For users who are passionate about drawing or who are professionals in the sector, there are programs and applications that will help us draw our illustrations, comics, manga and animations digitally. These programs base their usefulness on Digital Art and their use with a computer and a tablet, so that we can obtain a drawing experience very similar to traditional drawing, being able to achieve spectacular results. One of the programs that we can use for our drawings and digital painting works is Expresii , about which we are going to talk to you next.
When we talk about Digital Art we are referring to a creative discipline of the plastic arts, a new trend that has emerged around the application of vector programs and digital elements that are essential for its realization. That is, this technique consists of drawing on the computer with a digitizing tablet, relying on specific programs to draw on our computer. In this way it is possible to do the work easier and faster than traditional drawing with paper and pencil. That is why there are programs like Expresii, which will allow us to quickly edit and undo errors with the help of the mouse or the graphic tablet.
Enjoy digital drawing with Expresii
Expresii is a digital and oriental painting program developed in 1999 aimed at both professionals in the sector and those users who are passionate about drawing and painting . This application has been designed to offer a large number of tools that will be very useful to all types of artists, both conceptual art, matte painting and textures, as well as illustrators.
This tool offers great advances within the technology of digital painting, such as the incorporation of 3D brushes that will allow us expressive strokes in the same way as if we were holding a real brush. It also has different flows of ink (watercolor) very natural that will give us a great result in those water-based media. In addition, it has a new rendering method that gives us the richness of a raster and the final result similar to that of a vector with a resolution of up to 12K .
Choose the canvas, brushes and colors and let’s draw!
Once the application is executed, its main menu appears with a fairly intuitive user interface, especially if you have ever used programs of this type since it has some similarity to other programs such as Corel Painter or Photoshop. From there we will have access to “Paper Material”, “Paper Operation”, “Layers”, “Brushes” and “Colors”. It also has keyboard shortcuts so that we can more efficiently access the tools that we use most frequently. In the interface we will also find a panel where we can make our drawings with some shortcuts located on the left side of the screen.
Use the right brush for every occasion
Brushes are an essential tool in any digital drawing application. In Expressi we have some predefined brushes like “First Try”, “Fine”, “All-Purpose” and “Large”. Each brush is designed to perform special and unique functions, so we will always have the right brush for every occasion. In the same way, we can also customize the brushes by choosing the size and editing the “Deformation” and “Deposition” controls, as well as their label and shape, to adapt it to our needs.
Control and manage layers
Expresii also allows us to manage layers , so that we can organize our drawings. So we can combine and group different drawings that we can overexpose one on top of the other until we achieve the desired result. It also allows us to eliminate certain parts of the drawing , through the different layer visibility options. In addition, it allows us to edit the controls such as “Interaction” that allows us to modify the staining of the background layer or the “Composition”, where we can adjust the color covering the previous brushstroke and the Gouache .
Choose the color you need for each occasion
In the Colors tab we can choose any color we need for each moment. At the top we find some sets of predefined colors such as “Pumpkin”, “Crimson”, “Gold & Cyan”, “Purple & Violet”, among others. Just below it has a color selector where we can adjust the intensity of each color. We also find the Mode tool where we can select any tonality within the color palette that it offers, as well as buttons to reduce humidity and increase hydration.
Download Expresii
Expresii is a commercial program, so in order to use it we must acquire its license that has a cost of $ 69 . It is also possible to download a free trial version from their website . This trial version is limited to 50 uses and will not be used to test and be sure that it is the right program before making your purchase. Alternatively, we can download a fully functional free trial version for 30 days from the Expresii store in the Microsoft Store.
Expresii is compatible with:
- Microsoft Windows 7, 8 and 10 (32 and 64 bits).
- Mac machines through Bootcamp.
- Stylus compatible with WinTab / Win 8+ API.
- Multi-touch screens.
- G-sensor / game controller.
- OpenGL 3.0 or later.
Hardware requirements
For its correct operation, Expresii requires a recent GPU, such as the Intel HD Graphics 515 or later for screens with a resolution in FullHD. An Nvidia Geforce GT 1030 / AMD Radeon RX 550 or better GPU is recommended, as well as 3GB of RAM and a pen that supports tilt detection (even while suspended). Since the program requires that our computer be compatible with OpenGL, so we will not be able to use it on a Surface Pro X as it is not compatible with this technology.
Alternatives to Expresii
If we want to look for alternatives to Expresii in order to be able to compare between them, here are other very interesting options that we can use to draw and make illustrations:
Krita
It is a free, open source, cross-platform, professional digital painting program. It has a large number of brushes and effects, which will help us to work comfortably and efficiently with several layers. It has support for the most popular image formats and sections for managing palettes, retouching and vector modification. You can download Krita from their website .
SketchBook Pro
It is an application aimed at people who have a true passion for illustration and digital drawing. It has a store of more than 190 different types of brushes, such as pencils, brushes, airbrushes, inks, etc., which we can customize as they best suit us, incorporating textures and shapes. We can download it for free from this link .