Comment by jackthetab | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jackthetab | Hacker News Reader

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Any advice on how to (successfully) get started?

I've been trying to do the same only to find the whole thing frustrating af. My goal right now is to A) draw wireframes of websites, B) workflows (similar to wireframes with added arrows), and C) an image of Calvin of C&H fame.

I've used Procreate, Excalidraw, OneNote, Notability, etc.

<rant> All of the tutorials are like "Here is where you can select a canvas. Here is where you can select brushes. Let's choose this brush..." (Why?) "Then change the setting to this..." (again, why?). I'm beginning to hate videos in my search results.

If I want to actually accomplish one of these drawings, I pick up a pad of paper and pencil and I'm done in 60 seconds for wireframes, five minutes for Calvin. I have yet to be able to do it after hours on my iPad. </rant>

I get your frustration! I was on a similar boat. The key to digital art is first knowing your tools, it's good that you've tried out some apps, try them all out and get a feel for them all, before choosing the one that you prefer.

First, for Wireframing and workflows, there's a ton of different ones that all achieve the same thing so it comes down to preference mostly. For this I highly recommend looking into Concepts, Muse and Moleskine Flow. I personally prefer them out of the many others that I have tried. Although be aware there are more specialised 'wireframing' apps also available.

When it comes to other character drawing and general art, Procreate is currently ne of the better ones as it gives you a ton of options with different brushes etc. I personally prefer Adobe Fresco as I like their interface better and their live brushes for a better 'painting' look. I also use Moleskin Flow for non-painting drawing practise as i love their minimalist approach to UI out of the hundreds of apps that I have tried.

It's a little bit of a steeper learning curve if you're not used to digital drawing with frames, choosing brushes, etc. but honestly. keep at it as once you familiarise yourself with you preferred favourite app it'll be a lot quicker! Yeah all the tutorial videos always seem to be aimed at a more slow, general audience. Once you have the gist of where everything is in your preferred app, just have a few favourite brushes of your choice start creating.

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