c/digital-art-showcase

Found my old Wacom tablet from 2005 at a garage sale last weekend

Kicked myself for selling my Intuos2 back in 2012. That thing still works perfectly after I wiped off 15 years of dust. Anyone else have old hardware they regret letting go?

2 comments

tylerj22•13h ago

Was skeptical about those brush packs claiming "realistic oil texture" in Procreate

Downloaded a $15 set from an artist I'd never heard of and it actually mimics thick paint strokes way better than the default brushes. Has anyone else found a texture pack that changed how they approach digital painting?

2 comments

the_shane•2d ago

Pro tip: That $15 brush pack from Amazon wrecked my tablet screen

I bought a 10 pack of cheap stylus nibs and a cleaning brush for my drawing tablet last month. The brush had rough bristles that left micro scratches all over the surface after just two uses. I had to spend $45 on a replacement screen protector kit to fix the damage. Has anyone else had cheap accessories ruin their gear?

2 comments

val_williams•2d ago

Dropped $80 on a fancy drawing glove and it might be a scam

I finally caved and bought one of those expensive anti-fouling gloves for my tablet screen. The palm rejection on my cheap glove was never great, so I figured $80 would fix it. After three weeks, the fabric started pilling and it actually smudges my screen worse than before. I'm going back to my old $5 cotton glove from the craft store. Has anyone else found a decent mid-range option that actually lasts?

2 comments

theagibson•3d ago

Spent 3 hours trying to fix a layer shift issue in Blender that was just a loose belt

I was about to junk my whole print after the third failed calibration cube. Kept adjusting speeds and temperatures. Finally checked the hardware and the belt tensioner was barely hand tight. Five seconds with a hex key fixed everything. Makes me wonder how many other "software problems" are really just loose screws in real life.

2 comments

jamie770•7d ago

I used to flood my gallery with 10 pieces a week until an artist I respected called me out

Back in 2022 I was churning out digital paintings like a machine, posting every single sketch and study to my social media pages. An artist I looked up to named Rhea from a Discord server I'm in told me my feed looked like noise and I was burying my own good work under a pile of junk. That stung at first but she was right. I went from posting daily to showing only one piece every two weeks, spending the extra time on composition and color theory instead of just speed. The difference was huge - my engagement actually went up and I started getting commission requests. Has anyone else had to totally change their posting habits to get better feedback?

4 comments

phoenix_grant34•8d ago

Spent 6 months rendering in 4K until a pro told me to stop

I kept rendering all my digital paintings at 4K resolution, even for social media posts. Files were huge, my laptop sounded like a jet engine, and uploads took forever. A guy at a local art meetup asked why I was doing that when 1080p looks the same on a phone screen. He showed me his workflow where he works at 300 DPI but exports at 72 DPI for web. Tried it on my last piece and cut render time from 45 minutes to 6. Anyone else been overkilling their canvas size for no reason?

c/digital-art-showcase

Found my old Wacom tablet from 2005 at a garage sale last weekend

Was skeptical about those brush packs claiming "realistic oil texture" in Procreate

Pro tip: That $15 brush pack from Amazon wrecked my tablet screen

Dropped $80 on a fancy drawing glove and it might be a scam

Spent 3 hours trying to fix a layer shift issue in Blender that was just a loose belt

I used to flood my gallery with 10 pieces a week until an artist I respected called me out

Spent 6 months rendering in 4K until a pro told me to stop

Hot take: That big digital art convention in Austin last month was a total letdown for me

Old way vs new way of backing up art files

Tried painting with a mouse instead of a tablet for a week

Had to choose between drawing on my tablet or paper at a live event

Rasterbator project went sideways on me last night

Went to a gallery opening in Brooklyn last night and the digital pieces were all crammed into one corner like an afterthought

Just spent 4 hours fixing a simple layer blending issue in Photoshop

Wasted $200 on a drawing tablet I never should have bought

Tried Procreate for a month then switched to Krita for a complex project. Night and day difference.

Lost my stylus midway through a 6 hour piece and had to adapt

Drew the same eye for 2 years before someone pointed out my layer order was backwards

Art station booth at Comic-Con made me rethink my whole portfolio layout

That gallery submission rejection made me rethink my whole color palette

Found out my "custom" brushes came from a stock pack I could've bought for $12

That Instagram reel last month made me rethink my whole art showcase lighting setup

Stood in front of my booth for 4 hours at the Denver expo and one guy made it worth it

A comment about my brush strokes made me rethink my whole workflow

TIL most digital painters don't use a pure black base layer