Skip to main content

Creating a Mobile Independent Artist Business - Part 3: Creative Software

Creative Software


In the previous post we looked at the less interesting but extremely important business software requirements of a Mobile, Independent, Artist Business. This post we'll look at the creative software that you'll need. This is not a definitive list. You may like a lot more tools at your disposal however I consider it to be the bare minimum.

Note that a lot of creative software is sold bundled with other useful graphics software. It's worth taking a look at these deals to see if you can get the type of software you need, cheaper, as a package deal.



Photo Editing Software

Sometimes referred to as 'raster' or 'bitmap' editing software, a good photo editor is a must, even if you only ever plan to create artwork by traditional methods (i.e. not digitally on a computer).

In order to sell your work you will be photographing it and putting those pictures online. Whilst you want to get the best photo possible with your camera, photo editing software will allow you to do things like color correct, adjust brightness and contrast and it'll let you resize your images to make them more suitable for placement on websites (a raw camera image, digital file is generally too big to upload as a web page image).

Chances are you'll be using your phone camera to take pictures of your art, as most phone cameras, these days, take 3-5 megapixel plus images (which is actually over kill for screen display and only necessary if you intend to print physical copies of your images). Most phones include apps that can do a lot of the basic image adjustments you'll need to make your art look fantastic however if you want even more control you may want to purchase something a little more substantial.

Adobe Photoshop is the go to, industry standard, in this field. These days it's more than just a photo editor as many artists use it to create their digital art illustrations too (it has great support for graphic tablets).

There are many other options though so if Photoshop looks a bit pricey shop around. Some alternatives include:




Vector Illustration Software

If you want your artwork to look good at any scale then becoming proficient with vector illustration software is a great idea. Digital photographic images pixelate once you start enlarging them beyond their original size. Vector art stays sharp even if you scale it up to billboard or greater size.

Vector art is not for photos but any other kind of 2D artwork that can be created with lines and shapes is a great fit. For example comic book art, logos, stylized illustration etc. Vector art keeps its image quality because it uses points and mathematical equations to map out your illustration instead of a grid of pixels (as per raster/bitmap images). Lines and shapes always look good because the software simply recalculates their appearance for whatever the current display size is.

Vector illustration software can especially be good for traditional artists who create black and white line art illustrations with pen and ink. Once you've photographed your drawing, bring it into a vector program and either use the automatic trace function (or trace it in the software yourself) and suddenly your art is now able to be scaled for any application with no loss in quality of the line work. You can also use the software to color your art too.

Adobe Illustrator is the heavy hitter in this field but others you might consider include:




Creative Software for your Phone or Tablet

Phone and Tablet apps are becoming more and more capable. I've already mentioned that there are many phone apps for enhancing your photos but increasingly the apps for illustration are giving desktop and notebook software a real run for their money.

I don't have a definitive list but three apps on Android that I've been very impressed with are:




You could probably find equivalent software on iOS and Windows phones. At the time of writing there was quite a wide variety of Android apps for raster/bitmap illustration with really good vector illustration software being a little bit of a rarity.

---o ---o--- o---

Clip Studio Paint (Manga Studio)
One software I haven't listed above but use quite a bit is Clip Studio Paint (formerly known as Manga Studio). Clip Studio Paint, although promoted as a comic and animation software, is actually a real rival to Adobe Photoshop in many ways. It can handle both Raster/Bitmap and Vector illustration, has dedicated tools specifically for publishing comics and graphic novels as well as everything you need for general illustration. It recently added hand drawn animation to the mix as well.

I wouldn't particularly recommend it as a photo editor but as an all purpose illustration tool it could be the only software you need.

As I said, my suggestions are not definitive. However they're a good starting place if this is your first foray into the world of digital photo editing and illustration.

Next post we'll take a look at software you'll need to familiarize yourself with to get your work out into the world for your buyers.

TET Life Topics:

Buy Gifts and Apparel featuring art by TET.

Popular posts from this blog

Skateboard Trick Tips: Two Ways to Ollie North (Ollie One foot)

You have to be quick to see my Ollie Norths! Ollie One Foots, otherwise known as the Ollie North, is one of those skateboard tricks you learn and then tend not to do very much as more interesting trick challenges grab your attention. However it does look really cool if you learn how to kick your front foot well past the nose of your skateboard. Still shot from Braille Skateboarding's Ollie North tutorial. I was inspired to make my video below, showing two different techniques to achieve a successful Ollie One Foot, when I not only saw that Braille Skateboarding's Tutorial used a different method to the one I had learned but also, when I looked at various other video tutorials, I discovered yet another technique, with no one using the method I had originally learned. Braille's method is to simply Ollie and drag your front foot past the front of your board. The second method I came across in several video tutorials is to Ollie, drag your front foot and tap your
Continue Reading »

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de
Continue Reading »

Are Ion Thrusters the Future of Flying Cars? Spoiler - Probably Not But... Hover Boards... Maybe?

Undefined Technologies Ion Propulsion Drone prototype 3D concept image. You may have heard of Ion engines or, more likely, Ion thrusters. NASA uses them on their spacecraft to help maintain a craft's position or to propel them through space.  Upon hearing that you might think they're big, powerful engines, but actually they are not. They work well in the vacuum of space but, once any kind of atmosphere and gravity is involved they'd be hard pressed to launch you off the ground if you strapped four of them to your lawn chair and yelled "up, up, and away!" I am no expert on Ion thrusters - they're basically magic that science has an explanation for. If you want to know the details, The Space Techie website has a layman's explanation .  Build Your Own Ion Thruster Earth based Ion Thrusters work a bit different to their  space based cousins by Ionizing the same air that we breathe to create thrust (an effect known as Ionic-wind ).  While they sound highly soph
Continue Reading »

Robot Uprising Update: Robot Waiter, Fasta Pasta, South Terrace, Adelaide CBD, South Australia

On the second evening of my partner, Enigma, and I's weekend stay in Adelaide we decided to have dinner at Fasta Pasta . Strangely enough our hotel staff, at the Alba, had not mentioned Fasta Pasta as an option for an evening meal while their restaurant is closed for refurbishment, even though it is literally next door on the corner of South Terrace and Pultney Street. You may be aware that Fasta Pasta is an upmarket Italian restaurant franchise with its beginnings in Adelaide. Currently they have 19 restaurants Australia wide (with the majority in South Australia - we even have one in Gawler, our home town). I've never had bad food at a Fasta Pasta, and their food never looks like a franchise meal. You always feel you're at a restaurant that's a little bit more quality than your typical hotel/motel meal. Maybe it's because you don't see as much pasta based meals on an Aussie pub menu. Despite the name, it's not all pasta. I went with a basic plate of fish a
Continue Reading »

Guest Post: NEW NOVEL ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY - BOOK 1 - GO WEST, GIRL!

Today's guest post is by returning Artist, Writer, and Mental Health Advocate, Jo B Creative who writes for her blog, Creating My Oddessey . Jo's previous 2019 post,  MY SOOPER DOOPER NEW CONSERVATORY/ART STUDIO! for a long time was one of this blog's most read pages. Jo returns under a new alias, author Kit Mackenzie , and with word of her new novel, ALIAS JEANNIE DELANEY - BOOK 1 - GO WEST, GIRL! which is now available on Amazon. T he first book of this epic western trilogy, Alias Jeannie Delaney - Book 1 - Go West, Girl!  is the life story of a devastating and charismatic pants-wearing cowgirl who's the fastest gun in the west and bisexual. A crack shot story that blazes across the wild west! Jeannie Morgan, a devastatingly tomboy-beautiful, pants-wearing maverick who flicks a finger of contempt at society in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Her speed with a gun is faster than the strike of a rattler, outshooting every man she meets. Love, hate and jealo
Continue Reading »

I'm Joining the Illuminati Brotherhood By Personal Invitation of Hiltom Rothschild... Wait, What?

How special am I to have finally come of age (53 years young) and am now eligible to participate in building the world alongside other members of the Illuminati Brotherhood... Yes I've received the call by way of an email, which I'm sure is real because I had to translate it from the Dutch language and it was personally written by Hiltom Rothschild, one of the non-existent members of the Rothschild family (or perhaps deep undercover because Google has never heard of them?). A Transcript of the email below: To: etourist From: Illuminati Brotherhood  Subject: Illuminati Broederschap (Illuminati Brotherhood) I am Hiltom Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild family, one of the 13 families of the Illuminati brotherhood. I'm here to let you know that you've come of age and are eligible to participate in building the 🌎 world. It is a calling and a privilege to honor him with pride and gratitude as not everyone will ever be chosen by the LIGHT, many are called but few are ch
Continue Reading »

Looking for a Conspiracy Starter? Try The Conspiracy Theory Chart (2021) by Abbie Richards

Abbie Richards - creator of The Conspiracy Chart. I've never heard of Abbie Richards until today, while I was trawling the internet for something to post to this blog. She claims to be professionally obsessed with TikTok, a mis and disinformation researcher, and a research fellow at @TheARConsortium but she may just be an A.I. bot programmed by the far left to annoy right wing keyboard warriors, probably? Anyway Abbie produced an updated version of her Conspiracy Theory Chart to reflect more recent thinking (up until November 23, 2021 at least). Whether or not you believe anything listed to be a conspiracy or 'truth that will come out as more people wake up' the chart is a great starting point for anyone investigating 'new, enlightened thinking' with dubious connection to actual facts to draw their conclusions. Conspiracy theories are everywhere and people don't understand how harmful they are. I made the original Conspiracy Chart over a year ago. An update was
Continue Reading »