How can a beginner start digital art? This step-by-step digital art for beginners guide shows you what you need to get started, which programs you can use, and how to go about learning the ins and outs of making digital art! Worry not, it’s not that hard at all! The good thing is that you can directly learn digital art, without having to go to art school or attending courses. So let’s get into it!
How can a beginner start digital art?
Do you want to begin making digital art but don’t know where to start? Then this is the right post for you!
In this article, I will show you step-by-step how you can get started with digital art as a beginner. I’ll speak about the hardware and the software that you need and explain how you can directly learn digital art.
The great news is that digital art doesn’t have to be expensive. In this step-by-step digital art for beginners guide, I will suggest both some very affordable options in terms of hardware and software (even some free alternatives) and some more advanced tools for when you are ready to take your art to the next level.
Let’s get into it!
Step-By-Step Digital Art For Beginners: Hardware
What are the basics of digital art?
First thing you’ll need when you want to get started with digital art is a tablet. There are three main options:
1. Drawing tablet
Wacom Intuos
(~US$50)
2. Display tablet
Wacom Cintiq 16
(~US$650)
3. All-in-one tablet
(~US$800)
1. Drawing Tablet
A drawing tablet needs to be attached to your PC or laptop and works a bit like a drawing board. You can draw on the surface of the tablet using a special stylus and the strokes will appear on your digital canvas.
The surface of the tablet mirrors your screen. When you move your stylus across the surface in the upper right corner, you will find your cursor moving across in the upper right corner of your screen.
Since you draw on the tablet, while looking up at your computer screen, this way of working takes a bit of time getting used to.
However, drawing tablets are very affordable. You can get a decent tablet for around 50 -100 US$. When getting started with digital art, I recommend getting a tablet of at least A5 size, which is about 5.8′′ x 8.3′′.
Wacom tablets are the gold standard in the industry. They provide high and sturdy quality and will last for many, many years. Wacom’s entry-level tablets are fairly inexpensive. For example, you can get the One by Wacom for around US$50 and the Wacom Intuos for around US$75.
Learn more: Wacom For Beginners: Which Wacom Tablet Is Best For Beginners?
- Pros
- Very affordable
- Sturdy quality, not prone to damage
- No batteries or charging needed
- Very handy to use and also ideal for traveling
- Cons
- Slight learning curve, as you need to look up at the computer screen, while drawing on the tablet
Wacom Intuos Pro Medium
- Great overall specs at a reasonable price
- High levels of pressure sensitivity and tilt responsiveness
- Excellent precision and virtually lag-free tracking
Wacom Intuos Pro Small
- Sturdy quality paired with maximum portability
- Bluetooth connectivity for wireless editing comfort
- Budget-friendly price makes it an affordable option for beginners
Wacom Intuos Small
- Compact but sturdy quality for tight workspace setups and travel
- Decent pen pressure sensitivity and tablet resolution
- Beginner-friendly price below US$100 mark
One by Wacom
- Compact and lightweight to easily fit on any desk or be carried along
- Clutter-free one-cable USB connection with no charging or battery required
- Cheapest Wacom tablet aimed at beginning artists
2. Display Tablet
If you want to make step-by-step digital art for beginners but want to have a more intuitive experience than a drawing tablet can offer, then a display tablet might be the better option for you.
Display tablets are more expensive than screenless drawing tablets, but you draw directly on the screen. This is probably the most natural way of creating digital art because it brings you the closest to working with a pen and paper.
Display tablets mainly differ in the size of the screen and the technology used. When choosing a display tablet, select a size that is convenient to you. An A4 size might be a good option. The bigger the screen, the sharper the image and the less you’ll need to zoom in to work on the details. The tablet shouldn’t be too large either, so you can easily fit it on your desk and maybe randomly work on it in your lap.
Another thing to consider is the screen technology. Cheaper models tend to come without a bonded display, meaning you will have a stronger parallax effect. The parallax effect describes the little gap that you will see between the tip of the pen and the cursor on the display. High-end models have virtually no parallax effect.
Learn more: What Is The Difference Between Cintiq And Cintiq Pro?
- Pros
- Drawing directly on a screen is more natural and intuitive
- Lower learning curve because you can draw directly on-screen
- High-end models provide true-to-life color representation, no parallax effect and lag-free tracking
- Cons
- More expensive than drawing tablets
- Low-budget models tend to have a parallax effect
Wacom Cintiq 16
- Great overall specs for a mid-range drawing tablet with screen
- High levels of pressure sensitivity and tilt responsiveness
- Least expensive higher-end Wacom display tablet
Wacom Cintiq 22
- Full HD display with good color reproduction and brightness
- Lowest price Wacom Cintiq of that size
- Minimal parallax
Wacom Movink
- Premium device with highly customizable Pro Pen 3
- 13.3-inch OLED display with superior color accuracy and brightness
- Advanced touch technology for intuitive input
Wacom One
- Built-in 13.3′′ HD display with AHVA technology
- Real-feel responsive pen + compatibility with other pen brands
- Affordable alternative to the Cintiq 16
3. All-in-One Tablet
The third option in terms of hardware in our step-by-step digital art for beginners guide is an all-in-one tablet.
An all-in-one tablet can run full software packages like Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Corel Painter, and other editing apps. The great thing about all-in-one tablets is that you can take them anywhere and create art on the go. You could draw on a train ride, when you travel on the airplane, in a hammock, or on your couch.
Wacom’s all-in-one tablet is the MobileStudio Pro, which runs on Windows. Since more and more professional apps are also available as a web-based version and for mobile devices, you can also create digital art on an iPad, the Microsoft Surface Pro, or Samsung Galaxy Tab.
- Pros
- Highly portable, meaning you can make art anywhere
- Drawing on-screen feels very natural
- You can run full software packages
- Once fully charged, most tablets allow for long hours of editing
- Cableless editing comfort; you can draw in your lab, on your couch, etc.
- Cons
- Fairly expensive
- You need to buy a separate stylus for some tablets
Wacom MobileStudio Pro
- Vibrant colors and excellent color gamut
- Precise pixel-level positioning, lag-free tracking and no parallax
- Compact dimensions and Wi-Fi connectivity for creative editing on the go
Apple iPad (10.2-inch)
- Vibrant 10.2-inch Retina display for true-to-life colors
- Up to 10 hours of battery life for extended editing sessions
- Compatible with Apple Pencil 1
Apple iPad Pro (11-inch)
- Liquid Retina display covering the surface edge-to-edge
- True Tone assuring true-to-life color representation
- Excellent brightness rating of 600 cd/m2
Apple iPad Air (11-inch)
- High-resolution 10.5'' Retina display with 500 cd/m2 brightness
- Wide color coverage for vibrant images
- Anti-glare coating to cut down on reflections
Microsoft Surface Pro 10
- Highly portable with 1.9 lbs only and battery life of up to 19 hours
- Integrated stand for comfortable 15-degree drawing angle
- Surface Pen for intuitive drawing separately available
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8
- 11-inch LCD display offers ample drawing space
- Long-life battery for wireless editing wherever you are
- Included S Pen with improved responsiveness for real-life drawing feel
4. Stylus
The second essential thing you need to make digital art alongside a tablet is a stylus. Of course, you could use your fingers to draw, but that’s not very comfortable and not very precise.
Generally speaking, there are three different types of pens. There are special creative pens for drawing tablets, Apple Pencils for iPads, and pens for Android tablets such as the Surface Pen.
Wacom Pen
Wacom Pro Pen 2
(~US$85)
Apple Pencil
Apple Pencil 2
(~US$129)
Surface Pen
Surface Pen
(~US$65)
When you purchase a drawing tablet (with or without display), you will always receive a stylus included in the package. With a regular tablet, however, you might have to buy a stylus separately.
One important thing to look out for in a stylus is pressure sensitivity. A stylus with pressure sensitivity will provide a much more natural drawing experience.
The best styluses currently feature up to 8,200 levels of pressure sensitivity and also come with tilt recognition (e.g. the Wacom Pro Pen 2 and the newest Wacom Pro Pen 3).
There are numerous creative styluses in the market. Some have an eraser at the end, some have two or more side switches. You will also find styluses that are tailored to different kinds of digital editing needs, for example, airbrush pens, art pens, ballpoint pens, and so on.
When you choose a stylus, you need to make sure that it is tailored to your creative needs and compatible with your drawing tablet. To know what works, make sure to get clued in about Wacom Pen Compatibility & Replacement Pens.
Wacom Pro Pen 2
- Market-leading stylus for digital creators
- 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and up to 60 levels of tilt recognition
- Supplied with a number of standard and soft replacement nibs
Apple Pencil 2
- Pixel-perfect precision for painting, sketching, doodling, and note-taking
- Pressure- and tilt-sensitive for natural drawing feel
- Magnetically attachable to iPad Mini, iPad Pro and iPad Air
Apple Pencil 1
- Pixel-precise and responsive
- Pressure-sensitive to get the most out of your drawing software
- Comfortable in the hand for long hours of editing
Surface Pen
- Pressure and tilt responsiveness for natural drawing experience
- Rubber eraser at the end to quickly undo mistakes
- Four pen colors to choose from
Can I directly learn digital art?
Yes, you can learn digital art directly! You don’t need to go to any art school, you don’t need to attend any evening courses, you don’t need any mentor… You can actually learn digital art on your own. It is absolutely possible.
I am 100% self-taught. And if I can teach myself digital art, you can do it, too!
I recommend you start with the basics of composition, tonality, as well as lighting and shading. You cannot only apply these to digital art, but to any type of art. So even if you choose to get into traditional art, you can apply these basic principles.
Learn more: 7 Things Artists Struggle With (& How To Tackle Them!)
To help you get started, I’ve prepared an eGuide for you to learn about the secrets of composition that the ancient masters knew of. You can download it for free in the Freebie Library and use those secrets to make amazing creations!
Another thing that I find particularly important in digital art is the interplay between light and shadows. The shadows in your image play an essential role in making your work look true to life and captivating.
Below you see an example of how much of a difference shadows make. The sample image on the left does not include shadows. The image on the right is the original work with shadows. Pretty amazing what a huge effect subtle shadows achieve!
- Move the slider to see the full Without Shadows & With Shadows sample images
‘Lisa‘ WITHOUT shadows on the left and WITH shadows on the right. Notice how much of a difference the shadows make… You can see the making of ‘Lisa’ here.
BUT you cannot do any of those without an editing program. So let’s finally talk about digital art software!
The software you need largely depends on the type of digital art you want to make. Generally speaking, you need to be familiar with the tools, workspace, panels, brushes, adjustments, keyboard shortcuts, etc. of your software of choice. You don’t need to know all the ins and outs of the program, but you need to know it well enough to be able to create what you have in mind.
Getting to grips with the software program and achieving a speedy workflow is probably the part with the steepest learning curve out of all the skills you need to acquire.
I recommend following a structured approach when you are learning to use a software. Start with the basics, and then move on to the advanced features. That’s the best – and fastest! – way to learn using an editing program.
Step-By-Step Digital Art For Beginners: Software
As I mentioned above, there are numerous types of digital art software that tailor to specific creative needs (e.g. digital painting, 2D digital art, 3D animation, etc.).
The prices for digital art software range from completely free to super-expensive. When getting started with digital art, I recommend starting off with some free (or low-cost) software, to see if you enjoy making digital art.
Before opting for a program, make sure to check the compatibility with your operating system. Some apps such as Procreate, for example, only run on iPad or iPhones.
So let’s start with the free and low-budget software:
Free and low-budget software options
1. GIMP
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Price: Free
GIMP is an open-source program and a free alternative to Photoshop. Since it has been around for a very long time, you’ll be able to find lots of helpful tutorials and resources on the internet. You can download GIMP for free here.
2. Krita
Platforms: Windows, macOS
Price: Free
Krita is another free alternative to Photoshop. The program is specifically geared towards digital painting, illustration, comic and concept art. In addition to the standard editing tools, Krita provides a lot of the functions you would also find in Photoshop, such as layers, masks, blending modes, and a large amount of brush presets. You can download Krita for free here.
3. Affinity Photo
Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS
Price: around US$55
Affinity Photo is a fantastic budget-friendly option for all up and coming artists who don’t want to invest into an Adobe app subscription. Affinity Photo is kind of an all-round editing program like Photoshop that can also handle PSD files and has most of the brushes, filters and effects you need to for creating digital art on a professional level. You can buy Affinity Photo here.
Learn more: Is Affinity Photo As Good As Photoshop? [An Artist’s Honest Review…]
4. Medibang Pro
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Price: Free
MediBang Paint Pro is a free alternative to Clip Studio Paint for all digital artists who want to start learning manga and comic art. It’s a lightweight app that comes with over 50 brushes and more than 800 premade backgrounds and tones to choose from. There’s a large selection of free fonts and special comic creation tools. You can download MediBang Pro for free here.
5. Autodesk Sketchbook
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android
Price: Free
Autodesk Sketchbook is free digital drawing software that comes with loads of customizable brushes, pencils, markers and other tools that simulate realistic ink, paint, watercolor and other natural media. Even though available for free, Sketchbook is top-grade software that is used by professional designers and hobbyists alike. You can download Audodesk Sketchbook for free here.
6. Blender
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Price: Free
Although completely free, Blender is a level-headed alternative to professional 3D software, such as AudoDesk Maya and Cinema 4D. If you want to take up 3D modeling, then Blender is the right app for you to get started. Blender is perfect for everything that is to do with three-dimensional modeling, rendering, animation, and game development. You can download Blender for free here.
Top-level paid digital art software
Once you have started making digital art with some free software and decided that you want to stick with it, it’s probably time to upgrade to a more powerful program.
Below in the step-by-step digital art for beginners guide, you’ll find a list of the best software programs that digital artists use – from all-rounders like Photoshop to special 2D painting and 3D modeling software.
The best premium programs for digital art beginners at a glance:
- Adobe Photoshop – best all-round digital art software for digital painting, photo manipulation & retouching, graphic design, illustration, etc.
- Adobe Illustrator – market-leading vector design software used in professional studios around the world.
- Corel Painter – best for digital painting and drawing, manga and anime art.
- CorelDRAW – top-notch graphic design software for vector illustration, layout design, and image editing.
- Clip Studio Paint – best for digital painting and drawing, including manga and comic art.
- PaintShop Pro – a cost-effective alternative to apps like Photoshop with robust photo editing and design tools without subscription.
- ZBrush – the industry standard for digital sculpting and painting, popular for video game development, film production, and 3D printing.
- Procreate – powerful digital painting app specifically for iPads and iPhones with many features of professional desktop software.
Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS
Price:
Photoshop is definitely the most popular all-round digital art software in the market. You’ll get the most powerful and up-to-date features as part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud service. You can sign up for a Free 7-Day Photoshop Trial here, before committing to any of their subscription plans.
Since Photoshop is so popular, you will have no problems finding helpful stuff and tutorials everywhere on the internet – I also have some free Photoshop tutorials for you on my website!
One very important and useful thing in Photoshop that will allow you to create amazing effects with just a few clicks are blending modes. To help you get to grips with blending modes fast, I have a super-extensive Blend Modes Cheat Sheet for you that you can download for free in the Freebie Library.
Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS
Price:
Illustrator is top-notch is a vector graphics software from market leader Adobe. With pen and shape tools, typography and text effects, it is used by graphic designers, illustrators, and digital artists around the world. The tracing tool allows you to convert raster images (like photos) into vector artwork.
When uploading your creations to the Creative Cloud, you can easily share your files across devices and with other team members for collaboration.
Illustrator is one of the most powerful design tools available, especially for those who need to create scalable, high-quality vector graphics. Because it is so feature-rich, there is a learning curve for beginners. But once you get the hang of it, it’s a very powerful tool for graphic design!
You can convince yourself and start a Free 7-Day Illustrator Trial here. ʕᴖᴥᴖʔ
Platforms: Windows, Mac
Price: US$16.58 monthly or US$429 one-time payment
Corel Painter focuses specifically on digital painting and drawing. It is professional-level digital art software that probably offers the most realistic drawing experience you can get on a computer. Corel Painter authentically mimics traditional art techniques with a wide range of brushes, textures, and blending tools.
To see if Corel Painter is right for you, you can start a Free 15-Day Trial here.
Platforms: Windows, Mac
Price: US$419 one-time payment
CorelDRAW is graphic design software similar to Adobe Illustrator. It comes with all the essentials needed for vector illustration, layout design, and image editing. You’ll also find customizable brushes, typography tools, and basic photo retouching features. If you’d like to make more advanced edits on a professional level, you can upgrade to the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite.
In any case, you can start with a Free 15-Day CorelDRAW Trial here. (◕ᴗ◕)
Platforms: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Chromebook
Price: US$4.49 mth. (PRO), US$26.99 yr (EX); one-time payment US$58.50 (PRO); US$258 (EX)
Clip Studio Paint is a popular drawing app for manga and comic artists. It offers advanced brushes, vector tools for clean line art, along with AI-powered stabilization for smoother strokes. One of its standout features is its natural brush engine that mimics traditional media like watercolor, oil paint, and pencil. CSP is available in two versions: the PRO (standard) version and the fully featured EX (expert) version.
You can try either version with a Free 30-Day Trial of both Clip Studio PRO and EX here.
Platforms: Windows, Mac
Price: US$59.99 one-time payment
PaintShop Pro is a graphic design and photo editing software developed by Corel, primarily for editing photos, creating graphics, and digital art. It provides a comprehensive set of tools for both beginners and advanced users, while offering a user-friendly interface. PSP is easier to learn than comparable program and therefore a great option for beginners to get started with digital art.
PaintShop Pro comes with a generous Free 30-Day Trial to familiarize yourself with the program.
Platforms: Windows, Mac, iPad
Price: US$33.25 monthly
ZBrush is the most advanced 3D sculpting program out there. It is used to create high-resolution 3D models for movies, video games, and special effects. The software mimics traditional sculpting techniques and is used in professional film and video game studios all over the world.
ZBrush is part of Maxon One. You can get a free 14-day trial of ZBrush here, along with Cinema 4D and Redshift, and all other Maxon One apps!
Procreate is the award-winning creative app for the iPad or iPhone (Procreate Pocket). Unfortunately, there is no free trial available at the moment, but you can get Procreate for only $14.99 or Procreate Pocket for $6.99. Once you’ve purchased one version, you will get all the future updates for free, which is a pretty fair deal.
Procreate is very beginner-friendly, so you’ll be able to make awesome digital art in no time! You can buy Procreate and Procreate Pocket here.
I hoped that this step-by-step digital art for beginners guide helped you choose the right tools and the best software for your creative needs. Let me know in the comments what equipment you are working with and how you started to learn digital art! See you on the next post, Angie ✌︎
My name is Angie and I’m a self-taught digital artist. On this blog, I am sharing my knowledge and discussing the best software and hardware for different artistic needs. My desire is to offer options for all creative stages and budgets so that everyone can follow their dream and create art!
What a fantastic resource for beginners! I’m new to digital art, and your breakdown of essential tools and techniques has made the whole process feel a lot less intimidating. Thank you for this!
Hi Sophia, great to hear that you found my post helpful. I wish you all the best on your digital creative journey. Happy art making! ♡
Great article. Wonderful writing style and methodical thinking, describing step by step. I will come again here. Thank you Angie!
Hey, great that you find my content helpful! Looking forward to staying in touch with you ♥︎