Choose the right device ⚡
To draw digitally at your best, it’s important to start even before purchasing a tablet or iPad. You need to evaluate which tool is best for your drawing needs. This depends on your budget and habits. Let’s consider the graphics tablet: an undoubtedly powerful (often expensive) tool to use with a PC. A graphics tablet is designed for desk drawing and offers little versatility. Drawing on a graphics tablet can also feel strange, as the strokes are displayed on the PC screen. If you’re looking for a powerful tool and want to draw from a PC, then a graphics tablet might be the right tool for you. If, however, you want to draw anywhere without limitations and have a smaller budget, you might be looking for a portable tablet. This way, it will feel just like drawing on an infinite sheet of paper. You can carry it with you all the time, and if it runs out of power, you can use a handy portable power bank. For those with a slightly higher budget who prefer to work within the Apple ecosystem, the iPad is the best choice.
Choose the right tools 🛠
If you want to make quick sketches, you don’t need much—just your finger. But if you want to create well-defined, detailed, and high-quality drawings, you definitely need additional tools. The pen is undoubtedly the first tool you should choose. Even when we draw on paper, we need the right pencil, markers, or pens. If you want to draw digitally, here’s some good news: you only need one writing tool. We're talking about the digital pen, which, depending on the brand, may have different names (such as Apple Pencil or Samsung S-Pen). Depending on the model, you may find different thicknesses or complementary functions, but in general, all of them allow for smooth drawing. You can also find cheaper alternatives that are just as efficient, such as the doodroo Sylus Pen. If you want the best drawing experience, you will love the doodroo artist glove, a glove designed specifically for digital drawing. It allows for ultra-smooth movements and is also suitable for left-handed people.
Adapt your paper experience 📓
Of course, we’ve been used to drawing on paper since we were kids, and many people stick with this habit. Tablets or iPads try to offer a very similar experience, so you don’t notice a big difference. However, it’s often hard to adjust for various reasons. A tip we suggest is to adapt the habits you had on paper so you can adjust as quickly and effectively as possible. A good start might be installing a paper-like finish film like the one from doodroo. The tablet screen is slippery, and drawing on it might feel impossible for those used to paper. The doodroo film transforms the iPad or tablet screen into a sheet of paper. From here, you can find a multitude of apps that will help you adapt (if not improve) any habits you had before.
Choose the right apps 📲
When we talk about apps, we’re not just referring to small tools but also full-fledged software. To start, there are some apps you might already be familiar with or that you need to explore before making a choice. We recommend Procreate (iPad), Adobe Fresco (iPad and Windows tablets), Clip Studio Paint (iPad, Windows, Android), Autodesk SketchBook (iPad and Android tablets), Affinity Designer (iPad). In addition to these, here are many other apps that can help you adapt better every day:
🟡 Pantone Studio (iPad): An essential tool for color management, allowing artists to explore Pantone palettes, create custom palettes, and extract colors from images. It enables easy sharing of palettes with apps like Adobe and Procreate, ensuring color consistency in design projects across platforms and prints.
🟡 Adobe Capture (iPad and Android): Adobe Capture is a versatile app that allows you to capture colors, patterns, brushes, shapes, and textures from the real world and convert them into digital assets for Adobe programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, or Fresco. It’s ideal for enhancing graphic projects with unique resources obtained from photos and sketches.
🟡 PoseBook by Silver (iPad and iPhone): PoseBook is a library of 3D poses and reference images, perfect for artists who draw human figures. It offers a wide range of realistic poses, viewable from different angles, and high-resolution images for anatomical study.
🟡 Notion (iPad and Android): A versatile app that allows you to take notes, create databases, and manage artistic workflow. It offers the ability to create custom tables, pages, and databases, with integrations to other apps to centralize your work.
😎 Oh! You’ll certainly want to always keep your iPad or tablet in the most comfortable position….
