first earnest attempt at using krita!

[sharkplushes]

hello! i've recently switched to krita due to now using linux. i come from a background of using photoshop, paint tool sai, and clip studio paint. so krita was kind of hard for me to learn in the past... that being said, im taking it nice and easy now, and managed to complete my first full drawing!

are there any other krita users here? do you have any advice for using the software? maybe some tips n tricks for krita in particular?
(im not looking for art advice, per se. just advice on the software at hand.)

[Rubbereon]

Krita can be pretty tough with its menus, so maybe it would've been worth considering something easier, well not Gimp because it's harder to learn, but I mean there are plenty of drawing apps on Linux like Pinta or you can use wine to run some Windows drawing app on linux too.

You still pulled through, so congrats! Is there any reason why you wanted to use Krita if you don't mind me asking? Anyway, she's very cute youve done a great job drawing her! 

[candycanearter07]

It certainly looks better than my first krita drawings, LOL

anyways, learn how alpha clipping and clone layers work i use them all the time and they are fantastic

[Lyonid]

That looks fabulous! I especially love the hair texture, and the character just looks so fun. I think Krita is definitely one of the more difficult drawing softwares to get into, but I think all the user-made scripts make it so powerful. The tiled drawing is also just perfect for drawing fun patterns!!

As for advise, the best part about these very convoluted interfaces is that you get to just try out stuff and have fun sliding around sliders, haha. Take it slowly and experiment with all the different brushes and settings to see what fits your style and your needs most. Especially trying out how different brushes can look with different blend modes can be crazy fun. I sometimes like using the rulers (which are amazing in Krita) to draw mandala if I need a bit of a break, haha.

[lakes]

i like the pose
it fits their carefree expression
i second that you can look into other drawing apps if you find one that's easier
but if you just wanna learn krita tips, that's fine too
i used to use photopea a lot which is the closest free drawing/editing program to photoshop

[arcus]

Nice work, the colours you picked go really well together.

Some versions of Clip Studio Paint do work under Wine. I have managed to get version 1 running with issues, and Pip has written about using it in more detail.

Sai works but it seems to vary by system. There's a guide for getting it to work. I didn't need to use a guide, it worked without tweaks for me using an Intuos 4.

Krita is really good if you can get into it. It has some really good resources and features that aren't in the other software you've listed, like CIELAB support. I've linked some Krita resources before. I prefer it over CSP and Sai 2 now, but I still use Sai 2 because it's more lightweight.

Tips:

• Hold shift and drag on the canvas to adjust the brush size.
• E sets the current brush to eraser mode.
• M mirrors the canvas.
• Shift + W enters Wrap Around Mode. This is really handy for making tiled images.
• Go through Settings > Dockers and enable anything you need. I suggest having tool options enabled.
• Go to New and select L*a*b*/Alpha as the colour mode. This colour mode blends nicer when painting, but is more performance heavy.
• Hotkeys can be changed under Settings > Configure Krita > Keyboard Shortcuts [and] Canvas Input Settings.
• Clipping layers work differently. They need to be in a folder, and they clip to everything in the folder that's below it.
• The magic wand tool is split into two tools. The regular one is what you mostly expect, while the eyedropper next to it is for specifically making a selection for a colour.
• There's no settings to adjust the sharpen filter. I suggest flattening the image, duplicating it, applying the filter on the duplicate, then adjusting the transparency.
• To add masks such as filter masks and transparency masks: Right click on a layer > Add
• Layer modes (the drop down above layers) has some really cool effects under Mix. Click the checkbox to the left to pin your favourites to the top. There's one with a cool name under Negative.
• If you're planning on printing, the default canvas sizes do not take bleed into account. You will need to grab a template off the Krita forums.

[sharkplushes]

oh shoot. im really late to reply to all of this! sorry about that!

You still pulled through, so congrats! Is there any reason why you wanted to use Krita if you don't mind me asking? Anyway, she's very cute youve done a great job drawing her! 

thank you~! i actually wanted to use krita because well, i've used to before! its technically not my VERY FIRST stab at it. so im a little familiar with it!

anyways, learn how alpha clipping and clone layers work i use them all the time and they are fantastic

jotting this down! thank you! i've kind of gotten the hang of clipping layers so far, i think.

As for advise, the best part about these very convoluted interfaces is that you get to just try out stuff and have fun sliding around sliders, haha. Take it slowly and experiment with all the different brushes and settings to see what fits your style and your needs most. Especially trying out how different brushes can look with different blend modes can be crazy fun. I sometimes like using the rulers (which are amazing in Krita) to draw mandala if I need a bit of a break, haha.

ah yes, it looks like ive already been doing this. ^^ i might do another drawing here today just to break in the software some more. i really like these square marker brushes i downloaded. it works pretty similarly to the flat marker brush in csp. ^^

i like the pose
it fits their carefree expression
i second that you can look into other drawing apps if you find one that's easier
but if you just wanna learn krita tips, that's fine too

at this point, i dont think krita is hard, per se. i think its just, different from most other software. which, can make it a bit harder to use, yeah. though, for me, i like the challenge. im weird and approach everything much like a game or puzzle. ^^; also, thank you!

Nice work, the colours you picked go really well together.

thank you! <3 a lot of people like how i pick colors, and its something i take pride in. ^^

Krita is really good if you can get into it. It has some really good resources and features that aren't in the other software you've listed, like CIELAB support. I've linked some Krita resources before. I prefer it over CSP and Sai 2 now, but I still use Sai 2 because it's more lightweight.

yeah, ive noticed krita does have a plethora of resources available. which makes my life easier tbh. as for getting other software to work with wine, i find wine a little tricky to use still. ive gotten a few things working with it, but i think krita is the best thing for me right now. ^^ if anything, if it doesnt work out long term, i can definitely look into getting other things working.

also, thank you for the great tips!! i'll be sure to try these!