Sketching with Krita

For what ever reason I now find it difficult to draw with traditional media. I can do it but there is a struggle there. Usual reasons. Probably depression related. So the wheel turns and literally I find myself back at the digital drawing board. Affinity 3.0 is my go-to program for digital manipulations, I would love to use Photoshop but that is too expensive for an illustrator who makes no money illustrating. I remembered a while ago when the free version of Affinity was released, thinking what a ghastly affair that was and that I should try Krita, which I did but then gave up because that wheel keeps turning and I was heavily in brush pen mode. 

I downloaded a copy of Krita and gave that a spin and I really enjoyed sketching with it. The brushes seem better and the interface, while not brilliant has got a cut back, old world charm to it aimed at drawing and not Photography. Dedicated drawing software - for free. Who knew!

There is a lot of help online if you run into a problem. If you do want to change the UI (which I did) or if you need a specific brush (which I do) then there is a huge community on YouTube who can show you how... or where.

My favourite style of digital drawing nib is a flattened basic brush. It resembles a Pilot Parallel calligraphy pen (kind of) and is great to use because it encompasses thick and thin strokes without having to swap brushes. It has no bells or whistles so is fast and smooth. Details can be found in the image below.

Decades ago, having to learn Photoshop had the side effect of developing my understanding of colour theory, I feel with Krita, it is opening me up to using texture in my drawing.