Trouble with using the brushes

[ShanaEirin]

I am a new user who just switched from Clip Studio Pro to Affinity Designer (MacOS). I draw using a Wacom Intuos Pro S, and I loved the experience in Clip, except with some technical things that Affinity does do. I am an illustrator.

I attached a video showing how I work in Affinity vs Clip Studio, and hopefully that helps with what I encountered. Link here: https://youtu.be/1fQ8PuFS610

The issues:

I feel like I am drawing with awful cheap markers that are drying out, occasionally giving too much pigment. I can't get the brush to flow between sizes within a single stroke properly. I either get huge streaks or super tiny, making blending very hard. I also can't balance the opacity and flow right. It just doesn't feel comfortable. Also, with a previous illustration I finally found that sweet spot where brush usage was acceptable, but then I started on the next one and I couldn't find the right settings anymore.

Am I misusing the software, do you have tips on how to solve these problems, does the software just not do what I need it to do? Would love to hear back.

[Dan C]

Hi @ShanaEirin,

Welcome to the Affinity Forums

21 hours ago, ShanaEirin said:

Am I misusing the software, do you have tips on how to solve these problems, does the software just not do what I need it to do?

I can see from your recording (as I've not used Clip Studio Pro before personally) that Clip Studio Pro have certain brush options that Affinity doesn't have a direct replication for - which may cause the difference in 'feeling' you've noticed.

For example, I can see 'Amount of Paint', 'Density of Paint' and 'Colour Stretch' sliders in CSP that aren't directly available in Affinity. 

Equally, you have selected an 'opaque watercolour' brush in CSP, however it looks as though you have a basic brush selected in Affinity. Have you tried another brush in Affinity, such as one from the 'watercolours' category? 

I recommend using the Accumulation slider, rather than Opacity/Flow to balance these, as this slider will "set the deviation in the opacity or visibility of the stroke as it is painted"

I hope this helps!