Backstage Pass #9 (Patreon)

On this edition of Backstage Pass, I'll be talking about...

The programs I use to draw OBT! Or rather, the ones I used until up until a week ago. Because I'm currently in the learning process of using a new program!

So to back up, for the longest time I used a program called Autodesk Sketchbook Pro to work on my comic. I initially found out about Autodesk Sketchbook because a version of it came free with my Wacom tablet I purchased aaall the way back in 2012. It had a relatively easy-to-use interface (if a bit limited), and I later would find out that there was a yearly subscription version of the program with extended features (including the ability to use layers, wowie)! Shortly after upgrading (I want to say about two years later?), Autodesk offered the program for free, and I still think it's one of the best free art programs you can use!

Though that doesn't mean it was without its own limitations. Off the top of my head, one glaring issue with the program was the inability to work on multiple pieces at once either via tabs (akin to Fire Alpaca) or entirely new windows (similar to MS Paint); you could only ever work on one piece at a time, which could sometimes choke my workflow. Being able to work unhindered on 10 pages at once in my new program? Absolute raw power right there.

Autodesk's other limitations included having to manually format text to fit text bubbles (via manual line breaks and spaces) and lacking a stroke/outline function which would be useful for text bubbles. But for what it lacks in some convenience functions, it makes up for with a very easy-to-understand interface for beginners. I would recommend it for folks just starting out with art! It's very pick-up-and-go, not requiring much technical knowledge of digital art programs to use. Especially if you're transitioning from traditional art to your first digital program!

To accommodate for the lack of decent text tools and ways to apply stroke to my art, I decided to make use of my student subscription to the Adobe suite and utilize Photoshop for its wider variety of text modification tools. Though once my student contract runs out with Adobe, I'll need to keep an eye out for alternatives (especially since my new replacement program is said to not have a lot of options available for fancy lettering). I hear Inkscape is good for those purposes, so I'm thinking about looking into it soon!

Though of course, all good things must come to an end. I recently made the switch from Autodesk Sketchbook to Clip Studio Paint, a program geared towards comic-making and other forms of sequential art! During this transitional journey you may see a few Backstage Passes where I talk about the learning process for a new program. Just being able to orient text and speech bubbles almost instantly is really refreshing so far! And I gotta say, I'm already in love with the pencil brush this program offers.