#because now I'll be able to use the TYPOGRAPHY PAPER since I can change its color

[mel-addams]

HEY there's new folks here since I last rambled about Rebelle, and they've got a HUGE sale going on for the preorder of the next version, SO

TL;DR: amazing traditional-paint-emulating drawing program on huge preorder discount, $30 for Pro version GO GET YOU YOURS

I've been using the digital art program Rebelle for a bit over a year, and it is SO GOOD at emulating the feel of working with traditional paints, pencils, and pastels! It's got thick (or thin) impasto texture for oils/acrylics, water physics (!!) for watercolors, and can actually use the texture of your canvas to affect both wet and dry media brushes. It feels SO MUCH better than hooking a texture into a brush and working on a canvas that just...doesn't match it, or applying a texture afterward. BUT ALSO they're gonna be updating it soon, and adding not just standard digital niceties, but also METALLIC. PAINTS. Plus more texture stuff you can control, and even better texture reactivity, but METALLIC! PAINTS!! USING THE BUILT-IN LIGHTING AND TEXTURE SHENANIGANS, INSTEAD OF HAVING TO MESS AROUND WITH WRANGLING/OUTSOURCING EFFECTS YOURSELF

And the pre-order price from now until November 30th is ONLY $30 for the Pro version (which I absolutely recommend!), when the price is usually $150 (!!). The Pro preorder price will increase to $50 from December 1st to the 13th, then full price when it releases on December 14th. And they don't do subscription! Just free updates (typically good and/or requested features, as well as bugfixes), in between full upgrades like this that have been HUGELY discounted on release.

You can check out further info on Version 7's upgrade features, as well as the link to buy it, via the link at the top of the post. BUT if you wanna test out basic watercolor simulation, and/or test the trial version of Rebelle 6 (I think) to see if you like how it feels? You can check out this link: https://www.escapemotions.com/products/rebelle/try/

(Also they often do this sort of thing with the free bonus papers for spreading the word, as mentioned at the beginning of the Version 7 info link. I think it's happened...at least each time they've done a version upgrade, maybe once or twice in between? And it's been a different set of papers each time. But I already did my shared-post earlier. This post is genuinely just 'cause I think stuff like the feel of brushes reacting to visible texture and water physics (which you can pause!) are SO NICE, and the preorder price is bonkers-cheap. I still need side stuff like Affinity for like...fonts, but Rebelle is my current favorite for actual drawing and painting.)

PERSONAL EXAMPLE TIME

Playing around with watercolor drips, because you can control the "tilt" of the canvas (via either a tablet's features if it can, or a disk in the UI if not): Bakuratober Ghost prompt

Using canvas texture to get a RAD cracked-paint look on a dark canvas (I used the Straw canvas from the "Mulberry Coconut & Straw" purchasable paper set): Bakuratober Vampire prompt

Taking advantage of thick acrylic texture (plus watercolor which flowed into the brush streaks for emphasis), to simulate both muscle and sand texture (body horror warning): Bakuratober bonus prompt (Nightmare)

Combining a mildly textured pencil with a subtly textured canvas to emulate how I use physical colored pencils (plus layer effects for glowy ghosties): Bakuratober Dancer prompt

Combining wet canvas and watercolors to let the pigment feather out to create a "blurry" foreground effect (plus setting lineart as a masking fluid layer to keep colors contained): Disco (Elysium) Harmony