Good, Cheap drawing program for windows?

[Big Don]

My son, unlike me, is very artistic. He's even done amazing things with MS Paint... Can anyone recommend a good, and inexpensive drawing program I could get for him?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

GIMP is free

Also, see these:
http://www.artrage.com/artrage-store.html
http://manga.smithmicro.com/

I've farted around with Manga Studio. It's not bad, haven't had time to 'dig' into it like I'd prefer.

 

[dancingalone]

Paint.net (getpaint.net) is also a free raster graphics program that will run on Windows. I like it.

If you have an old machine you don't mind throwing Linux on, there is an entire universe of high quality software for artists available like Inkscape (vector graphics - some use instead of Adobe Illustrator) and Blender (3D rendering). Check out http://www.artistx.org/site3/Table/2D-Graphic/ for an idea of what is available.

 

[jks9199]

What are you trying to let him do? Edit and work on pictures? Draw from scratch? Engineering-type diagrams?

Google Sketch-Up is free, or at least a version is; it's a drawing program that can do some 3-D stuff, too. I'm still fumbling through with figuring it out, though. GIMP is more of a Photoshop-like image editor.

 

[Big Don]

Draw from scratch. He's 15 now, and some of the stuff he's done is just amazing.

 

[decepticon]

Can any of you here, or Big Don's son, recommend a program for a kid just getting started? My 13yo daughter is interested in art and graphic design. Unfortunately I don't have the expertise to help her with it. I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions for getting her on the right path for learning online drawing.

Am I correct in the assumption that she should start with basic shapes, colors, etc. and then expand into more complicated things? We do homeschool, so I have the liberty of assigning anything I deem pertinent to work on. I would like to find a comprehensive flow chart, for lack of a better term, of the skills she should develop. She has done a fair amount of 2D drawing with pencils, charcoal, pastels, markers, etc. We hired a retired art teacher last year to tutor her in this area since I am in over my head.

Thanks in advance for any ideas you might be able to share.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Can any of you here, or Big Don's son, recommend a program for a kid just getting started? My 13yo daughter is interested in art and graphic design. Unfortunately I don't have the expertise to help her with it. I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions for getting her on the right path for learning online drawing.

Am I correct in the assumption that she should start with basic shapes, colors, etc. and then expand into more complicated things? We do homeschool, so I have the liberty of assigning anything I deem pertinent to work on. I would like to find a comprehensive flow chart, for lack of a better term, of the skills she should develop. She has done a fair amount of 2D drawing with pencils, charcoal, pastels, markers, etc. We hired a retired art teacher last year to tutor her in this area since I am in over my head.

Thanks in advance for any ideas you might be able to share.

Books:
Dummies guides. Easy reads, will cover basics fast.

Software:
Manga Studio to start with. Progress to Photoshop & Illustrator when budget allows and interest level justifies. Corel Painter also for the "polish".

 

[Cyriacus]

Might I suggest Alchemy? Its a Free Drawing and Sketching Program I use all the time.
It takes some getting used to but.

 

[mmartist]

Give a chance to GIMP. It's not only editor. You can draw with it too. And it's free.