Artist equipment

[schnauzerbeard]

AIBU for asking wise mumsnetters what they would recommend. I want to buy equipment for someone who is a brilliant artist. I want to buy them things they would need to produce digital art. Something they aren't going now but feel they would be good at. Currently using graphite pencil and ink. I would like to know if an iPad and a paint programme would be best or is there an app/ programs I can purchase for a PC? What do mumsnetters use to design their own graphics? Any guidance would be appreciated. These purchases will be used to produce more products for an already established social media shop. I feel the artist is missing out on a lot of opportunities to produce merchandise. They are aware I am researching before any comments about me meddling. Thanks in advance

My husband is a professional commercial artist, mostly doing character design for animation and illustrations. He uses an iPad pro, Apple pencil and procreate. He also has a laptop with the usual Photoshop etc.

12 inch ipad pro, Gen 2 pencil.
Procreate (not expensive)

Try Procreate. I think it’s only around £10 and is a one-off purchase so much better value than a subscription model app. A lot of serious artists use Procreate. I’ve used it myself it’s brilliant. I would advise using an iPad pro with Apple Pencil. The main difference between Illustrator (which I have also used) and Procreate is that Procreate is a raster based program whereas Illustrator is vector-based. I personally think Procreate would be much better suited for hand drawing and more original style art-work whereas Illustrator would be better suited for designing large posters, logos, etc because it’s vectorised.

A Wacom Pro tablet is what a professional digital artist would use.
They are expensive but far superior to an iPad with pencil.
There's a decent learning curve to become skilled at this, it's not like actual art in the sense of painting and drawing.