find art reference that are not full of AI trash 🌈

[super-autism-death-ray]

reblogging for personal use

[theunsureartist]

ART REFERENCE NOT FULL OF AI?! YESSS

[fangirling-and-making-stuff]

THANK YOU

[i-like-eyes]

Weirdly Specific Artist Ask Game

Didn't see a lot of artist ask games, wanted to make a silly one.

(I wrote this while sick out of my mind last year and it's been collecting dust in my drafts, I might as well let it run free) 1. Art programs you have but don't use

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

3. What ideas come from when you were little

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

9. What are your file name conventions

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

12. Easiest part of body to draw

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

14. Any favorite motifs

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

23. Do you use different layer modes

24. Do your references include stock images

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

[theelectricdreamsofddx]

Hey, wanna make music? Yeah? Got a buncha money? No? Well that's perfectly fine, check this free stuff out:

Vital - A powerful wavetable synth, my personal favorite VST synth, very easy to figure out creating new synth sounds, with the help of the plenty of tutorials that are out there for the plug-in. (There are paid versions but they are completely unnecessary to get 99% of the features of the plug-in.)

Synth1 - A classic piece of synthesizer software.

Pendulate - An interesting, chaotic synth that you can make weird little sounds with.

Native Instruments' free plug-ins - Various cool VSTs, including the Komplete Start pack.

The Free Orchestra - A set of orchestral instruments for Kontakt Player (see previous link).

BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover - More orchestral stuff! This one has its own player so you don't have to download a separate VST to use it if you don't want to.

Magical 8bit Plug - A chiptune plug-in, intended for producing sounds like that of 8-bit systems like the NES and Master System.

Genny - A synth VST made to emulate the soundchip of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive.

MT Power Drum Kit - A nice rock n' roll style drum kit plug-in.

This guy's weird VST collection - 6.4 gigabytes of weird VSTs, including some you might know, like Delay Lama and MeowSynth!

sforzando - A free player for soundfont files.

Musical Artifacts - A resource I mainly use to find soundfonts, on which you can find other various things as well.

Kilohearts Essentials - 30 effect VSTs including reverb, delay, compression, pitch shifting, transient shaping, ring modulation, phase distortion, and more.

Xfer's freeware VSTs - Exactly what it says on the tin, including the one and only OTT compressor.

Illformed - The good ol' dblue Glitch 1.3, Crusher, Stretch, and TapeStop.

Hysteresis and Fracture - Two interesting glitch effects, one being a delay and the other being a buffer.

Codec - A cool digital audio degradation effect.

Le Phonk - A slick distortion plug-in.

MAIM - An effect that mimics the sound of MP3 compression.

Soundly Shape it and Place it - One is simply an equalizer VST, the other is an effect that emulates a speaker (ex: a radio) and a space (ex: a cave).

Fresh Air - An effect that adds high end information to your sounds, to provide brightness.

ValhallaSupermassive - A combo reverb and delay plug-in that sounds quite big.

UnplugRed - A collection of various interesting VSTs, most of which have free versions.

Chowdhury DSP - I can't personally speak for all of these but their tape model effect is great for some lo-fi style effects.

TAL-Chorus-LX - A thick sounding chorus, good for "retro" sounds too.

Polyverse Wider - A great effect for widening sounds up, really simple too with only two controls.

Freesound - A good audio file resource, mainly for foley recordings.

Cymbatics Dubstep Starter Pack - A little sample pack with some good drum and synth samples.

fishmonger drum kit - A pack of samples from the album 'fishmonger' by Underscores!

WangleLine's sample packs - Free samples put out by my awesome mutual WangleLine!

aaand I might as well include this set of drums I made awhile back :P

As for DAWs, it's been a long while since I've used anything other than FL Studio (not counting Audacity, which I still occasionally use for specific purposes), which, while being the only one I can directly recommend, is paid. However, I've heard good things about Reaper which has a "free trial" that you can technically use forever, akin to WinRAR. Additionally, I've also heard some good things about Waveform Free.

[hershelchocolateart]

Just to make a point, every time I finished a panel of this I would export it as a PNG on the perceptual setting and use it as a color reference for the next panel

IT'S BAD

PLEASE CHECK YOUR COLOR SETTINGS

EDIT: If you're still having problems, it might help to switch from "Save/Save as" to "Export (as a) Single Layer". Just. Make SURE the box labeled "Expression Color" is set to RGB. I've been messing with this all day, and it looks like this combination of settings will allow exported PNGs to maintain their colors perfectly. To you. So far both Discord and Toyhouse still only display desaturated images and I cannot for the life of me figure out why

[hershelchocolateart]

WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN ITS NOT JUST A MAC PROBLEM

[gl4ssfan]

GUYS IT HAPPENS WITH KRITA TOO

[raemeh]

is there like….a way to check how to do that for procreate?

cause I’ve noticed the same thing so I’ve just been eye picking colors for like…two years now

[cacaocheri]

THERE IS!

ive been noticing the EXACT SAME PROBLEM whenever i would export an image from procreate and it drove me CRAZY that my art would desaturate all the time. anyway, if you're in a canvas, go to settings > canvas > canvas information > color profile

once youre in color profile, if your current color profile is display P3, CHANGE IT!!!!!! it is desaturating your colors. you're gonna want to change it to sRGB IEC6 1966-2.1 instead

if you're starting a new canvas, you can just go to color profile and change it that way. im SO grateful for this post for giving me the push i needed to experiment with procreate files and finally see what was changing my art to be so desaturated

like LOOK at this!!!!

anyway yeah. tldr if youre using procreate, make sure your color profile is sRBG IEC6 1966-2.1

[yolbert]

Even if you use different programs then those, check your settings. I have a fancy OLED display and the difference between in app and exported was drastic so i caught it earl on, but its still a pain in the ass, so save yourself that pain.

[desasterdan]

@sam-does-art

[systlin]

So my sister wants to start sewing more, because

a. She’s 5′ 11″ and can never find pants long enough for her legs or shirts long enough for her arms.

b. She hates synthetic fibers as much as I do and it’s difficult to find natural fiber clothes that aren’t made of cotton

c. She’s a biologist and would physically fistfight microplastics if given half a chance

So her gift from mom and dad for her birthday was a sewing machine. Not a super expensive one but a good solid serviceable one.

And recently she asked “So where do I GET wool or linen and thread that isn’t polyester” and mom was like ‘go ask your sister’

And I, of course, crashed into the group text like “GET A PEN I HAVE WEBSITES FOR U” and honestly I’m thrilled about this

[systlin]

“Where did u get all this”

“Bets, u know I’m a 15th degree blackbelt of buying shit on the internet”

“oh yeah tru”

[hermesmuse]

Op can may we inquire about the website list

[systlin]

Linen; https://www.graylinelinen.com/

cotton and Silk thread; https://redrockthreads.com/

Linen thread and wool fabric; https://burnleyandtrowbridge.com/ (they’ve got wool stuffs and worsted wool fabric for $15 a yard! I just got three yards of navy worsted wool I’m making a constellation winter skirt from)

More linen thread and wool; https://wmboothdraper.com/ (just ordered wool broadcloth to make a coat)

Silk fabric (THE best place to get silk lining fabrics and raw silk fabric):https://www.dharmatrading.com/

A varying assortment of wool and silk and cotton and even some leather, use coupon code  spring2020 for 50% off your full order, worked yesterday when I bought some stuff there; https://metrotextilesnyc.com/

Wool. You want wool coating for under $20 a yard? Sure you do. It’s here. Not a huge variety of colors, most are black or brown, but hey https://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/Catalog?refinementIds=4096748&Keyword=wool&pageSize=16

[wingedtyger]

I don’t know a lot about sewing, but I want to make or have my mom make some linen pants & shirts for when I’m watering, because it gets to 105 here and we have mosquitos so I need to be covered. What type of linen do I buy? Also, linen pajama shorts, yes/no?

(I’ve been wearing my renfaire pants which are a linen mix, I think. But the frikking mosquitos that hide in the tomatoes get my arms)

[systlin]

Medium weight is what I’d go with.

And linen pajama shorts is a HARD yes.

[beggars-opera]

Renaissance Fabrics is good for all sorts of things

Mood doesn’t specialize in natural fabrics but they do have basically every fabric ever made so

[the-merry-otter]

For wools, I cannot recommend Woolsome enough! They’re a bit more expensive then the above links, but they have a spectacular range of colours and weights, as well as diamond pattern and herringbone weaves. They also have a range of linens, though not as extensive.

Woolsome

Historical fabrics for re-enactors

[justgarb]

Tiedtohistory.com has sheer voile linen

The Linen Lab has a variety of weaves, weights, and colors available

Period Fabric has a variety of wools, but switch to the full website if you’re on mobile

[med-godur-hesturin]

If you’re in Canada,

http://purelinenenvy.ca

has 100% linen at $17 / metre Canadian. Hard to beat! I made a lovely dress out of some and it breathes wonderfully. So I bought more to make another dress 😁

[deshima]

For those of us who live on the right side of the Atlantic and particularly the Northern part of it.

https://classicfabrics.nl/

Sells fabric for re-enactment, the wools are not cheap but the linen is very reasonably priced and they have some light ones that are great for blouses.

https://www.dutchtailorette.com/

Same as classic fabrics sells fabrics and haberdashery for re-enactment. The wools are still not very cheap but cheaper than classic fabric but on the other hand they don’t always have everything in stock

https://www.aktivstoffe.de/

General fabric store with a very diverse range from softshell, to some very good waterproofs to cottons and everything in between. They have a very broad range of wools from fairly expensive to the cheapest I’ve found online that is not mixed up with something else and of good quality.

https://www.textielstad.nl/

General fabric store with a fairly broad range of linens and linen/cotton/viscose mixes. They also have a very light silk cotton mix that works very well as lining but doesn’t break your budget. The color range of that one is very small though. The rest of their silks are expensive but they do sell liberty silks if you want something that pops. Their pure wools tend to be expensive but occasionally they manage to snatch the end of a stock that they sell much cheaper.

https://driessenstoffen.nl

General fabric store, they are very very cheap in general and so is their linen. The color range is pretty broad but the linen itself is on the heavy side. Great for a pair of summer pants or a skirt but less so for a blouse. They also have some really really cheap boiled wool but the quality is honestly very meh.

https://www.chienvert.com/fr/

General fabric store. Their regular stock is on the more expensive side and is rather variable depending on what they can get though they usually have silks,linens and wools . Their sales are to die for, however, so this is one to regularly check to see if there is something you like and then immediately snatch.

[deshima]

Repost to add a few more addresses I forgot.

https://thefabricsales.com/

End of stock reseller, they sell quality suiting and coating wools for usually no more than 24 euro’s the meter, linens for usually no more than 20 and often less, their silks vary more wildly but they usually have at least a few that are around 25 and right now they have silk lining fabric at 15 euro the meter which is frankly a steal. They are an end of stock reseller however, so if you waited too long and its gone, it will remain gone.

https://echtleer.nl/

Slightly off course but could be relevant since the different diy crowds do overlap. If you need cheaper but good quality leather and live in the Netherlands ( though I suspect the guy also ships to the rest of the benelux) this guy is an absolute treasure. He does not have an actual webshop, if you want to buy, you have to e-mail him and tell him what you precisely want. He will either find something that fits those exact needs or be very honest with you if he doesn’t have it and will usually ship it to you the same day you pay the invoice. If you don’t quite know what you need for a project he is also very knowledgeable about which leather will be more appropriate and he will give you honest advice about it. His veg tan leather is often 2/3 or even half the price I can find elsewhere, and he has some lovely lamb nappa that are perfect for gloves and also ridiculously low priced. He does regularly have a stand at fabric fairs and he is always there at Castlefest if you like to touch your leather first before buying.

[artfight]

If someone is from a country where an image hosting site is unavailable (ex, the UK with Imgur), what are some alternatives?

We have been recommending File Garden, Postimages, and Catbox.Moe for the time being. If anyone has more suggestions, please leave them in the replies below!

[thatsbelievable]

TRUTH. What you need is imagination, and you don’t need to go anywhere to use it.

[caitymschmidt]

Yeah, sure, seeing new things is helpful as a fantasy writer. But. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that exposure to new things is the same as traveling. You know what else exposes you to new things?  The internet. Documentaries. Books. Freaking Youtube. So when you’re bored of cats and cooking tutorials, go on an adventure!

You wanna write create some fantasy creatures but don’t know where to start? Go check out some videos The Weird Creatures Earth has Had.

Want some inspiration for your Super Evil Villain’s Villanous Deeds?

Or maybe you want some weird locations to kick start your Fantasy World Terraforming?

Or maybe you need knowledge of bunches of historical places and cities and cultures?

But maybe you’re basing fantasy on the modern world?

Okay but lets say you want to start from the same inspiration as GRRM? (and part two!)

That’s just the stuff I could quickly grab. Things I’m subscribed to, that I know offhand. There is So. Much. Stuff. Online.

The best thing about the internet is that it means its not just the fortunate sons that get to learn, and explore and imagine and write. We get to see stories from all over the place, from all sorts of people, who bring All Kinds of New Ideas.

[ultimatebottom69]

I like you.

[shamurph]

found these on twitter that might be helpful to all rpers who want to make sure their themes and carrds are accessible to all

[gatoscodes]

consider this for themes as well

[strawberryoverlord]

Many TUMBLR users need to learn this

[anony-mouse-writer]

PSA

if you are doing any kind of design meant to reach large numbers of people, download a colorblindness filter (i use CVSimulator, its pretty simple and free) and use it religiously

[eponinemylove]

you can use color contrast checkers like WebAIM to make sure the foreground/background colors are legible & meet web content accessibility standards as well

[outerspacekake]

Other accessibility tools:

Color Contrast Checker

WCAG Color Contrast Checker

[ducks-on-jupiter]

Additional note: screen readers can't read any fonts you copy and paste from Google to make your blog look cute, please just use the fonts that tumblr already has

[metalheadsagainstfascism]

How to draw Black characters. Because it's way too obvious when you drew a white person and gave them Black skin.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRg6YsKN/

-fae

[patrochilles-or-bust]

If you're an artist please listen to her. PLEASE. 🙏🏾 I cannot stress these tips enough.

[artfight]

Spooky, scary skeletons send shivers down your spine… welcome back, it's Art Fright!

Want an on-site achievement for participating in Art Fright? Create artwork that incorporates either a prompt or a palette (or both!) and submit it to the Google form. The form closes on Saturday, November 1st at 12 PM Mountain Time and you should receive your achievement sometime after.

Feel free to upload your artwork onto social media under the #ArtFright2025 tag!

Prompt List Transcript

Graphics made by Scribedhearts. Illustrations made by Arakkami & Hanuh.

Happy October!

[kotori-mochi]

Can't afford art school?

After seeing post like this 👇

And this gem 👇

As well as countless of others from the AI generator community. Just talking about how "inaccessible art" is, I decided why not show how wrong these guys are while also helping anyone who actually wants to learn.

Here is the first one ART TEACHERS! There are plenty online and in places like youtube.

📺Here is my list:

Proko (Free, mostly teaches anatomy and how to draw people. But does have art talks and teaches the basics.)

Marc Brunet (Free but he does have other classes for a cheap price. Use to work for Blizzard and teaches you everything)

Aaron Rutten (free, tips about art, talks about art programs and the best products for digital art)

BoroCG (free, teaches a verity of art mediums from 3D modeling to digital painting. As well as some tips that can be used across styles)

Jesse J. Jones (free, talks about animating)

Jesus Conde (free, teaches digital painting and has classes in Spanish)

Mohammed Agbadi (free, he gives some advice in some videos and talks about art)

Ross Draws (free, he does have other classes for a good price. Mostly teaching character designs and simple backgrounds.)

SamDoesArts (free, gives good advice and critiques)

Drawfee Show (free, they do give some good advice and great inspiration)

The Art of Aaron Blaise ( useful tips for digital art and animation. Was an animator for Disney. Mostly nature art)

Bobby Chiu ( useful tips and interviews with artist who are in the industry or making a living as artist)

Sinix Design (has some tips on drawing people)

Winged canvas (art school for free on a verity of mediums)

Bob Ross (just a good time, learn how to paint, as well as how too relax when doing art. "there are no mistakes only happy accidents", this channel also provides tips from another artist)

Scott Christian Sava (Inspiration and provides tips and advice)

Pikat (art advice and critiques)

Drawbox (a suggested cheap online art school, made of a community of artist)

Skillshare (A cheap learning site that has art classes ranging from traditional to digital. As well as Animation and tutorials on art programs. All under one price, in the USA it's around $34 a month)

Human anatomy for artist (not a video or teacher but the site is full of awesome refs to practice and get better at anatomy)

Second part BOOKS, I have collected some books that have helped me and might help others.

📚Here is my list:

The "how to draw manga" series produced by Graphic-sha. These are for manga artist but they give great advice and information.

"Creating characters with personality" by Tom Bancroft. A great book that can help not just people who draw cartoons but also realistic ones. As it helps you with facial ques and how to make a character interesting.

"Albinus on anatomy" by Robert Beverly Hale and Terence Coyle. Great book to help someone learn basic anatomy.

"Artistic Anatomy" by Dr. Paul Richer and Robert Beverly Hale. A good book if you want to go further in-depth with anatomy.

"Directing the story" by Francis Glebas. A good book if you want to Story board or make comics.

"Animal Anatomy for Artists" by Eliot Goldfinger. A good book for if you want to draw animals or creatures.

"Constructive Anatomy: with almost 500 illustrations" by George B. Bridgman. A great book to help you block out shadows in your figures and see them in a more 3 diamantine way.

"Dynamic Anatomy: Revised and expand" by Burne Hogarth. A book that shows how to block out shapes and easily understand what you are looking out. When it comes to human subjects.

"An Atlas of animal anatomy for artist" by W. Ellenberger and H. Dittrich and H. Baum. This is another good one for people who want to draw animals or creatures.

Etherington Brothers, they make books and have a free blog with art tips.

📝As for Supplies, I recommend starting out cheap, buying Pencils and art paper at dollar tree or 5 below. If you want to go fancy Michaels is always a good place for traditional supplies. They also get in some good sales and discounts. For digital art, I recommend not starting with a screen art drawing tablet as they are usually more expensive.

For the Best art Tablet I recommend either Xp-pen, Bamboo or Huion. Some can range from about 40$ to the thousands.

💻As for art programs here is a list of Free to pay.

Clip Studio paint ( you can choose to pay once or sub and get updates. Galaxy, Windows, macOS, iPad, iPhone, Android, or Chromebook device. )

Procreate ( pay once for $9.99 usd, IPAD & IPHONE ONLY)

Blender (for 3D modules/sculpting, animation and more. Free)

PaintTool SAI (pay but has a 31 day free trail)

Krita (Free)

mypaint (free)

FireAlpaca (free)

Aseprite ($19.99 usd but has a free trail, for pixel art Windows & macOS)

Drawpile (free and for if you want to draw with others)

IbisPaint (free, phone app ONLY)

Medibang (free, IPAD, Android and PC)

NOTE: Some of these can work on almost any computer like Clip and Sai but others will require a bit stronger computer like Blender. Please check their sites for if your computer is compatible.

So do with this information as you will but as you can tell there are ways to learn how to become an artist, without breaking the bank. The only thing that might be stopping YOU from using any of these things, is YOU.

I have made time to learn to draw and many artist have too. Either in-between working two jobs or taking care of your family and a job or regular school and chores. YOU just have to take the time or use some time management, it really doesn't take long to practice for like an hour or less. YOU also don't have to do it every day, just once or three times a week is fine.

Hope this was helpful and have a great day.

"also apologies for any spelling or grammar errors, I have Dyslexia and it makes my brain go XP when it comes to speech or writing"

[animalphotorefs]

Boosting this in case any of the programs and books suggested are useful.

All the photos on this tumblr ad the animal photo reference site I run is another resource available for artists to use!

As long as you’re not using AI to create your art, you can reference / trace / draw / recombine / make any sort of art you want, with any of the photos, for free.

[reo-speeddragon]

There's also MORPHO, a really good book series on anatomy by Michel Lauricella, with very clear explanations and sketches!

And for pose references, there's @adorkastock who shares a ton of them for free, with different models and props, and her website is amazing <3 you can also buy pose packs from her.

[sabertoothwalrus]

I may have done a similar poll before but

for digital artists, what do you primarily draw on

pen tablet (you are not drawing directly on a screen)

screen tablet (you draw directly on the screen. this includes ipads and phones)

I used to use a pen tablet but now I use a screen tablet

I used to use a screen tablet but now I use a pen tablet

I use both pen & screen tablets equally

I draw with a mouse/trackpad

see results

Voting ended onSep 19, 2025

I feel like there’s been a BIG shift in usage of pen tablets to screen tablets in the past 5 years. Pen tablets were the norm for both beginning and professional artists for a very very long time, but now it seems like if you’ve started drawing digitally within the past 5-8 years you’re way more likely to have a screen tablet.