I’ve received a few questions in regards to drawing methods and software, and what programs I’d recommend. Before some of you run off, thinking that this post is going to turn into an infomercial or a shill session, take note that some of the software I’ve linked to is actually open-source and won’t cost you a thing. Here’s some of the programs I recommend.

Product: Inkscape
Price: N/A (Open Source)

Inkscape is an Open Source vector graphics software. Many of its toolsets and functions are similar to ones found in Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X. Your work is saved as a Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. It supports many of the advanced SVG features (cloning, markers, alpha blends and more), and is able to perform complex path operations, bitmap tracing and a ton of other functions you would find in the larger commercial software.  The best part of this vector software being open-source is the community support on constant tweaking that comes out of it.

Product: GIMPShop
Price: N/A (Open Source)

GIMPshop is a modification of the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP). Its a free/open source program, developed to replicate the look and feel of Adobe Photoshop. If you’ve used Photoshop before, you will feel comfortable using this version. The only current drawback is that GIMPshop does not support Photoshop plugins, but all of GIMP‘s own plugins, filters, effects and brushes work just fine.

Product: Pencil
Price: N/A (Open Source)

Pencil is a free/open source animation/drawing software. You can create traditional hand-drawn animation (cartoons) using both bitmap and vector graphics. It’s easy to use, and requires minimal effort to make drawn characters come to life – rather than spending a ton of money on a program like Adobe Flash to create your animations, you can achieve the same result with Pencil.

Product: Serif DrawPlus X2
Price: $99 USD

DrawPlus X2 is a cost-effective program with easy-to-use drawing and painting tools and special effects you can use to create outstanding drawings and designs. You can easily import and export files in various popular formats (PSD, SWF, EPS, etc.) Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on ultra-pro software, you can achieve the same effects for a fraction of the price, and still function using those proprietary formats.

Product: Xara Xtreme
Price: $89 USD for standard / $249 USD for PRO

Boasting the world’s fastest graphics software engine, Xara Xtreme combines the use of flexible illustration tools with the ability to  handle photo manipulation and editing. The benefit of Xtreme is the use of a single application for all types of creative work – you can create vector drawings, DTP, photo composition, Website design or Flash animation. Xara offers two versions – the standard model, and an enhanced PRO model with more goodies such as tutorials, templates, example files and fonts. Another suitable option for those unwilling to spend hundreds to achieve professional results.

Product: Autodesk SketchBook Pro
Price: $100 USD for digital download

Autodesk SketchBook Pro is one of the best digital sketchpad programs on the market. You can easily use it in place of pen and paper and the transition from physical to digital takes less time with this product. The great thing about it is its artist-friendly, easy to use and reacts well to gestural movement when you combine it with a digital stylus and tablet. I highly recommend this product, as I’ve been using it for a few years for my own work.

Product: Adobe Illustrator CS4
Price: $599 USD / $149 USD Upgrade

Adobe Illustrator is the industry standard for digital illustration, and has been for years. With its endless number of tools, filters, effects and settings, you can easily make any basic illustration come to life with ease. This versatile program is used for all types of scalable vector artwork, and you can export to a million different formats. If you haven’t used Illustrator, you need to give it a try to understand how amazing this program really is. It has a hefty price tag and a steep learning curve, but its well worth the dough, and there are plenty of resources to get you up to speed in no time.

Product: Adobe Photoshop CS4
Price: $699 USD / $199 USD Upgrade – Photoshop
$999 USD / $399 USD Upgrade – Extended

The highly regarded Photoshop is the other weapon in a digital illustrator’s arsenal – starting out as a simple photo-editing tool, artists around the world have been creating masterpieces with it for almost 20 years. Everyone and their dog knows about this program, but fewer can actually afford it. This is the digital artist’s main tool, and many of the amazing digital works you see all over the place owes its beauty to this program. If you havent used it before, you need to try it, just like Illustrator. You wont be disappointed. Its pricetag is high, but its payoff is huge.

There are many others which I haven’t mentioned, but will add in the future – like PaintshopPro, Paint.net etc. I hope this short list gives you a bit of an idea on what is available. There are trial versions for all the paid licensed software if you’re interested on trying them out – I highly suggest you do.

Here are SIX interesting Illustrator tutorials from around the internet – try them out!

1. Realistic Glass Orb

Learn how to use Illustrator to create this realistic glass orb.
In this tutorial you will learn how to use opacity masks
to make clear gradients. (from voidix)

2. From Sketch to Vector Illustration

Learn how to take a pencil drawing to a polished, finished
digital illustration using Adobe Illustrator. (from gomediazine)

3. Create a Stylish Sports Car Dashboard

In this tutorial, the advanced Adobe Illustrator artist
will learn how to make a realistic sports car dashboard.
(from VectorTuts)

4. Introduction to Gradient Mesh

This introduction will take you through the basics
of gradient mesh design.(from BioRUST)

5. Creating Seamless Backgrounds in Illustrator

Veerle Pieters, one of the most sought after digital illustrators
offers an explanation on how she creates patterns and how to modify them
through scaling options (from Veerle’s Blog)

6. Tracing a Photo

In order to increase your efficiency and productivity, I’m going to go over a few methods most artists use to speed up their processes and optimize their workflow. The most common forms of this workflow improvement are through the use of keyboard shortcuts and program actions. For this tutorial, I am going to use Photoshop CS3 as the basis. Most digital artists use this program for a wide variety of things, and in many instances the key commands are the same throughout the suite of products, and even other types of similar software.

Let’s begin with shortcuts.

When you start up PhotoShop, there should be an option under the Edit menu called Keyboard Shortcuts. Select it and you should receive a dialog box similar to the one above. Feel free to poke around through the options to see what sort of shortcuts are available – you will note that almost everything has a keyboard shortcut attached to it in some form. This was done for a reason – to improve workflow efficiency! Your time is valuable, and anything you can do to minimize wasted time, the better it will be for you in the long run. At first, you’ll save seconds here and there – but once you become completely comfortable with a set of common keyboard shortcuts you use on a frequent basis, those seconds turn into minutes, and if you couple those extra minutes with the time saved using actions, your time spent doing menial and repetitive tasks can be replaced with free time, or more productive time.

Here’s a list of some of the most common keyboard shortcuts you should know.

CTRL + Z = Undo
This key command can be your saviour when you least expect it. A filter or an effect gone bad can almost always be fixed to its previous state with these two keys. (You’ve probably seen this command before in other programs – its such a necessary tool in the digital age) The ‘Undo’ command basically gives you the chance at a do-over if you make a mistake, without the need for messy correction fluid. Let me tell you, if there was an Undo feature for certain parts of my life, I would have been hammering those keys pretty fast!

CTRL + Shift + Z = Undo again
Some of the Adobe programs have the ability to do multiple levels of the Undo command (up to 100) – so if you do a bunch of things and dont like the desired effect, you can keep stepping backwards until you reach a state where you’re comfortable to start again.

CTRL + A = Select All
This command says it all – need to quickly select everything on your working area, hit this. Another universal command that is featured on all sorts of software.

CTRL + X = Cut Seection
CTRL + C = Copy Selection
CTRL + V = Paste Selection
Another set of universal commands found in software – from Adobe Photoshop to Microsoft Word. One cuts out the selection and adds it to a virtual clipboard, and leaves a hole behind. The next one simply makes a duplicate copy and adds it to the clipboard, and the last one pastes the item placed on the clipboard. Pretty simple concept – you’ve all heard it before (COPY-PASTE!).

CTRL + + (Plus sign) = Zoom In
CTRL + – (Minus Sign) = Zoom Out
CTRL + 0 (zero) = Fit to Screen
These three commands are used for controlling the size of your viewing area. If you need to quickly zoom in or zoom out, tapping these keys a few times saves you a lot of time. If you need to look at your entire work overall, the fit-to-screen option can do that easily.

Now we’ll get into a few more PhotoShop specific shortcuts. All of these shortcuts refer to tools, and will defnintely save you time once you remember which key is assigned to its particular tool. Note that the dual/multiple items per command show tools that have sub-menus with additional tool options. Here we go:

A = Path / Direct Selection Tool
This activates the selection tool for Paths (black arrow) or the direct selection tool for anchor points, handles and line segments (see Pen Tool tutorial to understand what these 3 things mean)

B = Brush/Pencil/Color Replacement Tool
This activates our brush or pencil tool. It also brings up the option for painting using color replacement.

C = Crop Tool
Activates the Cropping function.

D = Default Colors
Switches the foreground and background colours to the software default (Black Foreground, White Background)

E = Eraser Tool
This activates your eraser

F = Cycle Screen Mode
This option is good if you want your workspace to take up the focus of your working area. Sometimes it is difficult to manoeuvre when there are a bunch of other documents open, or you’re working on the edges of a large document where the scroll bars interfere.

G = Gradient / Paint Bucket Tool
This activates your Gradient options and Paint Bucket Tool.

H = Hand Tool
This tool allows you to grab on to the screen and pull yourself around. Used in conjunction with a zoomed in view, you can pull your way towards different parts of the screen quickly. (A variation of this is to hold down the space bar – the tool will also appear as long as you hold the space bar down)

I = Eyedropper / Sampler / Measure Tool
This command activates your eyedropper, which allows you to take a point sample of color at that specific area. The Sampler is more precise, setting up a direct sample and displaying the values of that color in the info palette. The Measure Tool is basically a ruler, judging measurement and angle from two points.

J = Spot / Healing Brush / Patch / Red Eye Tool
This command activates your “fix-it” tools for getting rid of blemishes and imperfections using spot, healing and patches. You can also reduce red-eye in photo with that particular function of the tool.

K = Slice Tool
This command activates the slices option for creating separate slice sections of an image to be modified and saved as separate files to be reassembled and arranged as you’ve specified.

L = Lasso Tool
This command activates the Lasso tool which is used to select portions of your artwork by manually creating a selection area.

M = Marquee Tool
This activates the marquee tool – for different types of selections (rectangular, elliptical, row or column)

N = Notes / Audio Annotation Tool
This command activates the sticky notes option or audio comment option.

O = Dodge / Burn / Sponge Tool
This command activates your dodge and burn tools for adding and subtracting light/shadow, and the sponge tool for saturation/desaturation of colour.

P = Pen Tool / Freeform Pen
This command enables you to use the pen tool with traditional point and click style, or the freeform option which is cursor tracking based.

Q = Masking Mode
This command toggles the quick-mask function on or off

R = Blur / Sharpen / Smudge tool
This command activates the blur, sharpen and smudging functions.

S = Clone / Pattern Stamp Tool
This command activates your clone stamp option or a pattern stamp from your pattern options.

T = Type Tool
This command activates your text tool and options.

U = Shape Tool
This command activates the Shape Tool for creating path based shapes.

V = Move Tool
This command activates the Move tool, which allows you to move items on your selected layers.

W = Magic Wand Tool
This command activates your Magic Wand tool which will create selections based on color depth depending on the area you click on.

X = Switch Colors
This command switches your Foreground Color to your Background color and vice-versa.

Y = History Brush / Art History Brush Tool
This command activates the History Brush tool, which allows you to restore portions of the artwork from a previous state (depending on what part of the history you are referencing) and the Art History Brush Tool allows you create painterly effects over photographic images.

Z = Zoom Tool
This activates the magnifying glass or Zoom Tool to zoom into your work depending on the selection you make (one click to incrementally zoom, click and drag to make a selection which will zoom and fill the screen with.

[ (square bracket left) = Decrease Size
This decreases the size of the tool in use.

] (square bracket right) = Increase size
This increases the size of the tool in use.

Arrow Keys = Move in direction 1 px.
These keys will move your selection 1 pixel in the direction of the selected keystroke.

Space Bar = Grab Tool
Holding down this key will activate the hand tool, and allow you to grab anywhere on the screen and pull yourself around as long as the Space Bar is pressed.

Tab = Hide / Show Tools & Palettes
Pressing this key will hide or show all of your tools and palettes.

Backspace = Clear Selection
This command deletes anything within the selection.

Shift + Backspace = Quick Fill
This command allows you to fill your selection from options in the Fill dialog box.

And there you have it – the entire alphabet and some additional shortcuts that are the basic way of accessing tools. Try out a few of them while you’re working until you get the hang of them without referencing the list, and eventually with enough practice you wont even have to look and you’ll do it instinctively. We will try some advanced keyboard commands in the next part of the series.

Until then, practice with a few shortcuts in your toolset until you’re comfortable and expand until you reach a point where the frequently used commands are all committed to memory.

The Pen Tool
The pen tool is probably the most essential device used in any vector based illustration/drawing software. You could get away with using brushes or pencils, but the pen tool allows you the most efficient control over your linework. For rookie illustrators using the software, it appears to be a daunting task, but after playing around with the mechanics of it, the Pen Tool will become your best friend. For the examples below, I will use Adobe Illustrator, since its generally viewed as the industry standard – other software such as CorelDraw and FreeHand offer the same type of controls with their pen tools, so you can apply the same knowledge you’ve learned here to those programs.

Here’s how it works.
To use the pen tool effectively, the key is to master the control of the way paths can bend and curve.

1) Try clicking on your screen. You will create a dot – this is an anchor point.
This point acts as a base and depending on where you place your second point, will allow you to modify the line segment between.

2)Now click anywhere else on your screen and you will create a second anchor point
- notice there is a line segment connecting the two points. This is the basis for creating lines using the pen tool.

3) Now click and hold at another location and slowly move to the left or right and you will notice a pair of arms that extend from your anchor point. These lines are known as ‘handles’ and are the tools used to modify the curve of your line segment in between your anchor points.

As you hover over certain areas of your line segment, you will see the pen cursor change depending on the function it is able to perform.
For example: if you hover over an anchor point, you should see a minus sign beside the pen head. This indicates that if you click with the mouse you will subtract that point.

If you hover over any other portion of the line, you will see a plus sign appear. This indicates that you are able to add an anchor point at that specific location if you click the mouse button.

If you have made a series of line segments and anchor points and want to close the shape, hover your cursor over the first anchor point you made when creating that linework, and a small O will appear. This indicates that you will close the shape if you select that point. These are the basic functions of the pen tool – addition/subtraction/closing

Now if you hold down the ALT (option for Mac) key and hover over your anchor point, you will see the cursor change into an arrow head. This tool allows you to modify the anchor points by creating a set of handles if you click and drag away from the point. These handles allow you to modify the linework that is attached to that particular anchor point. You can create smooth, flowing paths called Bezier curves by altering the linework with the handles.

If you hold down the CTRL key (Command Key on the Mac) you will receive the white arrow or selection tool. Click and hold on any one of the anchor points and you can move the point around to the position of your choosing.

Try this exercise:
1) Select your pen tool and make four points
2) Select your starting anchor point to be your fifth point to close off and create your shape.
3) Hold down the ALT (or Option) key and select one of the anchor points. Click and drag outwards until you have created handles for your Bezier curve.
4) Select the endpoints of the handles and modify them by moving them around in different directions. Get used to how the movement works.

5) Hover over one of the anchor points and subtract it.
6) Hover over any part of the line segments, and add an anchor point.
7) Hold down the CTRL key and click and hold on an anchor point. Move it to another area and watch the shape modify.

That is the basic gist of the Pen Tool. The next lesson will show you how to effectively trace an outline of an image as reference, using the pen tool. Grab yourself an image of an item you’d like to attempt to trace and check out this tutorial (number 6 on the list) on creating vector tracings.