Should I stop being an MS Paint artist and start using Paint.NET?

[gamecubeguy214 2,511]

Ok, so I am an MS Paint artist and I know that people say MS Paint is garbage. I ignore those who say that and still draw using MS Paint, but I know that MS Paint has a lot of weaknesses and is considered to be the worst art program of all time. I know what you're thinking. ''Only f***s worry about others' opinions, you little s***.'' Well I actually am one of those people who think MS Paint is garbage, yet I don't have Paint.NET, the thing I want, because I'm kind of worried about viruses. If you guys say Paint.NET doesn't have a virus, then I will upgrade to Paint.NET and escape this MS Paint garbage. It's just, what do you guys think? Should I keep using MS Paint, or do you think I should get out of MS S*** and get the Paint.NET glory?

[Moonlight 7,279]

Paint.NET isn't really that good either, however it is virus free.

 

I recommend firealpaca, no viruses and it's pretty similar to SAI but free.

[gamecubeguy214 2,511]

Paint.NET isn't really that good either, however it is virus free.

 

I recommend firealpaca, no viruses and it's pretty similar to SAI but free.

Oh, really? I'm pretty sure I heard people talk good on Paint.NET.

Is Firealpaca an art program that all the pro MLG artists are using?

Edited October 25, 2015 by gamecubeguy214

[Yufery 205]

Depends on what you draw with. If you use a tablet, then get something like GIMP, since it's free and has tablet support. If you want to draw with the mouse, then I'd say use paint.NET or GIMP, whatever floats your boat.

 

Although I would recommend saving up about 45 dollars for SAI, since that program is great for people who use tablets and a mouse alike. I use it and I have no complaints. The worst problem you'd have with it is that it isn't the most user friendly thing, so you'd have to look up a few guides for it, but besides that I'd say it's just about the perfect program to use. You could also use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, I heard good things about those two. (Also, SAI has a 30 day free trial, and I believe the Adobe platforms do as well, so that has that going for it)

 

But again, if you just want something free that works with tablets, go GIMP. For a mouse, Paint.NET or GIMP is a fine choice.

[gamecubeguy214 2,511]

Depends on what you draw with. If you use a tablet, then get something like GIMP, since it's free and has tablet support. If you want to draw with the mouse, then I'd say use paint.NET or GIMP, whatever floats your boat.

Holy s***, what a coincidence, I just got GIMP before reading your post. I got GIMP on my computer.

[Yufery 205]

 what a coincidence, I just got GIMP before reading your post. I got GIMP on my computer.

Lol. Let me know how it works for you. I'm curious since I've never really used it myself.

[Moonlight 7,279]

Oh, really? I'm pretty sure I heard people talk good on Paint.NET.

Is Firealpaca an art program that all the pro MLG artists are using?

 

It's a fine program, but Firealpaca just seems more user-friendly and has more options for drawing (plus custom brushes). I don't think all artists use it (since SAI is still the most popular choice I've seen), but it's fairly easy to learn. Depends on what you find easier, just try whatever you need.

[That One Pone 584]

Krita is nice, take a look at that.

[BPCannon 193]

I still use paint for some things, not much but some very basic stuff. Been using GIMP since 2010, it's good for art, but not for animations. You can do short frame by frame stuff, but it's a painful process - although I made some animated avatars for an online game using realworld paint, and that wasn't a whole lot easier,

 

I have very little free time to do anything, so not worth paying for decent software at the moment, hence I've been sticking with the free stuff, and from those I would recommend GIMP

[Jokuc 8,172]

Well Photoshop or PaintTool SAI are obviously the best choices for drawing but those are not free. As for free programs I'd say that GIMP is a better choice than Paint.NET if you're going to draw. Paint.NET has a loooot of plugins for image editing though.

 

Anyway, I say stick with MS Paint! Why? Because learning to draw art with simple tools is a great way to become a better artist.

 

Let this classic video be a reminder

[MickeyAdaptus 2,209]

Oh, really? I'm pretty sure I heard people talk good on Paint.NET.

Is Firealpaca an art program that all the pro MLG artists are using?

i have used photoshop, gimp, paint.net and ms pint. and so far, i would recommand paint.net the most, why?

Photoshop and Gimp are both very advanced with photo editing, but paint.net as a more user friendly interface like ms paint has, and it has a little diffrent styles of painting like gimp does.

[SFyr 1,982]

 

 

Because learning to draw art with simple tools is a great way to become a better artist.

 

...Yes, but not always.  Some tools are used to cut down on grunt work or provide easy means to achieve harder effects. Heck, knowing how to best utilize a variety of tools is also the makings of a good artist. It's all in what you're doing.

 

There's no shame in using better tools for your art; the issue comes when people rely on fancy tools to carry the weight of achieving something worth looking at.   In the end, it should rely on the artist's grasp of technique and such.

[Jokuc 8,172]

Some tools are used to cut down on grunt work or provide easy means to achieve harder effects

Of course but I was speaking from his perspective. In my opinion, it's best to make the switch once you actually have mastered the techniques and just want to speed them up. I don't mean to be offensive but looking at his art, I will say that OP needs to practice and improve his actual drawing skills before moving on. I'm not saying that changing to a better software will be bad, but a simple program limits the user to practice on the most important parts of drawing and not as much on fancy tools. It is kind of pointless to provide someone with more tools when they need to focus on their techniques and understanding. It's like providing a little kid with a calculator for math class. Sure he'll solve problems faster but will he really understand why 12/4 is 3? The final result isn't really that important, it's how you got there. Again, that's just my opinion.

[gamecubeguy214 2,511]

Ok, so I'm using FireAlpaca and it's very complicated and I can't seem to draw well with it. Disgusting.

[ErBoi 498]

I can't speak for Paint.NET as I've never used it but I definitely recommend against using MS Paint.  Paint doesn't benefit any workflow for creating art.  It can be alright for pixel art, but there are better tools even for that.  Using better software is not lazy, just as working digitally as opposed to traditionally is not lazy either; it's efficient.

 

At the very least, you should be using a program with layers.  Layers give you all kinds of benefits; being able to separate characters and backgrounds, having rough work separated from clean work, applying filters on the individual elements of your drawing, etc.  Just about every drawing program other than MS Paint uses layers.

Layers are also extremely important for animation, but that's not the matter at hand.

I was late to the party for it but I'm absolutely in love with Paint Tool SAI now.  It's not free but, as far as good art programs go, it's pretty dang cheap.  GIMP is alright as well.

 

Though software is only one side of the matter.  A good program isn't going to magically improve your artistic skill.  That has come from learning and practicing technique.  The best way to do that is through Life Drawing classes.

[BlinkZ 1,151]

I would say yes for Paint.net. you can get plugins for whatever and it has LAYERS like professon programs and even transparacy, well kind of it varies if you know how layer effects work.

[SilverStarApple 849]

Paint.Net is great, open-source, moddable, and vastly superior to MS Paint. A bunch of fully-functional art tools are definitely superior to a box of crayons, are they not?

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,690]

I suppose it depends on what you find most useful, but I personally wouldn't use MS Paint due to its limitations. Yes, people have made very impressive images with MS Paint but they would have been far more convenient to make on more advanced programs.

[RarityFan01 2,444]

I personally use MyPaint. Gimp was too frustrating for me, I didn't like paint.net, and my paint tool SAI trial expired. 

 

It may not be the best since most people don't use it, but I personally like it. It's not recommended if you don't have a drawing tablet, though. 

 

Keep in mind that I'm functionally retarded, though. There are a lot of better ones, but they are too hard for my tiny brain to figure out. 

 

(spell check and grammar check, if you're wondering why I don't look like someone with a low IQ.)

[El Duderino 878]

I prefer paint.net, but I can't say it's any better than MS paint. I use it because it can edit certain types of files ms paint can't and I am used to the format. I haven't tried other programs, even though I know paint.net isn't the best.

Edited October 28, 2015 by McDude

[Celtore 2,769]

Gimp is decent for photo editing, but I don't know if I'd use it for any major art projects outside pixel art. I support Krita for doing the occasional bit of artwork, they've really grown over these past few years thanks to a few very successful kickstarter projects / donation drives, it's free and cross platform. I didn't really like paint.NET when I gave it a whirl, I think it was because I didnt see any reason to use it over gimp

[Pinkiebow 47]

I draw using MS Paint and vectorize the drawing on Inkscape 0.91. If I need to add something I use Photoshop (i'm terrible at PS though). I don't have a tablet, so that's how I do it =P

[Scaredypants~ 133]

I recommend gimp, it's free, and virus free as long as you get it from the official website

https://www.gimp.org/