Hello,

I need your advice on a specific problem that I have.

My father is a professional painter. He is around 70 years old and he has a very very basic knowledge on using computers.

He can pretty much just serf on the internet (facebook, youtube ect.).

I'm a game programmer and I want to use his skills to create graphics for my game. He can draw anything on paper very easily.

Problem is that we need to implement those drawings in computer graphics.

My question is... What would be the easiest drawing software for my father to learn?

I'm thinking the proccess being like this:

1. Draw the graphics on paper black and white

2. Scan and import on Computer

3. Draw the outlines

4. Coloring

Sadly for some that might be wondering, I have no talent in drawing :P .

Scanning the images and using software like Photoshop(Pay) or Gimp(Free) will allow you to edit them as if they where drawn on the PC. You can even color them before scanning.

I use scanned images all the time, it's actually harder to use a drawing tablet than drawing on paper.

Gimp is good, a little hard to use. Photoshop is much more convenient and easy to use, just don't use it on a old PC; it takes forever to load.

If you are desperate and can't afford a good scanner you can always use a mobile phone or digital camera to take a picture, however I advice you keep it black and white if you use this.

Well correct me if I'm wrong but what you're saying is that I can scan a drawing from paper to photoshop and then I can edit the image so that it draws itself (with computer colors) without me doing anything?

Is this some kind of functionallity tha Photoshop supports? Automatically draw a scanned drawing with computer colors?

This would be so much more convenient for me!

No, there is no software that can color a scanned image for you.

Once you start scanning things in you might realize it is very difficult to work with them at first - if you use scanning software to make an image black and white it will be hard to control which areas show up in the scan. Scanning in greyscale will give you a "dirty" image which can be difficult to work with.

There are ways to edit the raw image to create clean lines which would be easier to work with (i.e. filling spaces with color using the bucket tool)

Painting in raster software (photoshop, gimp) without a tablet can be very difficult, and even with one it takes a lot of practice to get comfortable with the hand-eye coordination and the different tactile feedback it requires.

You might want to try vector software (illustrator, flash) the process in those revolves around creating and manipulating shapes.

Well correct me if I'm wrong but what you're saying is that I can scan a drawing from paper to photoshop and then I can edit the image so that it draws itself (with computer colors) without me doing anything?

I am sorry if I wasn't clear, by edit I meant you could manually change the image yourself.

Here is a example:

Please note I am not a 2D artist. I had to borrow paper(LINED paper), a pen and a camera(I don't have a mobile cable with me) from the friendly people around me. The only laptop I have is a old one as I mostly use a desktop computer, I used Gimp.

With all these drawbacks I made the image in less than ten minutes, it isn't good. It only works as a small icon.

It shows one way you can work with a image. With a scanner, white paper, good lighting and a real 2D artist you will get much better results.

There is no magic button that allows your computer to draw or color like a artist, this is the part that you will be doing.

With a scanner you can color the image before you scan it.

If your dad is uncomfortable with computers, why not just have him draw and color a piece of art before scanning it?

That's what my artist friend and I did for a contest:




You'll still have to touch up the art yourself, as the programmer, to do things like cutting out the transparent parts, and softening the edges, and so on.

I've also done the way where the artist draws line art, and I digitally color it in. That also works, but is alot more difficult and time consuming if (A) the artist isn't familiar and (B) you aren't familiar. It'll take alot of work to learn that different skillset.

Digital art and traditional art are related, but different, skills. It makes much more sense in your situation to have him do what he normally does, and you scan it and do rudimentary editing, then for him to learn an entirely new skill.

One thing that is nice, though, is this: Take a look at the mice here.


The three mice on their hind legs? All are the same mouse.

My artist friend sketched the rough outlines for the entire basic mouse animation, I scanned the art and then reprinted the work on multiple different sheets on watercolor paper, and then she drew additional unique details (like their clothes, fur patterns, and weapons) on each one and watercolored each one individually.


(the sketch of the sniper laying on the ground was a unique one we only used once, the other sketches were used as a base for all the meese)

This saved a huge amount of work, because, for her, the pencil-work is half the labor. I also digitally tweaked the color of one (the sniper), after the fact, to easily create a four mouse (the rifleman; top-right).

Digitally coloring it from scratch is painful if you don't already have that skillset. I tried doing that in a prior competition and the results were sub-par and time-consuming. The most difficult part was the texturing was too flat because I didn't have the time to properly shade the body - it would take me several hours to color it, and it'd still not be all that great.

It's far easily for me, as the programmer, to learn how to digitally clean up some already good-looking art, then for me or the artist, to learn from scratch how to digitally color in a quality way lineart.

As a paid alternative, Corel should have software that is a bit cheaper that still fills your requirements.

Those mice look really good. They are cool looking. It gives me motivation for my own characters.

I am personally a very big fan of Manga Studio 5, or Clip Studio Paint which is the same Program, just directly from the japanese creator instead of the reseller.

It is somewhat easier to use than Photoshop IMO, and has some drawing specific improvements over PS that go way beyond what is just useful for comic drawing. I use it for concept sketches and sometimes even creating blueprints for my 3D modelling.

But if you look for something even easier to use, have a look at Sketchbook Pro, or ArtRage. Both seem to be specifically created to give you a simple uncluttered interface to speed up drawing. And Interfaces like that might be most suitable for your dad, as they try to really replicate an artists traditional workspace.

All of these options are NOT free, but reasonably priced (40-60$ AFAIK, don't know about ArtRage), and might give you a starting point if you want to look for a free alternative.