Darcy Maunder

If you’ve ever watched an animated movie, played a video game, seen an anime or looked at a book cover and thought, “neat!”, you might have wondered how they were made. All of these examples, in one way or another, involve digital art.

Digital art is a very broad term, encompassing any art that uses technology as a medium. This can include animation, pixel art, 3D modelling, graphic design and much more. The countless possibilities brought into art through technology can be overwhelming. But, if you’re interested, a good place to start is with digital painting.

Get Inspired
Before you get started yourself, it’s helpful to know what kind of thing you want to learn to create. Do you want to design characters, environments, logos or something else? What sort of style do you want to use? Some of my favourites are listed below, but have a look through social media under #digitalart as well and see what catches your eye!

Cyarin | Laura Brouwers
@cyarine on Instagram
www.cyarin.shop

Cyarin is a Dutch illustrator and digital artist mostly known for her female portraits. Her style is unique, colourful and balances perfectly between edgy and adorable.

Jacob Eirich
Freelance Artist and Art Director
https://www.jakobeirich.com/

Jacob’s breathtaking work has been used by many notable companies such as RIOT Games, Blizzard Entertainment, Wizards of the Coast and Harper Collins. His landscapes feel like windows into stunning, fantastical worlds.

Jaiden Animations | Jaiden Dittfach
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGwu0nbY2wSkW8N-cghnLpA

Jaiden is a 2D animator, artist and YouTuber known for posting animated stories about her life. Her simplistic yet charming and dynamic style of animation is wonderful to watch!

Where do I start?
Now you’ve figured out what sort of thing you’d like to draw, you’ll need something to draw on. There’s a ton of options for this, ranging in price, style and ease of use. As with any new hobby, you will need to invest some money into your equipment, but how much is entirely up to you.

Hardware:     

Pen Tablets
These are your (usually) cheapest option, and the most popular for beginners. Pen tablets work similarly to a trackpad (the section on your laptop that moves the mouse), in that you interact with the trackpad to move the mouse on the screen, rather than directly touching the screen itself. You connect the tablet to your computer/laptop when you’re ready to draw, and the pen becomes your mouse while the tablet’s surface acts as your canvas.

Trusted brands for pen tablets are Wacom, Huion and XP-Pen. You should expect to spend at least £30-£50 here, depending on the brand, capability and available features of the tablet.

Pen Displays
These can be mid to high price range, depending on what you buy, and are best for professional artists or artists with a bit more money in the bank. Like pen tablets, pen displays must be connected to a computer, but they have their own screen. Many artists prefer this, as it feels closer to drawing traditionally. The tablets themselves have a textured surface designed to feel like paper and create a helpful amount of friction.

Pen displays can range between £200 and £1500 depending on the brand, features and screen size. Wacom, Huion, Xencelabs and XP Pen are all popular brands for this kind of tablet.

Standalone Tablets
Suitable for beginners, intermediates and professionals, standalone tablets are a hugely popular device for digital art. These tablets are similar to pen displays – you still draw directly onto the screen, but there is no need to connect the tablet to a computer.

Though many tech companies, including Huion, Wacom, XP Pen, Ugree and PicassoTab sell their own standalones made specifically for art, iPads are a cost-effective alternative. You also have the added bonus of being able to use the iPad for things other than drawing. The disadvantage is that an iPad will not usually include a suitable pen in the price. You will likely also want to purchase a screen protector that mimics the surface of paper – the popular brand for these is Paperlike, but many cheaper alternatives are available through online retailers such as Amazon.

Standalone tablets typically cost between £150 and upwards of £1000. I would personally recommend going somewhere in the mid-range for the sake of quality and longevity!

As of 2026, 5th-generation iPads and above are perfectly capable of running drawing software such as Procreate. For an updated list, check the Procreate website here: https://help.procreate.com/articles/dbgjal-procreate-faq

There are many options for compatible pens for drawing on the iPad, but two of my personal favourites are the Apple Pencil (higher-end) and the Logitech Crayon (lower-end).

Software:
As with drawing tablets, drawing software is a huge market containing a lot of options. For a full guide on choosing drawing software, try this guide by Princess Pjs: https://www.princesspjs.com/news/choosing-digital-art-software

If you want to keep it a bit simpler, these are my own recommendations:
Clip Studio Paint – for pen tablets, pen displays and standalone tablets
Paint Tool Sai – for pen tablets and pen displays
Procreate – for standalone tablets

The Basics
Every drawing software is different, but there are some common tools and similarities you should get to know when starting out.

• Brushes, pencils and pens: change the way your lines look. Play around with these to try different textures and get comfortable with your options!
• Eraser: erases – but you can choose which brush you want to use as your eraser, e.g. an airbrush texture for softer edges.
• Colour picker: allows you to ‘steal’ a colour from anywhere on your canvas.
• Lasso: allows you to draw a line around anything on your canvas, reshape/size it and move it around.
• Blend tool: used for blending colours, shading and softening edges.
• Undo/redo buttons: the holy grail of digital art – undo any mistakes with the click of a button!

A big part of digital art that you’ll want to learn is how to use layers. Most, if not all, drawing software will allow you to draw on multiple layers, which you can move, edit and delete without affecting any others. Artists often utilise this by sketching on one layer, then making another above it to draw a neater version (line art) without the concern of ruining the sketch. You don’t have to use them; many artists don’t, but definitely learn how.

Drawing The Line
You’ve learned the basics of digital art – congratulations! Practice, watch tutorials, experiment and be creative. Remember that, just like traditional drawing, digital art is a skill and will take time to master, so be patient with yourself. Using technology for art is helpful, but it’s not a cheat code. You will still need to practice the bare bones of art, so give yourself time to study up on anatomy, colour theory, light and perspective.

Above all, enjoy yourself!

Thank you for reading this blog! If you’d like to explore this topic further, check out my Beginners Guide to Procreate and my blog on Layers for Dummies!