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Art Resources

I've probably spent more time collecting this shit than actually drawing. As always, I prioritize programs that are independent over big tech, free and/or open source (FOSS), and are anti-AI. heads up that I haven't individually tested all of these, and their links might die over time. * marks my favorites.


Masterposts

good places around the rest of the web to look if you can't find something here!

Art Software

in case you don't wanna pirate stuff from adobe. always pirate stuff from adobe.

    pixel art

  • *libresprite FOSS pixel art program (forked off aseprite)!
  • pixelorama ANOTHER FOSS pixel art program!
  • agave art sweet "a suite of fun & functional tools designed for pixel art"

    • digital painting

  • medibang free digital art program. I used it before switching to CSP, and it's my pick for best free art program
  • *clip studio paintmy fave paid art program. it is normally $50 but you can wait for a sale
  • krita FOSS digital art program. personally never been my fave bc there's a learning curve to the interface but it's solid and a lot of artists swear by it
  • firealpaca free digital painting software
  • mypaint FOSS digital painting software. has a smaller community so resources and support will be more limited but its main selling point is a distraction-free mode.

    • animation (2d and 3d)

  • tahoma2d free, anti-AI animation program for 2d and stop motion animators
  • synfig FOSS 2d animation software
  • opentoonz an OG 2d animation program. FOSS, was originally developed by studio ghibli.
  • blender this one might be fairly obvious, but i might as well add it anyway. FOSS 3d animation software. go make a donut or smth idk
  • blockbench 3d model editor and animation software. FOSS. specifically good for low-poly style 3d modeling.

    • game engines

  • godot engine FOSS 2d and 3d game engine!
  • ren'py *the* visual novel engine
  • narrat FOSS game engine for 2d narrative games
  • adventure game studio FOSS game engine for point-and-click adventure games

    • color tools and palette makers

    check out the webmasters' page for more color tools
  • *color-hex Personal fave for finding colors since it gives you a lot of helpful information and shades and highlights. You can also save your own palettes.
  • adobe color wheel yeah i know its ad*be but its useful.. just use adblock, okay?
  • paletton pretty much the same thing as the adobe one.
  • image-to-palette extractor
  • coolors
  • colourpod

    • other software

  • inkscape FOSS program for vector graphics, similar to adobe illustrator
  • pureref free program specifically for keeping your references together
  • *photopea free photo editor mimicking photoshop! it's even in your browser!
  • minipaintbrowser-based simple photo editor, could be a good alternative for those that find photoshop too overwhelming

Art Websites

    art marketplaces

    basically, alternatives to etsy since dropshippers and AI are everywhere on there now. etsy might still be worth it for selling your art but it's good to branch out.
  • handmade.com marketplace for handmade goods. has a ban on AI and dropshipping. only con is that they only have handmade physical goods, so digital goods or things like stickers seem out of the question.
  • Goimagine marketplace for handmade goods with an emphasis on shopping local and philanthropy. it has banned AI and dropshipping. Only major con I can see with it is that it is specific to the US.
  • Artisans.coop a member-owned alternative to etsy. They have a ban on AI and dropshipping. May or may not be limited to the US?
  • mushroomy.house a for-artists by-artists platform. unlike all the platforms above it is not super insistent on the "handmade" quality so you are allowed to sell digital products. doesn't have an outright AI ban but selling on there is application-based so it's de facto not on there.
  • vgen.co an art commissioning site that explicitly bans AI. But i don't even know who would commission AI in the first place like god damn

    • art communities

  • cara social media platform for all kinds of artists, run by an artist. it has a similar interface to twitter, take that as you will. has a ban on AI content.
  • domo.town Another! social media platform for all kinds of artists! unlike cara, domo supports webcomics. Also bans AI content.
  • pixeljoint forum and art community specifically for pixel artists. small but active, has a 2000s forum feel. AI is not officially banned but since its a forum run by oldheads I wouldn't be too worried.
  • pixilart a larger, more modern community for pixel artists with a built-in art software. NSFW art is not allowed. No ban on AI in the TOS but I didn't see any obvious slop on the homepage.
  • sheezyart spiritual successor to deviantart? has a firm ban on AI, NFTs, and other techbro trash
  • sudomemo online flipnote community. very neocities-coded.

Learning Resources

  • *drawabox where I started learning to draw. free website and video courses starting with the most basic drawing fundamentals.
  • lovelifedrawing has basic fundamentals + life and gesture drawing specific tutorials
  • ctrl + paint / a free video library walking through digital art basics. they also have paid video courses going over more specific artistic techniques
  • *proko (youtube link) art youtuber that has a good series on gesture drawing. most of his videos are kinda just put out for the content mill, but his video on drawing heads and faces really helped me in particular.

Selling Your Art

resources outside of the art marketplace list above that help you price and sell art

Reference Images

*Note: I would not recommend giving money to Croquis Cafe because they're known to be very rude and unprofessional with their customers. Read this reddit thread to see what I'm talking about.
*Other Note: If you want references for anything from an online museum archive (historical art styles, clothing, photography etc.), go check out my public domain page.

Brushes

  • halftone hospital has lots of free brushes, textures and comic stuff for photoshop, CSP and procreate
  • amika's pencilbox markers, pencils and crayons for CSP
  • k.m. alexander's cartography brushes HUGELY helpful trove of map-making brushes, pulled from real historical maps from across the world. Photoshop only (unless you know how to convert them or something)

Map Making

Costume Design

Fun Tools

Where to Find Resources

Suffice to say I'm pretty online, so I find a lot of this stuff sooner or later. I found a lot of things from a few different places:

  • /ic/: It is a 4chan board, so it is 90% asbestos pit and 10% good stuff, but there are always threads like /artbook/ that compile a bunch of different resources. there used to be these huge folders of artbooks and reference photos, but i wasn't able to find any
  • tumblr blogs: just go down a rabbit hole. most decent art blogs will have a page with their best links, or at least an efficient tagging system that branches out elsewhere. masterposts are fairly common and will often have a lot of overlap with one another
  • neocities: i literally just choose a site and sniff around for a 'resources' tab
  • r*ddit: I feel pretty similarly to it as I do 4chan, but some of the bigger subreddits can point you towards some specific software and resources in their wikis, or in dedicated "alternative to.." threads.
  • itch.io in general