Five great freebies for artists

by Kay, 17 January 2015

Here’s a quick list of five fantastic free resources for artists.

Krita

This is open source software and, as such, is free to use. I thought it looked pretty good, although I haven’t tried it because I’m happy with PhotoShop. Unfortunately, they don’t have a Mac version available yet, but you can have a look in their gallery for examples of what people have done with it.

It’s unlikely I could be enticed away from PhotoShop, it’s such a powerful piece of software for less than ten bucks a month – what’s not to like? But Krita could be a valuable alternative for those who don’t want the expense, or the more creative types among you might like to give it a try just for fun.

https://krita.org/

56 Sets of Free PhotoShop Brushes

For those who like to explore and try new things, here’s a fantastic list by Creative Bloq with 56 sets of free PhotoShop brushes. If you like discovering new things and making the most of PhotoShop, you’ll be like a kid in a sweet shop with this lot. Enjoy!

http://www.creativebloq.com/photoshop/free-photoshop-brushes-11121140

Free Art Lessons from The Virtual Instructor

Here’s a site with lots of how to draw and paint (including digital art) tutorials. Some of these require you to purchase a membership, but many of them are free.  I particularly like the free tutorial about creating custom brushes in PhotoShop. The site is worth a look around anyway, even if only for ideas.

http://thevirtualinstructor.com/

 125 Places to Sell Your Art

Here’s a super big list of places you can sell your art. I haven’t yet checked them all out but the random sample I looked at seemed pretty good. It’s a good starting point anyway if you’re planning to sell some of your creations.

http://www.artsyshark.com/125-places-to-sell/

Art Is Fun

There’s always lots going on at this site and it’s mostly free. (They sell some books.) There are tutorials, demos, lessons and a free forum. Dig in and explore because, after all, art is fun!

http://www.art-is-fun.com/

 

By the way, please excuse the cartoon at the top. It was my entry for a competition where we had to draw a cartoon for the theme “boastful and tedious”.